Role of sample size in the nucleation kinetics of phase transformations in steel alloys

Certain commercial steel alloys exhibit a two-step phase transformation process during solidification when substantial undercooling of the liquid allows access to the metastable phase. This two-step transformation leads to a desirable microstructure under certain conditions. Electrostatic Levitation (ESL) and Electromagnetic Levitation (EML) are two methods of containerless processing used to study how nucleation and growth kinetics influence the transformation delay between phases. Because the two facilities show substantially different delay results, the test environment differences have been analyzed to determine the root cause of this deviation. In particular, the difference in sample size between ESL and EML is examined and modeling shows that this difference is not the controlling factor in determining transformation delay behavior.