Viscosity of Fe-Cu melts

Abstract

We have studied composition dependences of kinematic viscosity for Fe-Cu melts with the aim of determining the temperature and composition ranges where chemically inhomogeneous Fe-Cu melts exist. Measurements were performed during heating and cooling in the temperature range from 1550 to 1700A degrees C. Evidence has been found for chemical inhomogeneity of Fe-Cu melts in the form of both microheterogeneity and a nonuniform distribution of dissimilar atoms. We have determined the temperature and composition ranges of microheterogeneity in the phase diagram of the Fe-Cu system. The nonuniform Fe and Cu distributions have been accounted for in the quasi-chemical approximation of the theory of irregular solutions, which has been used to evaluate the short-range order parameter and integral enthalpy of mixing.