Diffusive phase transformations: Example of Fe–M alloys

A correlation has been performed between the existing theoretical notions of the diffusive phase transformations and the experimental data obtained by us earlier when studying Fe–M alloys by means of structural methods. The conclusions following from this correlation suggest that the phase transformations occurring at the level of changes in the electronic structure determine the possibility of further “secondary” phase transformations at the level of changes in the microstructure of alloys and, that the solid solution regions in the phase diagrams are in actuality regions in which a tendency towards phase separation takes place. Under suitable conditions, a microstructure of phase separation is formed. The transitions occurred at the level of a microstructure, no matter how the tendency (towards ordering or phase separation) manifests itself in an alloy, begin always with cluster formation and are followed by a spinodal mechanism.