Experimental evaluation of 300 °C section of Cu-In-Ni phase diagram, hardness and electrical conductivity of selected alloy

The paper reports comparative experimental and thermodynamic calculation of a Cu-In-Ni ternary system. An isothermal section of the Cu-In-Ni system at 300 °C was extrapolated using optimized thermodynamic parameters for the constitutive binary systems from literature. Microstructural and phase composition analysis were carried out using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) technique. Brinell hardness and electrical conductivity of a selected number of alloy samples with compositions along three vertical sections (Cu-In_0.5Ni_0.5, In-Cu_0.8Ni_0.2, and x(In) = 0.4) of the studied Cu-In-Ni system were experimentally determined. Based on the obtained experimental results and by using appropriate mathematical models values of hardness and electrical conductivity for the whole ternary system were predicted. A close agreement between calculations and experimental results was obtained both in case of thermodynamic, electrical conductivity and hardness predictions. (author)