Papers - The Cobalt-nickel-silicon System between 0 and 20 Per Cent Silicon (T. P. 1170, with discussion)

A search through the available literature shows that the cobalt-nickel-silicon system has not been systematically studied. This seems rather odd because all three elements are fairly abundant and have better than average corrosion resistance; however, they have high melting points, which makes experimental work difficult. Cobalt and nickel form a continuous series of solid solutions and each metal dissolves about 7.5 per cent silicon. Many ternary alloys have been studied and the results have been published in a great many different ways, but to present such data in a short but clear and understandable manner is still a problem. The following pages describe the results of the study of 76 alloys from which the partial ternary diagram (Fig. 1) of the cobalt-nickel-silicon system has been drawn. The alloys were chosen according to the plan in Fig. la by taking definite ratios of cobalt and nickel, such as 70 Ni, 30 Co or 40 Ni, 60 Co, and adding silicon in various percentages. Each section was studied in detail by means of thermal analysis and microscopic examination, but only two of these detailed sections were thought necessary in the point perspective drawing to give a comprehensive picture of the liquidus, solidus and solid transformations that take place over the temperature ranges studied. Complete thermal analyses and microscopic data are given in Table 1. Experimental Procedure The alloys were prepared from metals of commercial purity, as follows: electrolytic nickel 99.60 + 0.35 Co; chemically purified silicon 99.79 per cent plus impurities of Fe 0.027, A1 0.008, Ca 0.014, C 0.004, N² 0.10; and cobalt 98.82 per cent plus impurities of Ni 0.42, Fe 0.12, CaO 0.27, S 0.012, Mn 0.10 and SiO² 0.15. It should be noted that the largest impurity in cobalt is nickel, one of the alloying elements. The alloys were melted in a small Ajax induction furnace, the nickel and cobalt being melted first because of their better ferromagnetic