Effect of Boron on the Isothermal Bainite Transformation

The role of Boron on the isothermal bainitic transformation in low-C, lean-alloyed steel was investigated. B clearly affected both the transformation kinetics and the morphology of isothermally transformed bainite. The effect of B was more noticeable in the high-temperature range of the bainitic transformation. The microstructure of bainite formed at 773 K (500 °C) consisted of a bainitic ferrite matrix and the martensite/austenite constituent. While the martensite/austenite constituent had an elongated morphology in B-free steel, the martensite/austenite constituents in the B-added steel had a granular morphology. Two types of bainite unit nucleation were considered: the initial nuclei and the nuclei formed on previously formed units. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis showed that the initial bainitic ferrite nuclei were formed at austenite grain boundaries with a Kurdjumov-Sachs (K-S) crystallographic orientation relationship with respect to one of the neighboring austenite grains, revealing the importance of interfacial energy reduction in the nucleation stage. The nuclei of the bainite transformation in the B-added steel were confined to the austenite grain interior, and the bainitic ferrite nuclei had crystallographic orientations limited to K-S variants within the same Bain variant. The characteristic bainite microstructure in B-added steel is due to the inhibition of the bainitic ferrite nucleation at austenite grain boundaries.     

Surface Relief Due to Bainite Transformation at 473 K (200 °C)

Extremely thin plates of bainitic ferrite can now routinely be induced in steels by heat–treatment at low homologous temperatures. Given the atomic mechanism by which the transformation occurs, morphology should be dominated by the minimization of strain energy due to the displacements necessary to accomplish the change in crystal structure when austenite decomposes into bainite. Experiments were conducted using atomic force microscopy in an attempt to characterize these displacements, with a surprising outcome that the shear strain is much larger than associated with conventional, coarser bainitic structures. It appears that this might explain why the plates of bainitic ferrite tend to be slender in this new class of nanostructured alloys.     

A Study of the Influence of Thermomechanical Controlled Processing on the Microstructure of Bainite in High Strength Plate Steel

Steels with compositions that are hot rolled and cooled to exhibit high strength and good toughness often require a bainitic microstructure. This is especially true for plate steels for linepipe applications where strengths in excess of 690 MPa (100 ksi) are needed in thicknesses between approximately 6 and 30 mm. To ensure adequate strength and toughness, the steels should have adequate hardenability (C. E. >0.50 and Pcm >0.20), and are thermomechanically controlled processed, i.e., controlled rolled, followed by interrupted direct quenching to below the Bs temperature of the pancaked austenite. Bainite formed in this way can be defined as a polyphase mixture comprised a matrix phase of bainitic ferrite plus a higher carbon second phase or micro-constituent which can be martensite, retained austenite, or cementite, depending on circumstances. This second feature is predominately martensite in IDQ steels. Unlike pearlite, where the ferrite and cementite form cooperatively at the same moving interface, the bainitic ferrite and MA form in sequence with falling temperature below the Bs temperature or with increasing isothermal holding time. Several studies have found that the mechanical properties may vary strongly for different types of bainite, i.e., different forms of bainitic ferrite and/or MA. Thermomechanical controlled processing (TMCP) has been shown to be an important way to control the microstructure and mechanical properties in low carbon, high strength steel. This is especially true in the case of bainite formation, where the complexity of the austenite-bainite transformation makes its control through disciplined processing especially important. In this study, a low carbon, high manganese steel containing niobium was investigated to better understand the effects of austenite conditioning and cooling rates on the bainitic phase transformation, i.e., the formation of bainitic ferrite plus MA. Specimens were compared after transformation from recrystallized, equiaxed austenite to deformed, pancaked austenite, which were followed by seven different cooling rates ranging between 0.5 K/s (0.5 °C/s) and 40 K/s (40 °C/s). The CCT curves showed that the transformation behaviors and temperatures varied with starting austenite microstructure and cooling rate, resulting in different final microstructures. The EBSD results and the thermodynamics and kinetics analyses show that in low carbon bainite, the nucleation rate is the key factor that affects the bainitic ferrite morphology, size, and orientation. However, the growth of bainite is also quite important since the bainitic ferrite laths apparently can coalesce or coarsen into larger units with slower cooling rates or longer isothermal holding time, causing a deterioration in toughness. This paper reviews the formation of bainite in this steel and describes and rationalizes the final microstructures observed, both in terms of not only formation but also for the expected influence on mechanical properties.     

