• Download FactSage 6.2 - The FactSage 6.2 Update/Installation program contains the complete 6.2 package of software, databases and documentation. It can be downloaded from the Internet. For details visit www.factsage.com and click on 'Download Service' and then 'FactSage 6.2 Update/Installation (November 2010)'. For certain installations it may not be possible to download the file - for example you may get an error message such as 'webpage cannot be found'. This could be because the security settings on your computer are blocking the transfer of a ".zip" file or the file is too large to download. Check with your IT group.

• FactSage Installation - Prior to 6.0, FactSage was installed as a two-stage operation - first via FactSage 5.0 (April 2001) and then updated to FactSage 5.x (x = 1, 2 ... 5). Installation was normally in the root directory (typically c:\FactSage) and long names and spaces were not permitted.

  The FactSage 6.2 Update/Installation program is a one-stage installation and update program. It can update an earlier version of FactSage that is already installed on the PC (FactSage 5.1 ... 6.1) and it can completely install a new FactSage 6.2 version on a new PC. With FactSage 6.2 long names up to 128 characters (including spaces) are permitted.

• Server/Client Installation - For a client installation on the network, there is a new program FactSageClient that enables the Client workstation to locate the Server installation. The program is run prior to the FactSage 6.2 setup program and is well-suited for Windows 7 installations. Details are given in ShowMe which is part of the installation package.

• Server/Client Update - On a network installation, if the FactSage Client is already running FactSage, then if the Server installation is updated (for example a new version or new databases) the Client installation will not be updated until a new day. This default action can be overridden - to immediately update FactSage on the Client workstation, in FactSage Main Menu of the client PC click on 'Tools > FactSage Network > Refresh Client installation ...'.

• Expiration Date - Prior to 6.2 the FactSage expiration date posted by FactSage was sometimes incorrect. For example, even after the date on a dongle had been refreshed, FactSage still reported the old expiration date. This has be corrected in FactSage 6.2.

• Dongles - The software associated with detecting and installing the drivers, and reading the MemoHASP keys (dongles) has been modified for Windows 7. All reported problems on detecting and reading dongles have been resolved.

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 - FactSage 6.2 has been successfully installed and tested under Windows XP (32 bit), Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit) and Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit) operating systems. The UAC (User Account Control) that swung into action with Windows Vista and Windows 7 has been deactivated. All programs run as designed apart from the Solution module (see below),

• New atomic weights - in FactSage 6.2 the atomic weights of about 50 elements have been changed. The new values have been taken from NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology - Physics Laboratory. Most changes are very minor - see View Data below for details.

• New slide shows - FactSage 6.2 includes new slide shows on a FactSage Overview as well as applications in Chemical Processing and Alloy Design.

  These slide shows were originally prepared for the Montreal 2010 FactSage Workshop. Click on 'Slide Shows > ...'.

  FactSage Overview - a quick look at FactSage modules and databases.

  FactSage Applications Processing - slide shows on the use of FactSage in high temperature chemical processing :

  • Combustion and Heat balance
  • Oxides and Pyrometallurgy
  • Ferrous Metallurgy
  • Hall-Heroult Process

  FactSage Applications Alloy Design - slide shows on the use of FactSage in alloy design :

  • Alloy Design Basics
  • Alloy Design Advanced
  • Metal Treatment (Al and Mg)
  • Solidification and Thermodynamics

  The documents may also be downloaded - www.factsage.com > 'FactSage Applications'

A list of atomic weights for all elements has been added to the View Data Window - click on 'Atomic Weights'. The list includes the changes in FactSage 6.2 for about 50 elements. Most changes are very minor. The atomic weights are taken from NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology - Physics Laboratory.

Cp(T) Expression - Modifications have been made to the Cp(T) expression defined in the Compound module. The expression is stored in the compound database and accessed by the modules Predom, EpH, Reaction, Equilib and Phase Diagram.
Cp = a + bT + c/T² + dT² + e.F₁(T) + f.F₂(T) + g.F₃(T) + h.F₄(T)

As before, up to 8 coefficients (a, b ... h) can be stored but now the first 4 functions of temperature must be fixed as defined in the Cp expression above. The remaining 4 functions, F₁(T) to F₄(T), remain user-defined. This change will have no effect on most users.

The Solution Module cannot be run under Windows Vista or Windows 7. This problem is not unique to 6.2 - it is present in earlier versions of FactSage. We are programming a completely new Solution Module that will be Vista and 7 friendly. It should be ready for FactSage 6.3.

• MADS - A new algorithm MADS (Mesh Adaptive Direct Search algorithm developed at GERAD, Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal) has been added to OptiSage in order to give an excellent initial estimate of the parameters. The parameters are then optimized by a fast Bayesian technique as before.

