A compound alloy consists of at least three components, that is, the base metal plus at least two alloying elements. For comparison: a binary alloy has two components, and a ternary alloy has three.
References
- Universität Siegen, Institut für Werkstofftechnik: Werkstofftechnik-Grundpraktikum, Versuch G3 – Zustandsdiagramme (German only). Lab script, section 2.5, accessed 27 August 2026.