The Iron-iron Carbide Phase Diagram: A Practical Guide to Some Descriptive Solid State Chemistry

In this paper, we have discussed examples of several phase diagrams for binary metal alloys. The phase diagrams for many binary and multicomponent systems, both metallic and nonmetallic, have been determined. Some of the major compilations are given in references 12-14. An examination of any of these compilations will quickly reveal how complex these diagrams may be. The fundamental principles used to understand these more complex systems are the same as those illustrated in this paper. A more detailed explanation of the interpretation of phase diagrams has been presented by Rhines (15).