• Slide Show - The OptiSage slide show has been updated to reflect the changes due to the MADS algorithm.

• Non-Stoichiometric Compounds - Most reactants specified in the Reactants Window are stoichiometric compounds such as H₂O or SiO₂. However some compounds stored in the public compound databases may be non-stoichiometric. Such compounds are identified in the Reactants Window by their nominal stoichiometric formula that is close in composition to the real values.

  For example, in the FACT53 compound database the non-stoichiometric compound Fe(7.016)S(8) (e.g. 7.016 Fe, 8 S) is identified by its nominal stoichiometric formula Fe7S8; Zn(2.001)Ca(0.9999) is Zn2Ca; Fe(10.99992)S(12) is Fe11S12; etc. When such a compound (e.g. the nominal composition Fe7S8, Zn2Ca, Fe11S12, ...) is entered as a reactant it is 'flagged' by a yellow mask in the Reactants Window as being non-stoichiometric (for this to occur the 'initial conditions' box must be checked).

  Sometimes a non-stoichiometric compound has more than one phase. For example, in the SGPS (SGTE) compound database, wustite Fe(0.947)O(1) has the nominal composition FeO and data are stored for both the solid and the gas phase. But the stored composition for the gas phase is for the nominal composition (FeO) since a non-stoichiometric gas molecule cannot exist.

  For a non-stoichiometric compound in Equilib and Phase Diagram
  

  • the solid and liquid phases are treated as non-stoichiometric as defined by the real composition

  • the gas and aqueous phases are treated as stoichiometric as defined by the nominal composition

• Solidification Software - examples of solidification calculations for Scheil-Gulliver cooling hve been added to the slide shows.

• FToxid-SLAG Information - In the Menu Window of Equilib and Phase Diagram, when selecting an FToxid solution slag phase (FToxid-SLAGA, FToxid-SLAGB, etc.) additional information about the slag phase is now posted in order to help you decide which slag (SLAGA, SLAGB, etc.) should be selected.

  Most calculations with FToxid-SLAG use FToxid-SLAGA - this is the slag solution with all the oxides and includes up to 10% sulfur if this element is also included in the calculation.

  The other slag phases are:

  FToxid-SLAGB with SO4;      FToxid-SLAGC with PO4;     FToxid-SLAGD with CO₃;
  FToxid-SLAGE with H₂O/OH;     FToxid-SLAGF with I;      FToxid-SLAGG with C/N/CN;
  FToxid-SLAGH with F/Cl;      FToxid-SLAG? - all species (not recommended).

  More extensive details on the FToxid-SLAGA, -SLAGB, etc. phases can be found in the Documentation located in the FactSage Main Menu.

• Miscibility Gap - Option 'I' - In the Menu Window of Equilib and Phase Diagram, when selecting solution phases it is necessary to indicate which phases may have miscibility gaps. This is done by specifying option 'I' (or 'J') for possible 2-phase (or 3-phase) immiscibility.

  If 'I' is not selected and a calculated composition is within or near a miscibility gap, then the composition will most likely be in error. If 'I' is selected but there is no miscibility gap, the calculated composition will be correct but the time to calculate will be increased. In other words, selecting 'I' is a safe way but possibly time consuming especially when several phases are incorrectly designated as 'I' when '+' would suffice.

  In order to determine if option 'I' should be used it has been necessary to consult the documentation. For example, in FToxid database the following phases may have regions of 2-phase or 3-phase immiscibility: FToxid-SLAG, -mullite, -spinel, -monoxide, -pyroxenes, -olivine, -corundum, -ilmenite. Prior to 6.2 such phases when selected were automatically set to option 'I'. But within a given solution, there will only be a miscibility gap when certain elements are present. For example, in the FToxid-MeO monoxide phase that contains FeO, CaO, MgO, MnO, NiO, CoO, etc. only those solutions containing CaO could have a miscibility gap.

  In FactSage 6.2 the precise conditions for option 'I' are now stored within the FToxid, FTmisc (for sulphide systems) and FTsalt databases. Equilib and Phase Diagram will automatically select option '+' when immiscibility is not possible, and set it to 'I' for those cases where option 'I' should be used. It is no longer necessary to consult the documentation - the selection of '+' or 'I' will be done for you. We consider this to be a very important and useful improvement to the Equilib and Phase Diagram modules.

  Note: you are can overide the default 'I' setting by manually selecting '+' but this is not recommended.

