Metal Science and Heat Treatment
3 4, 2006
PHASE EQUILIBRIUM DIAGRAMS,
DIFFUSION AND FRACTURE
UDC 541.123.3
INTERACTION OF Co3Sn2 AND CoSn COMPOUNDS
WITH METALLIC BISMUTH
M. R. Allazov,1 Ch. I. Avilov,1 and S. G. Sadygova1
Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 4, pp. 3 5, April, 2006.
Phase diagrams of polythermal Co3Sn2 Bi (quasi-binary system) and CoSn Bi (non-quasi-binary system)
sections are constructed on the basis of results of complex methods of physicochemical analysis.
INTRODUCTION
Bismuth alloys with tin are used in electronic devices
and in articles of nonferrous metallurgy. In order to increase
the antifriction and corrosion stability of alloys of the Bi Sn
system they are enriched with some other elements. From
this standpoint the introduction of cobalt into the composi-
tion of the bismuth matrix is a promising measure. However,
the presence of a wide range of immiscibility of cobalt with
elementary bismuth [1, 2] hinders fabrication of alloys of the
Bi Sn system with the necessary cobalt concentration. The
presence of a certain amount of tin can limit the boundaries
of phase separation of alloys obtained with interaction be-
tween bismuth and cobalt. The ternary Co Bi Sn phase
diagram has not been studied appropriately until the present.
In [3] we have shown that the [Bi2Sn3] CoSn2 diagram
does not have a domain of phase separation in the liquid
state, and the section is a non-quasi-binary section of the
Co Bi Sn system. In the present work we will discuss the
results of a study of the Co3Sn2 Bi and CoSn Bi sections
and plot their phase diagrams.
METHODS OF STUDY
The alloys were synthesized in a one-temperature fur-
nace by fusing special-purity elements, i.e., bismuth, tin of
grade B4, and electrolytic cobalt in quartz ampoules evacu-
ated to ~ 0.1 Pa at 1150 1200C with vibration mixing for
1 sented in Fig. 1b. In the domain of solid solutions based on
Baku State University, Azerbaijan Engineering University, Baku,
Azerbaijan.
143
Vol. 48, Nos.
8 h. The ingots were cooled at a rate of 7 8 K/min. The al-
loys were compact and had metallic luster. In order to ensure
an equilibrium state, the alloys of both systems were sub-
jected to homogenizing annealing at 200C for 500 h. The
specimens were studied by methods of differential thermal
analysis (using a two-coordinate N-307/1 potentiometer
with a Pt/Pt-Rh thermocouple) and microstructural analysis
(Metam R-1 microscope); the microhardness was measured
using a PMT-3 microhardness meter.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results of the study were used for plotting a phase
diagram of the Co3Sn2 Bi section (Fig. 1a ). It can be seen
that the section is quasi-binary and its phase diagram belongs
to eutectic diagrams with a monotectic. Phase separation in
liquid state occurs in the concentration range of from about
14 to about 88 at.% Bi over a monotectic line at 1075C. The
nonvariant eutectic point has the following coordinates:
about 260C and 98 at.% Bi. The isothermal line at 540C is
caused by polymorphic g g transformation occurring in
the Co3Sn2 compound [4, 5]. We have discovered a domain
of solubility of bismuth in Co3Sn2. The boundary of the ho-
mogeneous domain of bismuth in g-Co3Sn2 at room tempera-
ture is about 8 at.%. Below the solidus the alloys crystallize
in a double-phase mixture consisting of the phases of the ini-
tial components. The microhardness of the alloys with com-
positions corresponding to the Co3Sn2 Bi section is pre-
Co3Sn2 the microhardness increases from about 803 HV for
0026-0673/06/0304-0143 2006 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.
144 M. R. Allazov et al.

