| In the present study, dilute alloys in the Mg-rich corner of the Mg-Ce-In ternary system in the composition range 0 to 3% In and 0 to 1.5% Ce were synthesized. Cooling curve analysis was used to determine the liquidus points in order to construct the liquidus surface of the ternary phase diagram in the Mg corner. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to examine phases present at the compositions studied. A thermal arrest presumed to represent a eutectic transformation was discovered at 580°C. Two new intermetallic compounds, designated tau and theta, were found. Trace silicon present in the alloys was found to concentrate in one of the intermetallic compounds.;To further investigate these compounds, an induction furnace was used to synthesize alloys containing the concentrations of Ce and In seen in electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) examinations of these compounds. The alloys were examined using the cooling curve technique and XRD, and proved to contain the compounds already observed with some variation in dissolved indium content. In addition, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to confirm the liquidus and solidus values determined using cooling curve analysis.;A diffusion couple with terminal compositions of pure Ce and a Mg-In alloy was prepared in order to determine the equilibrium phases present in the system between these two compositions at 390°C. EPMA was used to identify the zones obtained, and confirmed the presence of several Mg-Ce compounds with 1 at% dissolved indium, as well as a ternary compound corresponding to the theta compound found in the dilute alloys.;Finally, literature values and experimental data were used to calculate a preliminary ternary phase diagram using FACTSage, in collaboration with the CTRC at Ecole Polytechnique, in order to affirm the validity of the experimentally determined values as well as to project the diagram beyond the studied composition range. |