• Miscibility Gap - Output The output for immiscible phases (options 'I' and 'J') in the Results Window has been reformatted. The list of solution phases in the output is normally ordered with respect to amount and then by 'activity' for those phases with zero amounts. This means that the stable ('activity' = 1) and prominent solutions appear at the top.

  In FToxid-SLAGA for example, this may result in Slag-liquid#1 appearing in the list at the top, far away from Slag-liquid#2 which would be at the bottom if it is not stable.

  In FactSage 6.2 both immiscible phases for the same solution phase (e.g. Slag-liquid#1 and Slag-liquid#2) will now appear together - the position in the list is determined by the amount (or activity) of the more prominent immiscible phase.

• Heating and Cooling - A range of values such as alpha, temperature, pressure, etc. is specified in the 'Final Conditions' frame in the Menu Window as 'first-value last-value step' where 'step' is the step in the calculation or optionally left blank.

  A range of alpha (pressure, etc.) can be increasing, for example '0 1 0.2' (e.g. 0 0.2 0.4 ... 1), or decreasing, for example ' 1 0 0.2' (e.g. 1 0.8 0.6 ... 0). However the temperature range is an exception and has always been treated as increasing. For example the temperature range '3000 1000 500' (e.g. 3000 2500 ... 1000) would be treated as '1000 3000 500' (e.g. 1000 1500 ... 3000).

  In FactSage 6.2 the temperature range may now be for heating ('1000 3000 500') or for cooling ('3000 1000 500') and the output in the Results Windows respects the direction in temperature. The cooling option is useful when identifying the first solids precipitated as shown next.

• Phase Transitions - When a range of alpha, temperature or pressure, etc. is specified in the Menu Window the 'Transitions' button in the 'Equilibrium' frame can be selected and Equilib will then calculate all phase transitions within the specified range. For multiphase calculations the number of such phase transitions may be extensive and difficult to identify especially when the results are mixed in with the output generated by a large range of 'First-value Last-value Step'.

  The Equilibrium 'transitions' button has been replaced by two buttons:

  • 'normal + transitions' reports all calculations and all phase transitions - this is as before

  • 'transitions only' only reports the phase transitions - this is new.

  When a transitions button is pressed, a 'Transitions frame' is displayed in the Menu Window and the 'number of transitions' can now be specified. You can specify 'All' to list all the transitions (just as before), or you can limit the number of reported transitions to 1, 2, or 3 etc. as you wish.

  When combined with the 'heating' or 'cooling' temperature range described earlier, this means that you need only calculate the first 1, 2 or 3 etc. transitions on cooling down from a high temperature (e.g. the liquidus for the first precipitate, etc.) or the first 1, 2, or 3 etc. transitions on heating up from a low temperature.

• Volume Unit - litre or dm3 - A litre (or liter), l or L, is a volume equivalent to a cubic decimetre, dm3; a millilitre (or milliliter), ml, is a volume equivalent to a cubic centimetre cm3. The output in the Results Window has been reformatted: in the FACT output the volume unit is 'litre'; in the ChemSage output the volume unit is 'dm3'.

• Viscosity and Thermal Conductivity of Gases - some of the physical properties reported in Results Window are calculated by a module called PhysProp.dll that is accessed by Equilib. In FactSage 6.2 there is a new version of PhysProp.dll that now calculates an estimation of the viscosity and thermal conductivity of the gas phase. In order to activate this calculation the 'include molar volumes' box located in the Menu Window must be checked.

FactOptimal is accessed though the Equilib module. To view the FactOptimal Slide Show click on 'Slide Show' in FactSage Main Menu or click on 'Help > Slide Show ...' in the Equilib Reactants Window.

FactOptimal is a completely new program that computes optimal conditions for material and process design by coupling FactSage with the Mesh Adaptive Direct Search (MADS) algorithm for nonlinear optimization developed by the GERAD research group at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal.

For example, in the LiCl-NaCl-KCl-RbCl-CsCl-MgCl2-CaCl2-SrCl2-BaCl2 system one can employ FactOptimal to locate the composition that has the global minimum temperature on the liquidus. The result is 17.44 wt.% LiCl, 0% NaCl. 14.98% KCl, 7.32% RbCl, 48.88% CsCl, 6.39% MgCl2 0% CaCl2, 3.96 SrCl2, 1.02% BaCl2 where T(minimum) = 232 C and Delta H(fusion) = 139.2 kJ/kg. To perform such a search 'by hand' in this 9-component system would require thousands of calculations over a huge grid of compositions and it would be extremely time-consuming. With FactOptimal approximately 500 calculations (~1.5 hours) were performed to find the minimum.

