On the structure of the melting diagrams of quaternary systems

Abstract

Topological and geometric images of invariant and monovariant reactions with the participation of melt in quaternary systems were presented. A network of invariant points and monovariant lines characterizes the structure of the liquidus hypersurface. Each invariant reaction produces an association of four solid phases, which is an element of the solidus hypersurface. Its topology is conveniently described by a graph of adjacency of tetrahedra that partition the composition tetrahedron of a system with a given set of binary, ternary, and quaternary compounds. It was demonstrated that it is possible to construct a spatial network of invariant points and monovariant lines on the liquidus hypersurface using the tetrahedron incidence graph with consideration for the phase reactions occurring in the system.