No Arabic abstract
Formation energy of the sigma-phase in the Fe-V alloy system, Delta E, was computed in the full compositional range of its occurrence (34 < x < 60) using the electronic band structure calculations by means of the KKR method. Delta E-values were found to strongly depend on the Fe concentration, also its variation with different site occupancies was characteristic of a given lattice site. Calculated magnetic and configuration entropy contributions were used to determine sublattice occupancies for various compositions and temperatures. The results agree well with those obtained from neutron diffraction measurements.
A series of sigma-phase Fe_{100-x}V_x samples with 34.4 < x < 59.0 were investigated by neutron and X-ray diffraction and Mossbauer spectroscopy (MS) techniques. The first two methods were used for verification of the transformation from alpha to sigma phase and they also permitted to determine lattice parameters of the unit cell. With MS the Debye temperature, T_D, was evaluated from the temperature dependence of the centre shift, <CS>, assuming its entire temperature dependence originates from the second-order Doppler shift. To our best knowledge, it is the first ever-reported study on T_D in sigma-FeV alloys. Both attice parameters i.e. a and c were revealed to linearly increase with x. T_D shows, however, a non-monotonic behaviour as a function of composition with its extreme values between 425K for x=40 and 600K for x=59. A local maximum of 525K was found to exist at x=43.
A series of nine samples of sigma-Fe_{100-x}Mo_x with 44<x<57 were synthesized by a sintering method. The samples were investigated experimentally and theoretically. Using X-ray diffraction techniques structural parameters such as lattice constants, atomic positions within the unit cell and populations of atoms over five different sublattices were determined. An information on charge-densities and electric field gradients at particular lattice sites was obtained by application of the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) method for electronic structure calculations. Hyperfine quantities calculated with KKR were successfully applied to analyze Mossbauer spectra measured at room temperature.
Anomalies in the temperature dependences of the recoil-free factor, f, and the average center shift, <CS>, measured by 57-Fe Mossbauer Spectroscopy, were observed for the first time in the archetype of the sigma-phase alloys system, Fe-Cr. In both cases the anomaly started at the temperature close to the magnetic ordering temperature, and in both cases it was indicative of lattice vibrations hardening. As no magnetostrictive effects were found, the anomalies seem to be entirely due to a spin-phonon coupling. The observed changes in f and in <CS> were expressed in terms of the underlying changes in the potential, Delta E_p, and the kinetic energy, Delta E_k, respectively. The former, with the maximum value larger by a factor of six than the latter, decreases, while the latter increases with T. The total mechanical energy change, Delta E, was, in general, not constant, as expected for the Debye-like vibrations, but it resembled that of Delta E_p. Only in the range of 4-15 K, Delta E was hardly dependent on T.
Mechanism for acceleration of phase separation in Fe-base ternary alloys was investigated with use of a model based on the Cahn-Hilliard equation. Behavior of the minor element in an Fe-base ternary alloy along the trajectory of the peak of the major element is dependent on the sign of the second derivative of the chemical free energy with respect to the concentrations of the major and minor elements. However, the concentration of the major element along the trajectory of its peak top increases with time regardless of the sign of the second derivative of the chemical free energy. The addition of a substitutional element to an Fe-base binary alloy with composition within the spinodal region was found to accelerate phase separation
The technological performances of metallic compounds are largely influenced by atomic ordering. Although there is a general consensus that successful theories of metallic systems should account for the quantum nature of the electronic glue, existing non-perturbative high-temperature treatments are based on effective classical atomic Hamiltonians. We propose a solution for the above paradox and offer a fully quantum mechanical, though approximate, theory that on equal footing deals with both electrons and ions. By taking advantage of a coarse grained formulation of the density functional theory [Bruno et al., Phys. Rev. B 77, 155108 (2008)] we develop a MonteCarlo technique, based on an ab initio Hamiltonian, that allows for the efficient evaluation of finite temperature statistical averages. Calculations of the relevant thermodynamic quantities and of the electronic structures for CuZn and Ni$_3$V support that our theory provides an appropriate description of order-disorder phase transitions.