低于Ms温度变形对等温贝氏体相变动力学和组织的影响

摘要：变形和等温热处理是高强贝氏体钢主要生产工艺,已有研究表明低于马氏体相变起始温度（Ms）的等温热处理可以促进贝氏体相变动力学,低温奥氏体预变形也可以加速贝氏体相变。研究了低于Ms温度变形对后续等温贝氏体相变动力学和组织的影响,结果表明,并未出现预想的加速相变叠加效应,反而,变形温度低于Ms温度时,贝氏体相变动力学减弱,等温贝氏体相变孕育期延长。低于Ms温度等温相变时,贝氏体铁素体与母相奥氏体位向关系接近K-S关系,变形试样虽然获得了一部分先马氏体,且能提高贝氏体形核率,但并非所有的胚核都能发生长大,变形改变母相奥氏体取向,使贝氏体原本的位向关系遭受破坏,导致有效形核率降低。     

Formation mechanism of bainitic ferrite in an Fe-2 Pct Si-0.6 Pct C alloy

The bainite transformation at 723 K in an Fe-2 pct Si-0.6 pct C alloy (mass pct) was investigated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and quantitative metallography to clarify the growth mechanism of the ferritic component of bainite. In early stages of transformation, the bainitic ferrite was carbide free. The laths of bainitic ferrite within a packet were parallel to one another and separated by carbon-enriched retained austenite. The average carbon concentration of the bainitic ferrite was estimated to be 0.19 mass pct at the lowest, indicating that the ferrite was highly supersaturated with respect to carbon. The laths did not thicken during the subsequent isothermal holding, although they were in contact with austenite of which the average carbon concentration was lower than the paraequilibrium value. In the later stage of transformation, large carbide plates formed in the austenite between the laths, resulting in the decrease in the carbon concentration of the austenite. Subsequently, the ferrite with a variant different from the initially formed ferrite in the packet was decomposed for the completion of transformation. The present results indicate that the bainitic ferrite develops by a displacive mechanism rather than a diffusional mechanism. Formerly Graduate Student, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-01, Japan This article is based on a presentation made at the Pacific Rim Conference on the “Roles of Shear and Diffusion in the Formation of Plate-Shaped Transformation Products,” held December 18-22, 1992, in Kona, Hawaii, under the auspices of ASM INTERNATIONAL’S Phase Transformations Committee.     

Morphology of bainite and widmanstätten ferrite

Morphology of bainite and Widmanstätten ferrite in various steels has been investigated by means of microstructural and surface relief observations. It was shown that upper and lower bainite should be classified by ferrite morphology,i.e., lathlike or platelike, and that the morphology of cementite precipitation cannot be the index for the classification. Widmanstätten ferrite formed in the upper C-nose where ferrite grain-boundary allotriomorphs nucleate exhibits quite similar appearance with bainitic ferrite that forms in the lower C-nose of bainitic reaction. The only difference between them exists in the fact that Widmanstätten ferrite laths grow in the temperature range where primary ferrite forms and often terminate at a grain boundary ferrite but that bainitic ferrite has its own C-curve at temperatures belowB _s and nucleates directly at an austenite grain boundary. The mechanisms for their formations are discussed.     

The Effect of Nb Micro-alloying on the Bainitic Phase Transformation Under Strip Casting Conditions

The effect of Nb concentration on the transformation from austenite to bainitic ferrite has been examined under simulated strip casting conditions. Nb concentration was found to delay the nucleation of bainite, but accelerated its growth. It is suggested that the delay in nucleation increases the driving force for transformation, which results in an increase in the growth rate of the bainite. The bainite/austenite interfaces are proposed to move too quickly to suffer appreciable solute drag.     

70Si3MnCrMo钢中贝氏体及其回火稳定性

 对一种新型70Si3MnCrMo钢进行了等温和连续冷却贝氏体相变热处理。利用拉伸和冲击试验研究试验钢的力学行为,利用XRD、SEM和TEM等方法对试验钢进行了相组成分析和微观组织形貌观察。研究结果表明,试验钢经等温贝氏体相变,其最佳综合力学性能出现在200 ℃回火,强塑积为26.4 GPa·%。经连续冷却贝氏体相变,其最佳综合力学性能出现在300 ℃回火,强塑积达到28.6 GPa·%。回火温度较低的情况下,热处理后的组织为由贝氏体铁素体和残余奥氏体组成的无碳化物贝氏体组织,这种无碳化物贝氏体由超细贝氏体铁素体板条而获得超高强度,由一定量的高碳残余奥氏体来保证较高的塑性和韧性。试验钢经连续冷却贝氏体相变,其贝氏体铁素体板条中出现了超细亚单元,并且残余奥氏体呈薄膜状和小块状两种形态分布于贝氏体铁素体板条之间,这两种形态残余奥氏体的稳定性不同。拉伸试样在变形过程中残余奥氏体持续发生TRIP效应,直至全部残余奥氏体都发生转变生成应变诱发马氏体,从而使钢得到更好的强、塑性配合,表现出十分优异的综合性能。     

The Bainite Reaction in Fe-Si-C Alloys: The Secondary Stage

The de composition of austenite following the initial rapid formation of bainitic ferrite in silicon alloyed high-carbon steels isothermally transformed at 380 °C has been studied. The reaction is initiated by the formation of a triclinic carbide, closely relaled to cementite. The carbide is highly symmetric with {952} martensite, and crossings between carbide plates and faulting on the (010)_c planes suggest that the carbide formation takes place by shear. The carbide formation is followed by the decomposition of the remaining austenite to ferrite, which is thought to be due to the lowering of the austenite carbon content resulting from the carbide formation. B. P. J. SANDVIK, formerly with Laboratory of Physical Metallurgy at Helsinki University of Technology, Finland and Ovako OyAb, Imatra, Finland.     

Bainite Growth Behavior at Early Stage of Transformation in a High Carbon Silicon-Containing Steel

 The growth behavior at the early stage of bainitic transformation was investigated using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electronic microscopy. The bainite was obtained by isothermal transformation at 200 ℃ only for a short time in a high carbon silicon-containing steel after austenitization at 200 ℃ only for 20 min. Transmission electronic microscopy shows that the bainite appears in the form of plates with a width of about 30 nm, and that the interface of the bainite leading tip is wedge shaped. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the bainite plates consist of single ferrite phase, with absence of carbides. The results confirm the occurrence of the moiré which suggests the existence of austenite grain boundaries at the bainite leading tip. Both the lateral growth and longitudinal growth of bainite have weak ability to traverse the lattice-distortion strain fields and austenite grain boundary. The austenite grain boundary impedes the longitudinal growth of the bainite plate, i. e. , the growth of bainite plate stops at the austenite grain boundary. The longitudinal growth of bainite associated with the features of shear mechanism can not completely be in accordance with that of martensitic transformation.     

