Abstract
THE carbide phase of a stainless steel containing about 13 per cent chromium and 0.3 per cent carbon has the same crystal structure as the lowest of the chromium carbides1. The latter, which contains about 20 atomic per cent carbon, has been found to be face-centred cubic. From its lattice parameter, 10.64 A., and density, 6.97, the number of atoms in its unit cell may be calculated; it is 116. Its formula should accordingly be Cr23C6. As this, however, is contrary to the rule of simple stoichiometric proportions, it was considered more probable that in the unit cell were present not 116 but 120 atoms, and that the true composition of the carbide2 agreed with the formula Cr4C. The carbide of stainless steel has consequently been denoted by (Cr,Fe)4C (iron content up to about 25 atomic per cent).
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References
J. Iron and Steel Inst., 117, 383 ; 1928.
K. Vetenskapsakademiens Handl., III: 2, No. 5 ; 1926.
NATURE, 132, 61, July 8, 1933.
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WESTGREN, A. Complex Chromium and Iron Carbides. Nature 132, 480 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132480a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132480a0
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