Hyper-cooling limit, heat of fusion, and temperature-dependent specific heat of Fe-Cr-Ni melts

Highlights: • Enthalpy-related properties of six Fe_0.72Cr_wNi_(0.28−w) melts were measured using ESL. • The hypercooling limit and heat of fusion of the Fe_0.72Cr_wNi_(0.28−w) melts were estimated as a function Cr concentration. • A new method was developed to predict the temperature dependence for specific heat of undercooled melts. • The C_p of the Fe_0.72Cr_wNi_(0.28−w) melts increases in the undercooled region. -- Abstract: Thermophysical properties of Fe-Cr-Ni melts are studied using electrostatic levitation and rapid solidification techniques. Six hypoeutectic Fe_0.72Cr_wNi_(0.28−w) alloys with a Cr/Ni ratio of around 0.8 were melted and solidified at different degrees of undercooling. From the observed relationship between the undercooling and thermal plateau time, the hyper-cooling limit and heat of fusion of Fe_0.72Cr_wNi_(0.28−w) melts are determined as a function of Cr mass fraction. A ratio of specific heat and total hemispherical emissivity of the Fe-Cr-Ni melts is calculated using the time-temperature profiles. A new method is presented to evaluate the temperature dependence of specific heat for undercooled melts and applied to this alloy family.