Site preference determination in intermetallic compounds by thermal conductivity measurement

Abstract

A method for the determination of site preference of substitutional elements in intermetallic compounds is proposed. It is demonstrated in Ni3Al–X alloys that the ridge direction in thermal conductivity contours in the ternary γ′ phase agrees with that of the solubility lobe of the γ′ phase in ternary phase diagrams. The ridge direction is a reliable indication of site preference of substitutional elements in intermetallic compounds. The present method is conveniently applied to a normal polycrystalline specimen with small size, and therefore, a versatile class of brittle compounds can be studied.