Hypercooling limit, heat of fusion, and temperature-dependent specific heat of Fe-Cr-Ni melts.

Thermophysical properties of Fe-Cr-Ni melts are studied using electrostatic levitation and rapid solidification techniques. Six hypoeutectic Fe0.72Cr w Ni(0.28-w) alloys with a Cr/Ni ratio of around 0.8 were melted and solidified at different degrees of undercooling. From the observed relationship between the undercooling and thermal plateau time, the hypercooling limit and heat of fusion of Fe0.72Cr w Ni(0.28-w) melts are determined as a function of Cr mass fraction. A ratio of specific heat and total hemispherical emissivity of the Fe-Cr-Ni melts is calculated using the time-temperature profiles. A new method is presented to evaluate the temperature dependence of specific heat for undercooled melts and applied to this alloy family.