Part VII - Papers - Ternary Diffusion in Copper-Silver-Gold Alloys

Experimental analysis of diffusion samples covering the entire Cu-Ag-Au system at 725°C has been carried out. Experimental coefficients are computed at twenty-eight points in the lermary system. It is found that the direct coefficienl for copper is nearly independent of the silver, content for 1ow-silver alloys and that the cross coefficient for silver correlates with the ther-nzodynatnic properlies. This lalter observalion leads to the conclusion that the mobililies of copper and gold are nearly equal. Thermodynarmic actiuilies for Cu-Ag-Au were computed from binary data and adjusted to be consistent with neasured tie lines across the two-phase region which extends into the ternary diagram at 725°C. Application of these therknodynarnic calculaliorls to the dijftcsion data terifies the Onsager reciprocal relations to the extent that experimental uncertainlies will allow. It is jound that diffusion neav the critical point of the 1200-phase field in the isothermal section at 725°C causes the composition gradients for copper and silver to approach infinity while the direct and cross coeficients become equal. From the standpoint of experimental Procedures, it has been shown that microanalysis of ternary samples may be carried out using a simple expression for the conversion of X-ray zntensily to composilion. The accuracy of' this method has been demonstrated by the analysis of standard alloys and by the reproducibility of composition determinations using differed X-ray lines. DIFFUSION in a ternary alloy system is basically and significantly different from diffusion in binary alloys. When only two elements are present there is just one independent composition variable, and the diffusion profile of composition vs distance across a sample must change monotonically through all solid solutions bracketed by the terminal alloys. If two-phase regions are stable for compositions between the terminal values, these must appear as planar interfaces in the diffused sample, with the composition profile exhibiting sharp discontinuities. Adding a third element may alter this picture completely. Because of the additional degree of freedom in the composition, we may see composition profiles which do not change monotonically through solid-solution ranges, and stable, nonplanar phase interfaces. Even though two-phase regions may lie between the terminal compositions of a diffusion sample on the constitution diagram, they will not necessarily appear in the diffusion profiles. In binary diffusion only one coefficient is needed to describe the interdiffusion process. From Fick's law this coefficient relates the diffusive flux of one component to its own composition gradient. In ternary diffusion we must allow for cross interaction between the two independent species. By a linear extension of Fick's law we introduce "cross" or "off-diagonal" diffusion coefficients which relate the flux of one component to the composition gradient of the other independent constituent. Thus, we require four interdiffusion coefficients to describe the transport process in a ternary system. In its most general form,1,2 the rate equation for mass transport by isothermal diffusion in a system of s components states that the diffusive flux of component i, Ji, is a linear summation of all driving forces, Xk, each force being multiplied by an appropriate compliance coefficient: