Bainitic Ferrite Growth Research Articles

Effect of Nb Content on the Microstructure and Impact Toughness of High-Strength Pipeline Steel

In this study, X80 pipeline steel is prepared with different Nb contents through the thermo-mechanically controlled rolling process. The effects of using two different Nb contents on the impact toughness and microstructure of the pipeline steel are examined using various experimental techniques. The results show that with the increase in Nb content, the transformation temperature Ar3 decreases, and the nucleation and growth of bainitic ferrite with lath features (LB) are promoted, while those of granular bainite (GB) are inhibited. In addition, the stability of the austenite phase increases with the increase in Nb content. Therefore, the volume fractions of LB and martensite–austenite (M/A) constituents increase, while the proportion of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) decreases. The impact energy of pipeline steel at −45 °C is closely related to the Nb content. Specifically, the impact energy decreases from 217 J at 0.05 wt.% Nb to 88 J at 0.08 wt.% Nb. The cracks are preferentially formed near the M/A constituents, and the HAGBs significantly inhibit the crack propagation. The steel with 0.05 wt.% Nb has a lower content of M/A constituents and a higher proportion of HAGBs than the one with 0.08 wt.% Nb. In addition, as the Nb content increases, the crack initiation energy and the crack propagation energy decrease. Thus, the 0.05 wt.% Nb steel has a higher low-temperature impact energy.

In situ TEM observations of the growth of bainitic ferrite in an Fe-0.3C-3Mn-1.5Si-0.15Mo steel

The current study reports in situ TEM observations of the growth of bainitic ferrite in an Fe-0.3C-3Mn-1.5Si-0.15Mo steel held isothermally at 300 °C with a higher spatio-temporal resolution than in previous studies. Significant variations were found in the lengthening rate, with the highest being in excess of 30,000 nm.s−1 while more common lengthening rates of 10–1000 nm.s−1 provided the highest quality observations. Both sheaves with visible sub units and individual laths were observed during growth with the lengthening behaviour of sheaves found to be discontinuous - in the most favourably oriented sheave this could be linked to sub unit behaviour. The transformation behaviour was comparable to that of HT-LSCM observations of bainitic ferrite growth for the most comparable steel compositions and to ‘textbook’ descriptions of the formation of bainite sheaves. In addition, other relevant phenomena were recorded, including the generation and movement of dislocations in the austenite during transformation, the interaction of laths with twin boundaries and the initially slow growth of bainitic ferrite laths.

In Situ Tem Observations of the Growth of Bainitic Ferrite in an Fe-0.3c-3Mn-1.5Si-0.15Mo Steel

In Situ Tem Observations of the Growth of Bainitic Ferrite in an Fe-0.3c-3Mn-1.5Si-0.15Mo Steel

Phase transformation mechanisms during Quenching and Partitioning of a ductile cast iron

The modification of the matrix of ductile cast irons by heat treatments has been of interest of researchers for many years. Among these treatments, in the last years the Quenching & Partitioning (Q&P) process has emerged as a viable way to produce microstructures containing controlled amounts of martensite and retained austenite, providing a good combination of strength and ductility. In this work, the different mechanisms of phase transformations occurring during the Q&P heat treatment applied to a ductile cast iron alloy is investigated. Microsegregation, inherent to cast irons, was analyzed by means of Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA). Microstructural characterization was performed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD), while kinetics of carbon redistribution and competitive reactions were studied using dilatometry and in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. It was found that either transition carbides or cementite precipitate in martensite depending on the partitioning temperature. Despite of carbides precipitation, evidence of carbon partitioning from martensite to austenite was obtained. Formation of bainitic ferrite occurs during the partitioning step, further contributing to carbon enrichment of austenite. The experimental results are compared with a local field model that computes the local kinetics of carbon redistribution by simultaneously considering carbides precipitation and growth of bainitic ferrite. Results showed that kinetics of carbon partitioning from martensite to austenite depends on the carbides free energy. More stable carbides do not dissolve and prevent the escape of carbon from martensite. Fast carbon partitioning occurs by dissolution of less stable carbides, but it is slowed down as growth of bainitic ferrite proceeds. This result is explained by the overlapping of the diffusion fields (soft impingement) of the carbon partitioned from martensite and the carbon rejected from growth of bainitic ferrite.

Study on Bainitic Transformation by Dilatometer and In Situ LSCM.

This study investigates the bainitic transformation kinetics of carbide-free bainitic steel with Si + Al and carbide-bearing bainitic steel without Si + Al, as well as the phase transformation and microstructure through in situ high-temperature laser scanning confocal microscopy. Results show that bainitic ferrite plates preferentially nucleate at the grain boundary. New plates nucleate on previously formed ones, including two dimensions which appear on a plane where a three-dimensional space of bainitic ferrite forms. Nucleation on the formed bainitic ferrite is faster than that at the grain boundary in some grains. The bainitic ferrite growth at the austenite grain boundary is longer and has a faster transformation rate. The bainitic ferrite growth on the formed bainitic ferrite plate is shorter and has a slower transformation rate. The location and number of nucleation sites influence the thickness of the bainitic ferrite. The higher the number of plates preferentially nucleating at the original austenite grain boundary, the greater the thickness of the bainitic ferrite.

Modeling of Bainite Transformation During Partitioning Process and Atomic‐Scale Characterization of Bainite

This paper presents a detailed investigation of the interaction between bainite transformation and carbon partitioning during isothermal holding of intercritical heating, quenching, and partitioning (I&Q&P) steel. The kinetics of isothermal bainite transformation is modeled based on the assumption of displacive mechanism. A systematic analysis of the autocatalytic parameters extracted from the fitting curves reveals that autocatalysis plays only a minor role in bainite transformation due to quite small size of parent austenite grains transforming into bainite, independent from each other. Atom probe tomography (APT) is used to investigate the localized composition changes at the interface between bainitic ferrite and retained austenite. The results indicate that carbon enrichment of austenite occurs and Mn atoms segregate at phase grain boundary. Furthermore, in terms of the thermodynamic analysis, bainitic ferrite forms under diffusionless growth followed by tempering, and in present work, the growth of bainitic ferrite can be divided into two parts: bainite transformation quickly (BTQ) and bainite transformation slowly (BTS).

Bainitic reaction and microstructure evolution in two normalized and tempered steels designed for service at elevated temperatures

Abstract In the present work conventional heat treatment like normalizing (bainitic microstructure) and tempering of the alloys has been performed. The materials used in this study were two steels, one the laboratory prepared experimental low alloy Cr-Mo steel in comparison to typical commercial 10CrMo9-10 steel. The determined carbon concentrations of the residual austenite at the different temperatures of bainite transformation supports the hypothesis that the growth of bainitic ferrite occurs without any diffusion with carbon being partitioned subsequently into the residual austenite. It was found that bainitic reaction has stopped when average carbon concentration of the untransformed austenite is close to the T0 line and supports formation of bainitic ferrite by a shear mechanism, since diffusionless transformation is not possible beyond the T0 curve. Normalized samples were air cooled down to room temperature before tempering at various temperatures in the range of 500-750°C. Samples have been austenitized at 980°C for 0.5 hour air cooled and tempered at 500, 550, 600, 650, 700 and 750°C for 1 hour. After heat treatment, the assessment in the microstructure and phase precipitation was made using the samples prepared for metallographic and transmission electron microscope (TEM) on thin foils analysis. Quantitative X-ray analysis was used to determine the retained austenite content after heat treatment like normalizing and tempering and the total volume fraction of the retained austenite was measured from the integral intensity of the (111)γ and (011)α peaks. The changes observed in the microstructure of the steel tempered at the higher temperature, i.e. 750°C were more advanced than those observed at the temperature of 500°C. Performed microstructural investigations have shown that the degradation of the microstructure of the examined steel was mostly connected with the processes of recovery and polygonization of the matrix, disappearance of lath bainitic microstructure, the growth of the size of M23C6 carbides, and precipitation of the secondary M2C precipitates. The magnitude of these changes depended on the temperature of tempering.

Influence of bainite reaction on the kinetics of carbon redistribution during the Quenching and Partitioning process

In the present study the microstructural evolution and kinetics of carbon redistribution during the partitioning step of the Quenching and Partitioning process are investigated by means of a modeling approach that simultaneously considers the martensite-austenite carbon partitioning and the decomposition of austenite into bainitic ferrite. The development of the phase fractions, interface position, and carbon compositions are analyzed for two different binary Fe-C alloys with distinct initial carbon compositions and simulation geometries. The composition dependence of carbon diffusivity in austenite is taken into account for solving the diffusion field equations. Simulations indicate that kinetics of carbon partitioning from martensite to austenite is controlled by carbon diffusion in martensite and it is little affected by simultaneous occurrence of bainite reaction. On the other hand martensite-austenite carbon partitioning strongly influences the bainite reaction by inhibiting the growth of bainitic ferrite.

The Effect of Interfacial Element Partitioning on Ferrite and Bainite Formation

The formation of bainitic ferrite and that of grain boundary ferrite in low alloy steels have been two of the most important and interesting research topics in the field of solid state ferrous phase transformation for several decades, and various aspects of these two transformations have been discussed extensively in the literature. Recently, a so-called Gibbs energy balance (GEB) model was proposed by the authors to evaluate alloying element effects on the growth of bainitic ferrite and grain boundary ferrite. The model predicts a growth mode transition from paraequilibrium, negligible partitioning to partitioning during the isothermal formation of bainitic ferrite and grain boundary ferrite. Transformation stasis and bay phenomenon are well explained by the GEB model and both of them are found to be due to alloying element diffusion at the interface. This overview gives a summary of the authors’ recent progress in the understanding of the growth of bainitic ferrite and grain boundary ferrite, with particular focus on the growth mode transition, the transformation stasis phenomenon and the bay phenomenon.

Growth of bainitic ferrite and carbon partitioning during the early stages of bainite transformation in a 2 mass% silicon steel studied by in situ neutron diffraction, TEM and APT

In situ neutron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT) have been used to study the early stages of bainite transformation in a 2 mass% Si nano-bainitic steel. It was observed that carbon redistribution between the bainitic ferrite and retained austenite at the early stages of the bainite transformation at low isothermal holding occurred in the following sequence: (i) formation of bainitic ferrite nuclei within carbon-depleted regions immediately after the beginning of isothermal treatment; (ii) carbon partitioning immediately after the formation of bainitic ferrite nuclei but substantial carbon diffusion only after 33 min of bainite isothermal holding; (iii) formation of the carbon-enriched remaining austenite in the vicinity of bainitic laths at the beginning of the transformation; (iv) segregation of carbon to the dislocations near the austenite/ferrite interface; and (v) homogeneous redistribution of carbon within the remaining austenite with the progress of the transformation and with the formation of bainitic ferrite colonies. Bainitic ferrite nucleated at internal defects or bainite/austenite interfaces as well as at the prior austenite grain boundary. Bainitic ferrite has been observed in the form of an individual layer, a colony of layers and a layer with sideplates at the early stages of transformation.

Complementary use of transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography for the examination of plastic accommodation in nanocrystalline bainitic steels

A displacive transformation involves the motion of a glissile interface. As in work hardening, its motion can be halted by defects such as dislocations, stacking faults or twins in the austenite. The defects are created when the shape deformation accompanying bainite growth is accommodated by plastic relaxation of the surrounding austenite. The growing plate stops when it collides with the austenite grain boundary. Because transformation from strong austenite leads to fine plates, alloys can be designed such that the bainite transformation is suppressed to low temperatures (125–350 °C), leading to a nanoscale bainitic microstructure. Complementary high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography have provided new experimental evidence on the accommodation of transformation strain, a subject critically relevant to understanding the atomic mechanisms controlling bainitic ferrite growth.

Tracking solute atoms during bainite reaction in a nanocrystalline steel

The extremely slow transformation kinetics of a nanocrystalline bainitic steel makes this novel structure the perfect candidate to determine the carbon content of the bainitic ferrite away from any carbon enriched regions, such as dislocations and boundaries, as the bainite transformation progresses at extremely low temperatures. The purpose of this atom probe tomography study was to systematically track atom distributions during the bainite reaction in a nanocrystalline steel. The results will provide new experimental evidence on the explanation for the incomplete reaction phenomenon and the carbon supersaturation of the bainitic ferrite during transformation, subjects critically relevant to understanding the atomic mechanism controlling bainitic ferrite growth.