等温淬火温度对超细贝氏体钢组织及耐磨性的影响

设计了一种0.7C的低合金超细贝氏体钢,并通过膨胀仪、二体磨损实验、光学显微镜、扫描电镜、X射线衍射、激光扫描共聚焦显微镜及能谱仪,研究了不同等温淬火温度对超细贝氏体钢的贝氏体相变动力学、微观组织以及干滑动摩擦耐磨性的影响,揭示超细贝氏体钢在二体磨损条件下的耐磨性能和磨损机理.研究结果表明,不同等温温度下的超细贝氏体钢都由片层状贝氏体铁素体和薄膜状以及块状的残留奥氏体组成;随着等温温度的升高,超细贝氏体的相变速率提高,相变孕育期及相变完成时间缩短,但贝氏体铁素体板条厚度增加,残留奥氏体含量增加,硬度值有所降低;超细贝氏体钢磨损面形貌以平直的犁沟为主,主要的磨损机理为显微切削;不同等温温度下所获得的超细贝氏体的耐磨性能都优于回火马氏体,且随着等温温度的降低,耐磨性能提高.其中在250℃等温所获得的超细贝氏体钢具有最优的耐磨性能,其相对耐磨性为回火马氏体的1.28倍.这主要与超细贝氏体钢中贝氏体铁素体板条的细化及磨损过程中残留奥氏体的形变诱导马氏体相变（TRIP）效应有关.      

The origin of transformation textures in steel weld metals containing acicular ferrite

The present investigation is concerned with basic studies of the development of transformation textures in steel weld metals, using the electron backscattering pattern (EBSP) technique. It is shown that the acicular ferrite (AF) plates exhibit an orientation relationship with both the austenite and the prior delta ferrite columnar grains in which they grow. The observed orientation relationship lies within the Bain orientation region and can be described by three texture components,i.e., a 〈100〉 component and two complementary 〈111〉 components. Each of these texture components is orientated approximately parallel with the original cell/dendrite growth direction. Measurements of the spatial misorientation between neighboring plates confirm that the morphology of AF in low-alloy steel weld metals bears a close resemblance to upper bainite.     

Metallography of bainitic transformation in silicon containing steels

The formation of carbide in lower bainite was studied in two silicon containing carbon steels by transmission electron microscopy and diffraction techniques. Epsilon carbide was identified in the low temperature isothermally transformed bainite structure. The crystallographic relationship between epsilon carbide and bainitic ferrite was found to follow the Jack orientation relationship,viz, (0001)ε l l(011)α, (101l)ε l 1(101)α. The cementite observed in lower bainite was in the shape of small platelets and obeyed the Isaichev orientation relationship with the bainitic ferrite,viz, (010) cl 1(1-11)α, (103) cl 1 (011)α. Direct evidence showing the sequence of carbide formation from aus-tenite in bainite has also been obtained. Based on the observations and all the crystallo-graphical features, it is strongly suggested that in silicon containing steels the bainitic carbide precipitated directly from austenite instead of from ferrite at the austenite/fer-rite interface as has been proposed by Kinsman and Aaronson (Ref. 1). The uniformity of the carbide distribution is thus envisaged to be the outcome of precipitation at the aus-tenite-ferrite interphase boundary. DER-HUNG HUANG, formerly with the Department of Materials Science and Mineral Engineering, University of California     

Morphology and Crystallography of Bainite Transformation in a Single Prior-Austenite Grain of Low-Carbon Steel

To elucidate the difference in the microstructure development of the bainite and the martensite-austenite (M-A) constituents between blocks (groups with bainitic ferrite having a similar crystal orientation), in a single prior-austenite grain, the microstructural development and morphology of bainite in one coarse grain formed in a simulated heat-affected zone of low-carbon steel were analyzed by laser-scanning confocal microscopy and an electron back-scattering diffraction method. The correlation between the morphologies of bainitic ferrite and the M-A constituent was elucidated by analyzing blocks in a coarse and single prior-austenite grain. The possibility of M-A constituent formation was enhanced when the misorientation between bainite ferrite was large. Furthermore, it was found via in situ observations that bainitic ferrite units belonging to the same Bain group were formed synchronously, although they were apparently separated from each other by another Bain group.     