Similarly, one could search for alloys within a given composition range, with a liquidus temperature below X^oC, with a desired freezing range, with a maximum or minimum amount of precipitates after annealing at Y^oC, with a density or shrinkage ratio within a given range, etc. One could also search for optimal annealing or rolling temperatures.

The development of FactOptimal is being supported by funding from the NSERC Magnesium Strategic Research Network. More information on the Network can be found at www.MagNET.ubc.ca.

• Non-Stoichiometric Compounds, FToxid-SLAG Information, Miscibility Gap - Option 'I'
  - Please refer to the Equilib section above for the programming changes that are common to both Equilib and Phase Diagram.

• Gas Surface Projection - It is now possible to plot the polythermal projections of condensation and of evaporation surfaces. Examples of gas surface projections have been added in the Phase Diagram Slide Show.

• Enthalpy-Composition Diagram - It is now possible to calculate enthalpy-composition (H-X) phase diagrams. The vertical axis is the enthalpy relative to the enthalpy at a specified reference temperature (for example, 25^oC) and the horizontal axis is the composition, either in a binary system or along a constant composition path (isopleth) in a multicomponent system.

  The enthalpy-composition (H-X) diagram is defined in the Variables Window. In the Temperature frame you select 'enthalpy' from the drop-down menu and then you define enthalpy-maximum, temperature-minimum and the step in temperature. It is recommended that you select the option to plot the 'iso-thermal lines'.

  The resulting diagram permits you to read at a glance the heat change associated with each stage of cooling a mixture (sensible heat during cooling a single phase, heat change during eutectic reactions, etc.) . An example of a enthalpy-composition diagram has been added to the Phase Diagram Slide Show.

• Parameters Window - The Phase Diagram graphical settings that are displayed in the Parameters Window have been expanded and reformatted.
  • Labels & Lines - the line color, line width and line style are new.

  • Iso-Thermal Section - the enthalpy line color and enthalpy line style are new.

  • Polythermal Projection - this now includes an option to automatically label all the projection surfaces (the manual mouse 'point and click' is still available). Also there is an option to label the intersection points with a number # (as before) or with the actual temperature (this is new) using a user-defined color (this is new).

• Units - The units listed on the X and Y axes are now reported as 'grams/grams' and 'mol/mol'. These are more correct than 'mass' and 'mole' that were reported prior to FactSage 6.2.

Viscosity is a new module that is presented in the FactSage Main Menu.

A new model for the viscosity of single-phase liquid slags and glasses has been developed. It is distinct from other viscosity models in that it directly relates the viscosity to the structure of the melt, and the structure in turn is calculated from the thermodynamic description of the melt using the Modified Quasichemical Model.

The model requires very few parameters which were optimized to fit the experimental data for pure oxides and selected binary and ternary systems. The viscosities of multicomponent melts and glasses are then predicted by the model within experimental error limits without using any additional parameters.

The model has been checked against the experimental data available for Al₂O₃-B₂O₃-CaO-FeO-Fe₂O₃-K₂O-MgO-MnO-Na₂O-NiO-PbO-SiO₂-TiO₂-Ti₂O₃-ZnO-F melts and for Al₂O₃-B₂O₃-CaO-K₂O-MgO-Na₂O-PbO-SiO₂ glasses.

The viscosity module is easy to use: you simply enter a composition (moles or grams), the temperature and click the "Calculate" button. A range of compositions and temperatures can be pasted from Excel and the results can be saved in an Excel or text file.

• New Phase Names
  • Several of the databases have been updated - the details are given below. When an updated database is scanned using a previously stored calculation (EQUI*.dat, PHAS*.dat) you may get a message of the type:

    New Phase Names

    The following solution phases could not be located:

    FToxid CPYR ... etc.

    For example in the FToxid database, the clino-pyroxene phase was previously named FToxid-cPyr. In FactSage 6.2 there are now two clino-pyroxene phases, FToxid-cPyrA and FToxid-cPyrB. Hence, if the FToxid-cPyr phase was in your stored input file you will now receive a message that FToxid-cPyr is not located.

• FS53 Compound Database
  • The following compounds have been updated : MnTiO₃, MnTi₂O₅, Ni₂SiO₄, SnO₂, U₁₀C₁₉, Pu.
    

  • The following compound has been deleted : ZrC₄.

• FToxid - the FACT Oxide Database has been updated.
  • Changes in phase names in FToxid :

    Proto-pyroxene (pPyr): replaced by pPyrA, pPyrB and pPyrC
    Clino-pyroxene (cPyr): replaced by cPyrA and cPyrB
    Ortho-pyroxene (oPyr): will appear as a possible solution only if MgO is present
    Mg-Zn pyroxene (MgPy): replaced by pPyrC

  • Update to FToxid-slag for more accurate calculation of copper and sulfur solubility in fayalite slags.

