The Bronzes': A Study of the Changes in the Solid Alloys from 0-38.5 per cent Sn

Introduction Although the equilibrium conditions of the copper-tin alloys have been the subject of a ?great amount of research, the equilibrium diagram is still in doubt. The first systematic investigation of the series was made in 1894 by Le Chatelier, who published a freezing-point curve. In 1895, Roberts-Austen and Stansfield published the complete liquidus and partial solidus curves, which they modified somewhat in 1897. Their liquidus as given in 1897 is essentially that accepted today (Figure 3). Haycock and Neville also published a liquid us curve in 1897. In 1898, William Campbell published a series of micrographs showing the changes in microstructure which accompanied the thermal changes of Stansfield? s diagram. The classic work on the bronze series was published by Heycock and Neville in 1903. Their diagram was based on both thermal and microscopic evidence, and is the first for this series of alloys which can be considered nearly complete. Further, it was the first bronze diagram in which any attempt was made to apply the phase rule in the interpretation of the thermal and microscopic results. That portion of Heycock and Neville's diagram covered by the present work is reproduced in Figure 7.