Effect of Composition and Processing Parameters on the Formation of Nano-Bainite in Advanced High Strength Steels

The nano-bainitic microstructures were compared in a 0.79C-1.5Si-1.98Mn-0.24Mo-1.06Al (wt%) steel after isothermal heat-treatment and a Fe-0.2C-1.5Mn-1.2Si-0.3Mo-0.6Al-0.02Nb (wt%) steel after controlled thermomechanical processing.The microstructure for both steels consisted of bainite.The microstructural characteristics of bainite,such as the morphology of the nano-bainite and thicknesses of bainitic ferrite and retained austenite layers,as a function of steel composition and processing was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM).It was found that the nano-bainitic structure can be formed in the low alloy steel through thermomechanical processing.Atom probe tomography (APT) was employed as a powerful technique to determine local composition distributions in three dimensions with atomic resolution.The important conclusions from the APT research were that the carbon content of bainitic ferrite is higher than expected from paraequilibrium level of carbon in ferrite for both steels and that Fe-C clusters and fine particles are formed in the bainitic ferrite in both steels despite the high level of Si.     

Bainite in steels

The mechanism of the bainite transformation in steels is reviewed, beginning with a summary of the early research and finishing with an assessment of the transformation in the context of the other reactions which occur as austenite is cooled to temperatures where it is no longer the stable phase. The review includes a detailed account of the microstructure, chemistry, and crystallography of bainitic ferrite and of the variety of carbide precipitation reactions associated with the bainite transformation. This is followed by an assessment of the thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of the reaction and by a consideration of the reverse transformation from bainite to austenite. It is argued that there are useful mechanistic distinctions to be made between the coherent growth of ferrite initially supersaturated with carbon (bainite), coherent growth of Widmanstätten ferrite under paraequilibrium conditions, and incoherent growth of ferrite under local equilibrium or paraequilibrium conditions. The nature of the so-called acicular ferrite is also discussed.     

层流冷却工艺对NM300TP热轧耐磨钢组织性能的影响

为探究NM300TP热轧耐磨板最佳冷却工艺,采用两段式冷却工艺,通过控制中冷温度和空冷时间,得到不同冷却工艺下的轧板.轧板具有贝氏体+铁素体+残余奥氏体的三相组织,无需轧后热处理便可获得良好的综合力学性能.研究结果表明,耐磨钢中各相含量与其力学性能有明显的对应关系,贝氏体越多,布氏硬度越大,抗拉强度越高,磨损失重越小,...     

块状组织细化对贝氏体钢断裂行为的影响

 中碳贝氏体钢由亚微米贝氏体铁素体板条和残余奥氏体组成,对韧性起主要作用的为残余奥氏体,通过细化块状组织能显著提高贝氏体钢的韧性。为了探究块状组织细化对断裂行为的影响,采用两步贝氏体等温工艺对中碳(碳质量分数为0.3%)贝氏体钢中块状组织进行细化,对拉伸和冲击性能及其裂纹扩展行为变化进行了研究。利用光学、扫描电子(SEM)、透射电子(TEM)显微镜、X射线衍射(XRD)等对试验钢的显微组织类型和尺寸、拉伸和冲击性能及断口形貌进行表征和分析。结果表明,与一步贝氏体工艺相比,两步贝氏体工艺中新形成的贝氏体铁素体分割细化块状马氏体+残余奥氏体,随着真应变的增加,加工硬化的效果更好;断裂形式为韧性断裂,且韧窝的数量、深度更优于一步贝氏体转变,塑韧性更佳。     

无碳化物贝氏体耐磨钢板组织与性能的研究

研究了无碳化物贝氏体耐磨钢板组织、力学性能及焊接性能。结果表明,在低碳贝氏体钢基础上,通过加入一定量的硅元素,利用其在贝氏体组织转变过程中抑制碳化物析出作用,得到由非等轴铁素体加马氏体和残余奥氏体(M-A)岛或由板条状铁素体及其板条间残余奥氏体(Ar)膜组成的无碳化物贝氏体组织,以此得到既具有高强度、高硬度,又具有较高的低温冲击韧性,同时具有较好的焊接性能。