Institute of Metals Division - The Niobium (Columbium)-Zinc System

Six intermediate phases occur in the Nb-Zn sysThese phases form by peritectic reactions at 1120°, spectively. The Nb Zn 15 phase appears as the minor phase in the eutectic structure, and the terminal phases remain nearly pure niobium and zinc even at high temperature. Vapor -pressure measurements on the four high-temperature phases (Nb Zn to Nb Zn 3) permitted estimates of the composition limits of these phases and the calculation of approximate values of AFO, AH°, and AS°. 1 HE present study of the constitution of the binary Nb-Zn system was a part of an analysis of the mechanism by which coatings of the Nb-Zn intermediate phases protect niobium against oxidation at high temperature.' Since the primary interest in these phases was in coating service, attention in this study was given principally to the four phases stable at high temperature with only cursory attention to the two low-temperature phases. The solubility studies of niobium in zinc by Martin, Knighton, and Feder2 and the reports from the present study of the Nb-Zn coating represent the only published data pertaining to this system. Previously Hodge, Evans, and Hoskins, in an experimental survey, had noted that niobium was not resistant to attack by molten zinc, but no further observations were reported. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES a) General. The nature of the binary Nb-Zn system precluded the use of more conventional methods of determining the phase equilibria such as thermal analyses of a series of cast alloys. An extrapolation of the liquidus data of Martin, Knighton, and Feder2 to higher temperatures suggested that the solubility of niobium in zinc would remain low in the entire temperature range of interest. The preliminary results of the present studies showed that all of the high-temperature intermediate phases form by peritectic reactions. Thus the sluggish nature of this type of reaction and the steepness of the liquidus indicated that thermal analyses would not yield reliable data. The peritectic reactions, of course, precluded the direct formation of samples of the individual phases from the melt. b) Materials. The niobium and zinc used in the present studies were of high purity. The niobium, in the form of 0.1-in.-diameter rods, contained 30 ppm 0, 30 ppm N, and 15 ppm C. Aside from 0.05 pct Ta, the metallic impurities (iron, titanium,