3D Stereo spatial phase diagram for a typical complex ternary system

Abstract

Phase diagrams describing phases under varying composition, temperature and pressure are considered as the road maps for metals and alloys, minerals and ceramics. They are usually of very complicated spatial geometry, hard for understanding. Wireframe phase diagram models have been always used in teaching and scientific research since 1950’s.1 As information technology appeared, computer aided drawing of phase diagrams came to be popular.2–9 Some commercial phase diagram software were developed, such as Panda T, Thermo calc, Fact Sage, etc. However, the display of 3D phase diagram on monitor or paper is actually a faked 3D stereo display. They are 3D shapes, but they can be only watched as 2D images, 3D effects are realized by perspective view, or by rotation and slicing of the models. It is hard to tell the special relationships of curves, surfaces and solid regions of the three dimensional phase diagrams printed in books. Tamas and Pal realized 3D stereo effect of phase diagrams by anaglyph method as early as 1970.10 But, all the figures were the combinations of only red and cyan lines and curves by hand drawing. Thus, it was impossible to realize plane shading, transparency effect, color pictures and movies. Kang et al. managed to improve the illustration of complex phase diagrams, such as wireframe phase diagrams, computer aided models and introduced 3D stereo visualization into phase diagram and modeling and simulation and published an album about simulated results of castings in which the stereo effect can be achieved by the aid of red-cyan glasses.11–13 In this paper, with the adoption of 3D stereoscopic visualization technology, significant 3D stereo effect of a typical complex phase diagram was realized.