Thermo-Calc 2022a Available Now

Databases , Release News , Software
Wednesday 8 December 2021

Thermo-Calc 2022a is released December 2021 and includes our first ever databases for zirconium and permanent magnetic materials, a new Material to Material Calculator, a Nickel Model Library, and much more.

Update Released

An update to Thermo-Calc 2022a was released on January 18, 2022 and a second on January 19, 2022. If you installed Thermo-Calc 2022a before January 19, you are encouraged to update your software as these updates includes critical bug fixes.

You can check whether you are running the most recent version by opening Thermo-Calc and navigating to the Help menu > About. You should be running version 2022.1.95234-411.

Read about the Updates

Highlights of Thermo-Calc 2022a

New Material to Material Calculator
Grain growth with particle pinning added to TC-PRISMA
New Nickel Model Library
Scheil Improvements
Console Command History Improvements

Several Quantities Now Available for Plotting and Tabulating
Fourteen new and updated databases

Read the Release Notes

Webinar on Thermo-Calc 2022a Release

Watch our release webinar to learn about the exciting new features and new databases included in Thermo-Calc 2022a. In this webinar, two of the developers who worked on the release will speak about these exciting new developments.

Watch the Release Webinar

New Material to Material Calculator

A Material to Material Calculator has been added to Thermo-Calc, which allows you to perform calculations that examine how materials transition from one into the other. The calculator can be applied in any situation where different materials are in contact with each other and will react significantly, usually at high temperatures, or in instances where they will gradually transition into each other by design.

transition-of-phases-for-Fe-Cr-Ni-alloy-from-one-composition-to-another-at-650-degrees-C — The plot shows the gradual transition from a martensitic stainless steel on the left to Alloy 800 on the right at 650 °C, calculated using the new Material to Material Calculator. Neither material is expected to form any detrimental phase on its own at this temperature. However, we can see that within the transition zone of these two materials, the detrimental sigma phase can potentially occur (red line).

Typical applications of the Material to Material Calculator include:

Graded materials produced by additive manufacturing or other methods
Non-similar material joints, such as welds of titanium with nickel-based superalloys
Reaction of two materials, for instance, the influence of volcanic ash on a turbine component in an engine
And more...

One new example is included in the software demonstrating this new calculator, T_14_Fe-Cr-Ni_Material_to_Material.

A companion video is also available showing how to set up this example and discussing the results.

Learn more about the Material to Material Calculator

Grain Growth with Particle Pinning Added to TC-PRISMA

A new model has been added to the Precipitation Module (TC-PRISMA) that allows users to calculate normal grain growth with particle pinning, also known as Zener pinning. The new model calculates the temporal evolution of grain size distribution. The grains are assumed to be of spherical morphology and nucleation is not considered.

results-comparing-the-ferrite-mean-grain-radius-with-and-without-pinning-for-the-BCC-A2 phase-and-compared-to-experimental-data-from-1975-Hel — This plot compares the ferrite mean grain radius with and without pinning for the BCC-A2 phase of an Fe-0.2C weight percent alloy at 722 °C. As can be seen in the plot, the pinning effect of the precipitate particles inhibits the grain boundary motion so that the overall grain size is reduced significantly.

A new example is included in this release demonstrating this new model: P_14_Precipitation_Fe-C-Ferrite-Grain_Growth_with_Zener_Pinning.

A companion video is also available that shows how to set up this example and discusses the results.

New Nickel Model Library

Thermo-Calc 2022a introduces a Nickel Model Library – a package of pre-built Property Models that allow for easy set up of some of the most common calculations used by those working with Nickel-base alloys.

Three Property Models are included in the new Nickel Model Library:

Anti-phase Boundary Energy (APB) calculates the antiphase boundary energy for Ni-base alloys with gamma prime (γ') as the precipitate phase
Coarsening calculates the coarsening rate coefficient of one or several precipitate phases in a matrix phase, assuming spherical geometry of the precipitating phase(s)
Equilibrium with Freeze-in Temperature calculates equilibrium at the freeze-in temperature and evaluates the properties at a different temperature

lattice-parameters-for-gamma-and-gamma-prime-of-Ni-0 — The plot shows the lattice parameters for gamma and gamma prime plotted against experimental data from Nathal et al. It is a one axis calculation of a Ni0.6Mo0.92Ta12.5Al1.83Ti10.5Cr3.3W alloy evaluated with a range of 20 °C to 1000 °C using the Equilibrium with Freeze-in Temperature Nickel Property Model in Thermo-Calc. The freeze-in temperature is set to 1000 °C.

