An exponential formulation was proposed to replace the linear interaction parameter in the Redlich-Kister (R-K) polynomial for the excess Gibbs energy of ternary solution phase. The theoretical analysis indicates that the proposed new exponential formulation can not only avoid the artificial miscibility gap at high temperatures but also describe the ternary system well. A thermodynamic description for the Al-Mg-Si system and its boundary binaries was then performed by using both R-K linear and exponential formulations. The inverted miscibility gaps occurring in the Mg-Si and the Al-Mg-Si systems at high temperatures due to the use of R-K linear polynomials are avoided by using the new formulation. Besides, the thermodynamic properties predicted with the new formulation confirm the general thermodynamic belief that the solution phase approaches to the ideal solution at infinite temperatures, which cannot be described with the traditional R-K linear polynomials. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.