An investigation of the uranium‐carbon system has been made and a constitutional diagram drawn on the basis of melting point, x‐ray, and metallographic data. Three carbides of uranium have been detected and identified:
UC
,
U2C3
, and
UC2
. No compounds have been found containing a carbon content higher than that of
UC2
.
UC
and
UC2
are completely soluble in each other at elevated temperatures, forming a solid solution. The solid solution phase cannot be retained on cooling to room temperature in alloys containing between about 5.0 to 9.0 weight per cent carbon. A Widmanstätten type of precipitation takes place on cooling, leaving either
UC
precipitated in a
UC2
matrix or vice versa, depending on the carbon content of the alloy. In alloys containing above about 9.0 weight per cent total carbon, UC can quite effectively be retained in solid solution by quenching from temperatures above about 1800°C.