Thermodynamic reassessment of Fe–Nb–V system

Thermodynamic reassessment of the ternary Fe–Nb–V system was carried out after a critical review of the available experimental and ab initio data. The primary solidified phases of Fe–Nb–V alloys were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The C14 Laves phase exhibits a wide primary solidification field in the Fe-rich region, which is in contradiction with the experimental observation in the literature. Ab initio calculations were performed to obtain the enthalpies of formation of three intermetallic compounds (i.e., C14 Laves, μ, and σ), which were used to estimate the thermodynamic parameters. The end-member parameters for the three phases were improved in comparison with the previous description. The presently obtained thermodynamic description of the ternary system can reproduce the wide homogeneity range of the C14 Laves phase and the phase equilibria between the intermetallic compounds and bcc phase. •The primary solidified phases of Fe–Nb–V alloys were experimentally investigated.•The formation enthalpies of C14, μ, and σ were obtained by ab initio calculations.•A self-consistent thermodynamic description of the Fe–Nb–V system was obtained.•The wide homogeneity range of the C14 Laves phase was well described.