Volume effects in the theory of equilibrium and quasiequilibrium states of multicomponent solid solutions

A phenomenological theory of equilibrium and quasiequilibrium states of multicomponent solid solutions is constructed taking account of volume effects. Quasiequilibrium states are characterized by the fact that only some of the conditions for thermal dynamic equilibrium of the system are satisfied. The short-range parts of the interatomic interactions are taken into account by introducing the proper volumes of the atoms based on a generalized lattice model. The long-range parts of the potentials are taken into account in the effective-field approximation. The equations for the quasiequilibrium components in the solutions are introduced taking account of the nonuniformity in the distributions of the less mobile nonequilibrium components. The conditions for spinodal decomposition of a solid solution with an arbitrary number of components in the equilibrium and quasiequilibrium cases are obtained. An equation for equilibrium spinodal decomposition of a three-component microheterogeneous solid solution is found. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 1609–1613 (September 1999)