Thermodynamic measurement of aluminum-nickel-X ternary systems

Al, Ni based alloys are of interest for applications such as high temperature structural materials for gas turbines. A thorough knowledge of the thermodynamic properties and phase equilibria in the ternary and higher order alloy systems is required for developing this kind of alloys. Thermodynamic modeling of phase diagrams provides a more efficient manner to evaluate alloy phase equilibria aspects for alloy development than extensive experimentally studies. This modeling needs precise determination of thermodynamic properties, especially enthalpy of formation.;In this work, high temperature calorimeters were used to obtain the enthalpy of formation and heat capacity of compounds in the Al-Ni-X (X: Co, Cu, Cr, Ti, Ir, Pd and Pt) ternary systems with the third element generally either a transition metal or rare earth. Lattice parameters of Al-Ni-X compounds were also studied with x-ray diffractometry. The phase diagram of the Al-Pt binary system was calculated using Thermo-Calc. The work is aimed at populating databases for computational thermodynamics, developing an understanding of alloying and clarifying phase equilibria.