Thermodiffusion treatment of steel with Ti Thermodynamics and phase composition

Low-carbon steel has been treated with Ti with different saturation mixtures, at different temperatures and process durations. The obtained diffusion layers have been studied by X-ray micro analysis, metallographic, X-ray structural and chemical analysis methods. The change of the phase content, microhardness, lattice parameter and Ti concentration in the layer as a function of temperature and the process duration have been determined. The Gibbs free energies of the solid solutions of Ti and Fe and of TiC as a function of the Ti concentration and temperature of treatment have been estimated by thermodynamic analysis of the (Fe + Ti) system.