Hand-Out 1: Phase diagrams Roger Madorell Taulats

1. The figure below shows the copper-antimony Cu-Sb phase diagram.

a. Identity the phases present in regions 1-9.

b. Mark on the figure all of the eutectic, eutectoid and peritectic points, write
down the approximate temperature and composition of each point.

Symbol Type of point Temperature Wt % Sb State

Eutectic 650C 31% +
Eutectic 525C 77% 2 +
Eutectoid 420C 42% + 2
Peritectic 590C 48% + 2

c. An alloy containing 90 wt% Sb is cooled slowly to room temperature from

the melt. Describe the phase changes that occur during cooling, using
schematic sketches of the microstructure to illustrate your answer.
 At 590C, the alloy starts the solidification. Before arriving at the eutectic
point (above 525C), the proportion of is:

9077
= 9877 100 = 62%

Which means that a 38% remains liquid. Cooling below the eutectic
temperature, the liquid zones form two-phase Cu2Sb+ with a proportion
of Cu2Sb:

9077
2 = 9048 = 31%

2. A plumber introduces a crucible with 12 kg of a Pb/Sn alloy that contains 30% in

weight of Sn in an electric furnace that reaches a maximum temperature of
183.5C.
When the oven reaches its maximum temperature he observed that part of the
contents of the crucible is melted and that fails to finish melting, no matter for
how long he maintains the alloy at this temperature.

Considering the phase diagram shown below:

a) What is the maximum amount of liquid that may be obtained at the above
temperature?

At 183.5C and with a 30% of Sn, we are at point A. We can determine the
amount of liquid:
 30 19
= 100 = 25.6%
61.9 19
The amount of liquid is:

25.9
= 12 = 3.07
100

b) What minimum temperature would need to reach the oven to get all of the
mass melted?

With this alloy, to know the temperature at which all the mass melts, we need to
find the point where we cross the liquid line. By doing that, we find that the
temperature to get all of the mass melted is approximately 262C.

c) Following the recommendations of his son, the plumber adds to the crucible
pure Sn until he gets all its contents totally melted at a constant temperature of
183.5 C. What is the mass of Sn he had to add?

At 183.5C, an alloy can only be 100% liquid if it contains a 61.9% of Sn

(eutectic point). We have to add Sn until we reach that composition. At the start
we have:

30
= 12 = 3.6
100
Finally, the amount of Sn we will have is 3.6+x, being x the amount of Sn that
we will have to add. The final mass of the alloy will be 12+x.

3.6 +
% = 61.9% =
12 +
If we solve for x, we obtain that the mass to be added is 10kg of Sn, which
makes a total mass of the alloy of 22kg.