Do bainitic and Widmanstätten ferrite grow with different mechanisms?

Caballero et al. recently presented new evidence for different growth mechanisms of Widmanstatten and bainitic ferrite. Their argument was based on Zener's hypothesis of diffusionless growth of bainitic ferrite. It is now demonstrated that Bhadeshia's model, based on Zener's hypothesis, predicts that some of the new measurements, claimed to fall above B-s and to be due to Widmanstatten ferrite, actually fall within the predicted temperature range of bainite, indicating that they cannot be used as new support for Bhadeshia's model.

On Bainite Transformation Kinetics and Mechanism

The platelike bainitic ferrite growth rates were calculated by two modified diffusional models. Good agreements between experimental and theoretical results are found in Fe-0.59C wt.%, Fe-0.81C wt.% and Fe-0.478C-4.87Ni wt.% alloys. A slowing down effect due to the alloying element Mo is emphasized in Fe-0.69C-1.8Ni-0.8Mo wt.% alloy. However, the experimental data are lower than theoretical ones about two orders in Fe-C-8.7Ni wt.% alloys. According to the discussion of the results, it is suggested that the bainite transformation mechanism may relates to steel composition and transformation temperature.

Theoretical Study on Sympathetic Nucleation VS Ledgewise Growth of Bainitic Ferrite in Steel

Theoretical Study on Sympathetic Nucleation VS Ledgewise Growth of Bainitic Ferrite in Steel

Stress induced transformation to bainite in Fe–Cr–Mo–C pressure vessel steel

AbstractThe kinetics of the bainitic transformation in a polycrystalline Fe–Cr–Mo–C alloy designed for applications in energy generation systems has been studied, with particular attention to the influence of mild tensile stresses on transformation behaviour. The steel was found to exhibit the incomplete reaction phenomenon, in which transformation to bainite stops well before the residual austenite acquires its paraequilibrium carbon concentration. It was found that even in the absence of an applied stress, the growth of bainitic ferrite caused anisotropic changes in specimen dimensions, consistent with the existence of crystallographic texture in its austenitic condition and, significantly, with the nature of the invariant-plane strain shape change that accompanies the growth of bainitic ferrite. Thus, transformation induced plasticity could be detected in fine grained polycrystalline samples, even in the absence of applied stress. The application of an external stress was found to alter radically the t...

The distribution of substitutional alloying elements during the bainite transformation

The behavior of substitutional alloying elements during and after the growth of upper bainite in Fe-Mn-Si-C and Fe-Mn-Si-C-Mo alloy steels has been examined using an atomic resolution microanalysis technique. From the results obtained, and judging from published data, it is concluded that manganese, nickel, silicon, chromium, and molybdenum do not redistribute during the growth of bainitic ferrite. Their concentrations are found to be uniform both at and in the vicinity of the transformation interface, with no indications of any segregation to the transformation interface during growth. However, prolonged annealing at the isothermal transformation temperature, after the formation of bainite has stopped, eventually stimulates the partitioning of substitutional alloying elements as the system tends toward equilibrium. The results demonstrate the existence of an atomic correspondence between the parent and product phases during transformation, the effect of substitutional alloying additions being manifestedvia a modification of the driving force for transformation.

High-temperature transmission electron microscopyin situ study of lower bainite carbide precipitation

In situ observation of the bainite carbide precipitation processes in 40CrMnSiMoV steel by means of high-temperature transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is conducted. It is evident that carbides can precipitate either in bainitic ferrite or from austenite when carbide-free bainite (meta-bainite) obtained by isothermal transformation is tempered at higher temperatures. In view of the quantity of carbides precipitated from ferrite in combination with the result of an X-ray diffraction analysis of the bainitic ferrite carbon content, it can be concluded that bainitic ferrite growth involves supersaturation of carbon content to some degree.