Analysis of multicomponent diffusion couples for interdiffusion fluxes and interdiffusion coefficients

A procedure for the analysis of an isothermal, multicomponent, solid-solid diffusion couple is presented for the direct determination of interdiffusion fluxes of all components over the entire diffusion zone and for the evaluation of main and cross interdiffusion coefficients over regions selected in the diffusion zone. The average effective interdiffusion coefficients for the individual components are also determined over the selected compositional ranges. A user-friendly computer program called MultiDiFlux has been developed to carry out all of the analysis and calculations. With the aid of this program, selected diffusion couples in the ternary Cu-Ni-Zn system were analyzed for interdiffusion fluxes and ternary interdiffusion coefficients, and were assessed for up-hill diffusion, zero-flux plane development, and diffusional interactions among components. The interdiffusion coefficients determined over various regions of the diffusion zone are used by the program to regenerate the concentration profiles of the couple. © 2005, ASM International.