  • Update to FToxid-slag for liquid FeO-TiO₂-Ti₂O₃ solutions in better agreement with latest experimental data.

  • Update to FToxid for the CaO-MgO-NiO-SiO₂ system including liquid, monoxide, olivine and pyroxene solutions.

  • The precise conditions for option 'I' phase selection are now stored within the FToxid database - the selection of '+' or 'I' will be done for you.

  • Many new calculated phase diagrams have been added to the documentation for FToxid.

• FTmisc - the FACT Miscellaneous Database has been updated.
  • Changes in phase names in FTmisc :

    Liq(Matte/Metal) (MAT2): replaced by MAT2A, MAT2B and MAT2C
    Pyrrhotite (PYRR): replaced by PYRRA, PYRRB and PYRRC
    MS2_ solution: name changed to MeS2
    M2S_ solution: name changed to M3S2
    FCrS_ solution: replaced by the stoichiometric compound FeCr2S4
    Fe9S_ solution: replaced by the stoichiometric compound Fe9S10
    HCPS – eliminated

  • A major update for the S-Cu-Fe-Ni-Mn-Co-Cr system for calculation of equilibria among liquid and solid sulphide and metal phases. In the earlier versions of FactSage these calculations with Cu and Mn were not possible.

  • Addition of the (Mn,Fe,Ca,Mg,Cr)S phase with the rocksalt structure for calculations of inclusions in steels in combination with the FToxid-slag phase.

  • The precise conditions for option 'I' phase selection (sulphide systems) are now stored within the FTmisc database - the selection of '+' or 'I' will be done for you.

  • Many new calculated phase diagrams have been added to the documentation for FTmisc.

• FTsalt - the FACT Salt Database has been updated.
  • The precise conditions for option 'I' phase selection are now stored within the FTsalt database - the selection of '+' or 'I' will be done for you.

• FSstel - the FactSage Steel Alloy Database has been amended and updated.
  • Changes in phase names in FSstel :

    fcc: replaced by fcc1
    bcc: replacec by bcc1
    hcp: replaced by hcp1
    etc.

  • The elements Hf and Ta have now been included in the updated version of the database. This has resulted in the inclusion of assessed data for 7 new binary systems: C-Hf, Hf-Ta, Hf-Ti, Hf-Ni, Ta-Ti, Si-Ta, Hf-Mo.

  • Amendments and updates have been made to 10 binary sub-systems: Al-Mn, Al-N, Al-Zn, C-Mn, C-Mo, Co-Si. Cr-N, Cu-Zn, Fe-Nb, Hf-Mo. The amendments provide improved descriptions and calculations for steels involving the elements listed.

• SGPS Compound Database
  • The following compound has been added : Li₂Nb₂O₆.
    

  • The following compound has been deleted : LiNbO₃.

• SGnobl - the SGTE Noble Metal Alloy Database has been very significantly expanded.

  The number of binary and ternary systems compared with the previous version of the database is 204 (130) and 122 (7) respectively. While experimental data from original publications have been used in many cases, the large increase in system content is due, in large part, to the use of three major sources of information, namely

  • Handbook of Ternary Alloy Phase Diagrams, eds. P. Villars, A. Prince, H. Okamoto, ASM, 1997.
  • Ternary Alloys, eds. G. Petzow, G. Effenberg, VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, Weinheim, Vols.1-3, (1988,1990).
  • The calculation model for enthalpies of formation, due to X.-Q. Chen and R. Podloucky (CALPHAD 30 (2006) 266-269), which is based on a revised Miedema method in combination with ab initio results.

  Use of these resources has enabled the general scarcity of experimental thermodynamic information for many noble metal systems to be compensated, while retaining a reasonable level of reliability of the resulting assessments.

  In addition, the database has been updated and made compatible with assessments for noble metal-containing systems, originating from work carried out within the framework of COST Action 531, Lead-Free Solders. (Atlas of Phase Diagrams for Lead-Free Soldering compiled by A.T. Dinsdale, A.Watson, A. Kroupa, J. Vrestal, A. Zemanova, and J. Vizdal, published in 2008 by the European Science Foundation)

The following displays are only available if you have updated your installation with that particular version.

What's New in:

• FactSage 6.1 (May 2009)?  
• FactSage 5.5 (May 2007)?  
• FactSage 5.4.1 (January 2006)?  
• FactSage 5.4 (August 2005)?  
• FactSage 5.3.1 (November 2004)?  
• FactSage 5.3 (June 2004)?  
• FactSage 5.2 (May 2003)?  
• FactSage 5.1 (June 2002)?