The new Nickel Model Library is available for free to all users who have a license for the nickel databases TCNI11 and MOBNI5 and have a valid Maintenance and Support Subscription.

This release includes two examples to help users get started with the new models:

PM_Ni_01_Lattice_Parameter_of_Gamma_Gamma_Prime.tcu
PM_Ni_02_Antiphase_Boundary_Energy_of_Gamma_Prime.tcu

Learn more about the Nickel Model Library

Scheil Improvements

Several improvements have been made to the Scheil calculator for this release:

Global minimization is now turned on by default for all Scheil simulations
There is now a way to control the global test interval, which is set to every tenth step by default
A new setting has been added that allows users to start the calculation from the start temperature, so results will be included from the liquid phase above liquidus
Scheil calculations can now be performed without the equilibrium solidification line
Several improvements have been made to plotting, such as the ability to tabulate density

Console Command History Improved

A new feature has been added to the Console Mode that allows users to copy their command history to the clipboard or save commands to a .tcm file, even after the program has crashed. This new feature ensures that your information is always saved, so you can access all entered commands – for each console session – even if you don’t record them from the beginning of your work. Additionally, if the program crashes, you will be given the opportunity to copy or save your work.

console-command-history-improvements_3750x936 — A new feature has been added to the Console Mode that allows users to copy their command history to the clipboard or save commands to a .tcm file (left), even after the program has crashed (right).

Several Quantities Now Available for Plotting and Tabulating

Several quantities in Thermo-Calc are now available for plotting and tabulating in the Graphical Mode. Previously, these quantities had to be entered as specific functions in the Functions tab, but they can now be accessed easily from a drop down menu in the function tab of the Equilibrium Calculator, and from many table and plot renderers. The newly included quantities are:

Bohr magneton number
Curie temperature
Density
Heat capacity
Isothermal compressibility for the system
Phase stability function
Thermal expansivity for the system
Volume fraction of phase

Thermo-Calc-quantities-now-available-for-plotting-and-tabulating_1703x917 — Several quantities in Thermo-Calc are now available for plotting and tabulating in the Graphical Mode, such as Bohr magneton number, Curie temperature, and density, as shown above.

Fourteen New and Updated Database

The 2022a release includes eight new and six updated databases, including the introduction of our first ever databases for zirconium and permanent magnetic materials.

Our database development also continues to focus on adding new thermophysical properties to all databases.

New Databases

TCPMAG1: Permanent Magnetic Materials Database

The Permanent Magnetic Materials Database (TCPMAG1) is a completely new thermodynamic and properties database. TCPMAG1 includes:

6 elements: B, Ce, Fe, La, Nd, and Pr
15 binary systems
11 ternary systems
19 phases

In addition to thermodynamic data, it has thermophysical properties data available for:

Molar volume of all solid phases and liquid
Viscosity of liquid
Surface tension of liquid

Learn more about TCPMAG1

TCZR1: Zr-based Alloys Database

TCZR1 is a completely new thermodynamic and properties database for zirconium-based alloys. It can be used for a wide range of compositions from pure zirconium to very complex zirconium-based commercial zirconium alloys. TCZR1 includes:

8 elements: Cr, Fe, H, Nb, Ni, O, Sn, and Zr
28 binary systems
19 ternary systems
69 phases

In addition to thermodynamic data, it has thermophysical properties data available for:

Molar volume of all solid phases and liquid
Viscosity of liquid
Surface tension of liquid

Learn more about TCZR1

MOBNOBL1: Noble Metal Alloys Mobility Database

This new kinetic database can be used for the atomic mobility descriptions of Ag-Au-Cu-Pd-Pt based alloys for the fcc and liquid phases. It is compatible and developed to be used with TCS Noble Metal Alloys Database (TCNOBL1). MOBNOBL1 includes:

21 elements: Ag, Au, Cu, Pd, Pt, Al, Co, Cr, Fe, Ga, Ge, In, Ir, Mn, Ni, Re, Rh, Ru, Sn, Ti, and Zn
90 binary systems and 3 ternary systems for FCC phase
90 binary systems for liquid phase