HV HV
800
900 850 600
600
800 400
700 200
40 40 b
20 20
20 20
b
t, C
L1 + g t, C L2
1200
L1 + L2 1200 L1 L2 + g
L2 L2 + Bi
g L1 + L2
1075C L2 + g + Bi
1000 1000 L1 + g

L2 + g 820C L2
800 800 a
L1 + g + a
L2 + g
a+g L2 + g + a
600 g + g 540C 600

L2 + g
L2 + g a + g L2 + g + a
400 400
L2 + g + Bi
g 260C 270C 250C
L2 + Bi
200 200
g + Bi a + Bi

Co3Sn2 20 40 60 80 Bi, at.% CoSn 20 40 60 80 Bi, at.%

Fig. 1. Phase diagram of the Co3Sn2 Bi system (a) and micro- Fig. 3. Phase diagram of the CoSn Bi (a) and microhardness of al-
hardness of alloys with composition corresponding to a section of loys with composition corresponding to a section of this diagram (b ).
this diagram (b ).

ternary system and is dissected by a monotectic plane bear-

the impurity-free Co3Sn2 compound to about 807 HV for the
alloy bearing 8 at.% Bi. Figure 2 presents the microstructure
of alloy (Co3Sn2 )0.90Bi0.10. Since the composition of this al-
loy is closer to the boundary of the Co3Sn2-base solid solu-
tions, the photograph bears well manifested lines of the
boundaries of homogeneous phases.
The CoSn Bi system is a non-quasi-binary one
(Fig. 3a ). The liquidus of the system consists primarily of
the branch of primary crystallization of the g-phase. In the
concentration range of from about 17 at.% Bi to about
84 at.% Bi it passes through a domain of phase separation.
Therefore, a part of the crystallization of the alloys occurs
under the region of separation. The peritectic process of for-
mation of CoSn compounds continues in the Co Sn Bi
ing about 25 at.% Bi at 820C. A four-phase nonvariant reac-
tion L1 + L2 g + a occurs at this nonvariant point. The do-
main of solid solutions (a) forms on the basis of CoSn; its
boundary at room temperature is about 1.5 at.% Bi. Full
crystallization of the alloys finishes according to the
L2 + g a + Bi peritectic reaction occurring at about
250C. An alloy bearing about 56 at.% Bi corresponds to
the peritectic point. Lower in the solidus the alloys of the
CoSn Bi system are double-phase and consist of an a-phase
and metallic Bi. Figure 3b presents the microhardness of the
phases of the CoSn Bi system in the entire concentration
range.
Figure 4a presents the microstructure of an alloy bearing
about 5 at.% Bi, i.e., of an alloy with a composition close to

Fig. 4. Microstructure of alloys of the CoSn Bi system: a) 5 at.%

Fig. 2. Microstructure of alloy (Co3Sn2 )0.90Bi0.10, 500. Bi; b ) 90 at.% Bi.
Interaction of Co3Sn2 and CoSn Compounds with Metallic Bismuth
the peritectic point. It can be seen that the morphology of
phase crystallization reflects the peritectic nature of harden-
ing of the alloys. Figure 4b presents the microstructure of an
alloy bearing 90 at.% Bi, i.e., of an alloy close to the eutectic
composition of the CoSn Bi system.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Promising solid solutions based on the Co3Sn2 and
CoSn compounds can be obtained in the Co3Sn2 Bi and
CoSn Bi sections of the Co Sn Bi system. Alloys with
such solid solutions can find use in machine building and
electronic devices.
2. A narrow domain of solid solutions based on the
Co3Sn2 and CoSn compounds has been discovered, the
boundaries of which at room temperature attain about 8 at.%
Bi in the Co3Sn2 Bi system and about 1.5 at.% Bi in the
CoSn Bi system. A domain of separation of components in
the liquid state exists in both sections.
145
3. Despite the closeness of the compositions and proper-
ties of the Co3Sn2 and CoSn compounds, metallic bismuth
affects the nature of their physicochemical interaction differ-
ently; it forms a quasi-binary system with Co3Sn and a
non-quasi-binary system with CoSn.
REFERENCES
1. N. P. Lyakishev (ed.), Phase Diagrams of Binary Metallic Sys-
tems, A Reference Book in 3 Vols., Vol. 1 [in Russian], Mashino-
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2. R. Damm, L. Schei, and E. Wachtel, Z. Metallkunde, 53(3),
196 203 (1962).
3. Ch. I. Avilov, M. R. Allazov, and S. T. Sadygova, Phase diagram
of the [Bi2Sn3 ] CoSn2 system, in: Mater. VIII Republ. Sci.
Conf. Physicochemical Analysis and Inorganic Materials Sci-
ence [in Russian], Izd. BGU, Baku (2002), pp. 22 27.
4. M. J. Asanuma, Phys. Soc. Jpn., 17, 300 306 (1962).
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