Thermodynamic Aspects of Diffusion Paths in Ternary Systems

Description of diffusion paths is one of the most interesting and topical problems in experimental investigations of interdiffusion in multicomponent systems and, particularly, in ternary systems. The relationship between effective interdiffusion coefficients and diffusion paths in ternary systems has been discussed earlier but the specific influence of the mobility and thermodynamic properties of components on the characteristics of the diffusion path is still unclear. In this paper an attempt is made to clarify the separate influences of mobility and thermodynamics on the behavior of diffusion paths in ternary systems and the corresponding correlation is found. It is shown that in most cases the deviation of the diffusion path from linearity (an ideal system) is related to the deviation of the thermodynamic properties from the ideal. The results obtained are analyzed on the basis of thermodynamic data for the ternary system Cu-Fe-Ni.