Experimental investigation and thermodynamic prediction of the Ni–Pb–Sb phase diagram

The phase diagram of the ternary Ni–Pb–Sb system was investigated experimentally by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) methods, and predicted using the calculation of phase diagrams (CALPHAD) method. The phase transition temperatures of alloys along three predicted vertical sections of the Ni–Pb–Sb ternary system, with molar ratio Ni:Sb=1:3, Ni:Pb=1, and x(Sb)=0.6, were measured by DSC. The predicted isothermal section at 700 °C was compared with the results of the SEM–EDS analysis in this work.

► The phase diagram of the ternary Ni–Pb–Sb system was predicted using the CALPHAD method.
► The isothermal section at 700 °C was experimentally investigated using the SEM–EDS method.
► The phase transition temperatures of selected samples were measured using DSC.