Learn more about MOBNOBL1

TCFE12: Steel and Fe-alloys Database

Adds tin (Sn) and the related 26 binary and 13 ternary systems
Adds electrical resistivity for crystalline phases and liquid
Adds thermal conductivity for crystalline phases and liquid
Updated zinc corner
Unified several phases with the same crystallography
Corrected the low melting pseudobinary in Fe-O-Si
Extended the ternary phosphide: FEMP_C37 (Co, Cr, Fe, Nb, Ni, Ti, V, W)1(Co, Cr, Fe, Nb, NI, Ti, V, W)1P1
Revised C-Ca and estimated C-Ca-Fe

Learn more about TCFE12

MOBFE7: Steel and Fe-alloys Mobility Database

Adds tin (Sn) in BCC, FCC, and liquid phases

Learn more about MOBFE7

TCTI4: Titanium and TiAl-based Alloys Database

Adds electrical resistivity data
Adds thermal conductivity data
Assessed two new ternaries: Ti-Al-Ni and Ti-Cu-Ni
Updated volume descriptions for α2 and γ phases
Updated description of BCC_A2 in Mo-V and Mo-Ti-V systems

Learn more about TCTI4

MOBAL7: Aluminum-alloys Mobility Database

Adds five elements to the FCC and liquid phases: Nd, Pr, S, Se, Te

Learn more about MOBAL7

SSOL8: SGTE Solutions Database

Adds one new ternary system: B-Mo-Ti
Adds 101 new binary systems
Adds 312 new phases
Adds Boron (B) to the gas phase

Learn more about SSOL8

Updated Databases

TCMG6.2: Magnesium-based Alloys Database

The magnesium-based alloys database was updated to version TCMG6.2. Users who have a license for TCMG6 and a valid Maintenance and Support Subscription receive this upgrade for free.

Improvements to thermal resistivity
Improvements to electrical resistivity
Updated molar volume and thermal expansion coefficient of DHCP and liquid for praseodymium (Pr)

Learn more about TCMG6.2

TCSLD4.1: Solder Alloy Solutions Database

The solder alloy solutions database was updated to version TCSLD4.1. Users who have a license for TCSLD4 and a valid Maintenance and Support Subscription receive this upgrade for free.

Sn-Bi binary system re-assessed
Improvements to lattice stability
Improvements to viscosity and surface tension parameters
Improvements to volume parameters

Learn more about TCSLD4.1

TCHEA5.1: High Entropy Alloys Database

The high entropy alloys database was updated to version TCHEA5.1. Users who have a license for TCHEA5 and a valid Maintenance and Support Subscription receive this upgrade for free.

Improvements to BCC phase descriptions of the Al-Cr-Nb-Ti-V-Zr system
Improvements to the MC carbide description of the (Hf, Nb, Ta, Ti, V, Zr)C system
Minor bug fixes for ternary-related calculation of the Al-Fe-W, Al-Hf-Nb, Al-Mo-Nb, and Al-Mo-Ni systems

Learn more about TCHEA5.1

TCAL8.1: Aluminum-based Alloys Database

The aluminum-based alloys database was updated to version TCAL8.1. Users who have a license for TCHEA8 and a valid Maintenance and Support Subscription receive this upgrade for free.

Updates to the surface tension, viscosity, and volume data for liquid
Adds SURF/VISC parameters to all assessed binaries
Improvements to electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity
Improvements to molar volume and thermal expansivity for praseodymium (Pr)
Modeling of the Y solubility in aluminum (Al)

Learn more about TCAL8.1

TCOX11.1: Metal Oxide Solutions Database

The metal oxide solutions database was updated to version TCOX11.1. Users who have a license for TCOX11 and a valid Maintenance and Support Subscription receive this upgrade for free.

Improvement to the molar volume of FCC_A1 and BCC_A2 phases

Learn more about TCOX11.1

TCNI11.0.1: Nickel-based Superalloys Database

The nickel-based superalloys database was updated to version TCNI11.0.1. Users who have a license for TCNI11 and a valid Maintenance and Support Subscription receive this upgrade for free.

Improvements to the molar volume of the M6C phase

Learn more about TCNI11.0.1