Generalized association model

The association model, which has been widely used to calculate the thermodynamic functions of binary liquid alloys exhibiting short range order, is generalized here for multi-component systems. Necessary formalism is given to substantiate the expression for the entropy of mixing as used in the association model. It has been shown that the interactions among the species of this mixture can be treated within the regular association type approach which is based on a firm background of the statistical mechanical theory. Furthermore, the model can be successfully used to inter- or extrapolate the thermodynamic functions with respect to composition and temperature, in particular, in the under-cooled region of liquid ternary and quaternary alloys.