Directed Growth of Ferrite in Austenite and Kurdjumov-Sachs Orientation Relationship

Abstract

The solid phase transformation of a metastable phase into a stable phase needs the activation energy. The energy is usually supplied in the form of thermal energy. When the nucleation takes place, the strain energy may develop in the metastable matrix and the stable nucleus. The strain energy can result from differences in density of the nucleus and matrix and the lattice mismatch between the nucleus and matrix. The stable-metastable interface region has the highest strain-energy density in the maximum Youngs modulus direction of the stable phase. Accordingly, the growth rate of the stable phase is the highest in its highest Youngs modulus directions. As the transformation temperature decreases, the strain energy contribution increases and the growth rate anisotropy is likely to increase. When austenite transforms into ferrite at low temperatures, the directed growth of ferrite is observed as forms of Widmanstätten ferrite plates and acicular ferrite plates. The maximum growth direction of ferrite is along the maximum Youngs modulus direction of ferrite, <111>α, and the broad interfaces are parallel to the maximum growth direction and formed so that they minimizes the shear strain energy in the interface layer. The directed growth results in the Kurdjumov-Sachs orientation relationship between austenite and ferrite, <111>α//<110>γand {110}α//{111}γ.