The Iron Carbon Diagram over the Years.
logo

By:Cees van de Velde
Last revision: January 15, 2004

cvdv@home.nl

When I developed my first new ideas about graphite formation in ductile cast iron in 1993, I had one major problem: they could not easily be explained by the traditional Iron-Carbon diagram.
Untill then, there was little doubt about the validity of the Iron-carbon diagram. Even though many facts that occur in daily practice cannot be explained by this diagram, additional mechanisms, such as under-cooling, lack of nucleation, non-equilibrium conditions etc., are easily accepted as a correction for these shortcomings.
A quick survey in the companies library, however, showed that many diagrams had been produced which showed remarkable-even fundamental- differences, indicating that still room for alternative views remained.
On this page, an overall view will be given of the various diagrams I found during my literature research on graphite formation in cast iron.This list will gradually be updated.
YearAuthor
Before 1900
1879Mannesmann
Forerunner of the iron carbon diagram
1897 Roberts Austen
Preliminary iron carbon diagram
1898Jüptner
His interpretation of available data.
1899Roberts Austen
Final version of "the first" iron carbon diagram
1900-1910
1900Bakhuis Roozeboom
Introduction of the austenite solidus and a controversial view on carbide formation.
1900Stansfield
Corrections to the earlier diagrams.
1900Jüptner
Influence of cooling velocity on the iron carbon diagram.
1904Carpenter and Keeling
The actual existence of the austenite solidus proven.
1904Heyn
Introduction of the double diagram
1904Bakhuis Roozeboom
Change of his ideas on carbide formation
1905Charpy
Another proposal of the double diagram.
1906Carl Benedicks
Putting it all together.
1907Heyn
Combined proposal of the double diagram.
1909Goerens
Not a double but only a metastable system exists.
1909N.Gutowsky
Plotting all actual measurements in the iron carbon diagram
1909N.Gutowsky
No measurements could prove the existence of a graphite liquidus.
1910-1920
1911Hanemann
Carbon solubility at high temperatures.
1911O.Ruff
Formation of various carbide composition at high temp/carbon content.
1911N.M.Wittorf
Formation of various iron carbide composition at higher temperatures.
1917R.Ruer and F.Goerens
Determination of eutectic temperatures.
1918Hatfield
Supporter of the Metastable diagram.
1920-1930
1920Ruer and Biren
Solubility of graphite at higher temperatures.
1924Institute of german foundrymen
Presentation of a unified iron carbon diagram.
1930-1940
1932Körber and Oelsen
Proposal of an iron carbon diagram after recalculation of all existing data.
1936Epstein
Proposal of an iron carbon diagram after reviewing and correlating all existing data.
1937Adcock
Survey of the delta ferrite region in the iron carbon diagram.
1937Iitaka
1938A.L.Norbury
Allotropic changes of carbon.
1940-1950
1948A.A.Bajkov
Hypothetical Fe-C diagram up to 100% Carbon.
1950-1960
1955Mats Hillert
Recalculation of the Fe3C line.
1959 Neumann
1959Heumann and Wördermann
Comparison of the european and american version of the iron carbon diagram.
1960-1970
1960R.A.Buckley and W.Hume-Rothery
Verification of the phase diagram for Fe-C above 1350 C from 0 to 20 at-% C.
1961Benz and Elliott
Revised iron carbon diagram.
1961Benz and Elliott
The solidus and liquidus of the Y-phase region.
1965A.A.Vertman
The Hypereutectic part of the Fe-C diagram up to 26% Carbon.
1965A.A.Vertman
The Fe-C diagram up to 100 At% Carbon and 3500 C.
1968Hillert
1968G.Serafino
Stable and metastable system regarded as an emulsion.
1968Olen and Heine
The lowest Fe3C liquidus proposed ever.
1970-1980
1972Chipman
Critical review of published data.
1979Schürmann and Schmid
Interpretation of thermodynamically calculated equilibrium lines.
1980-1990
1982Chicco and Thorpe
Revised Fe-C phase diagram.
1982O.Kubaschewski
Fe-C phase diagram.
1990-2000
1992Zhukov
Fe-C phase diagram with added carbon isoactivity lines.
1997Mizoguchi
Fe-C phase diagram with extreme austenite undercooling.
2000-