Thermodynamic modeling of B–Mo–Nb ternary system with modified B–Nb description

Based on a critical evaluation of the literature data, the B–Mo–Nb ternary system has been assessed by means of the CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams) technique. There is no ternary compound reported in this system. According to their crystal structures, the substitutional solution is adopted to model the ternary liquid, and the sublattice models are used to describe the Mo2B, αMoB, (Mo,Nb)B, (Mo,Nb)B2, Mo2B5, MoB4, Nb3B2, Nb5B6, Nb3B4, Nb2B3, (Mo,Nb) and (B) phases. The modeling covers the whole composition and temperature ranges. Due to the same crystal structure, the sublattice model of the NbB phase in the B–Nb binary system is adjusted as (Me,Va)0.5(B,Va)0.5, in order to be consistent with the βMoB phase in the B–Mo binary system. The obtained thermodynamic parameters of the B–Mo–Nb system are demonstrated to be self-consistent and reasonable by adequately comparing the calculated and reported thermodynamic information and phase diagram. Based on the present thermodynamic parameters, the liquidus projection and reaction scheme of B–Mo–Nb system are presented.