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Heat Treatment of Steel Alloys Heat Treatment of Steel Alloys
Heat Treatment of Steel Alloys Heat Treatment of Steel Alloys
YELLOW ALERT
Diffusive vs. Displacive Transformations of Pure Iron (Fe) Role of Dissolved Carbon in Fe Transformations Heat Treatment of Steel Alloys
Diffusion Process
Surface
Nucleation in the Diffusive Transformation of f.c.c.-> b.c.c. in Pure Fe Nucleation is very important The more nuclei : The more Volume Transformed In a diffusive transformation: Volume transforming per second increases linearly with the number of nuclei.
heterogeneous
homogeneous
Absolute temperature
The standard practice to display diffusive transformations is with the Time-TemperatureTransformation (TTT) diagram. It is also known as the IsothermalTransformation diagram or C-curve. The TTT diagram for the diffusive f.c.c.->b.c.c. transformation of pure Fe is shown at the right.
1)
The transformation rate is zero both at 914 and 273 C so the time required for the transformation is infinite at these temperatures
2) The transformation rate is a maximum at 700 C so the time for the 1% transformation must be a minimum at 700 C
If we quench f.c.c. Fe from 914C at a rate of about 105Cs-1, we expect to prevent the diffusive The TTT diagram for the diffusive f.c.c.->b.c.c. transformation from taking place. In reality, below 550C the Fe will transform to b.c.c. by a displacive transformation.
The displacive transformation of f.c.c. -> b.c.c. in pure Fe is shown schematically. Lens shaped crystals of b.c.c. Fe nucleate at the grain boundaries of the f.c.c. Fe and grow out into the f.c.c. crystal. The lens shaped crystals stop when they hit the next grain boundary. This kind of transformation is called a Martensitic Transformation.
Martensite transformation
The is shown below. The Ms stands for Martensite Start Temperature and the Mf stands for Martensite Finished Temperature. If a sample is cooled fast enough to prevent the diffusive transformation from taking place, then martensite will be formed as schematically shown at the left.
BCT formation
The Carbon atoms fit into interstitial spaces in the FCC Austinite structure schematically shown below. Note the distortion of the Fe atoms [0.258-nm diameter] around the Carbon atoms [0.154-nm diameter] since the voids are 0.104-nm diameter.
Fe-C Interstitial Solid Solution in Ferrite & Martensite The Carbon atoms cannot fit into interstitial spaces in the BCC ferrite structure like they can in the FCC Austinite and produce a BCT ( schematically shown below). Note in the BCT the Carbon atoms force the unit cell to be alongated in the c-direction. The largest interstitial void in BCC iron has a diameter of 0.072-nm.
All martensite
Another one...
Formation of Bainite
Perlite + Martensite
Bainite + Martensite
Martensite
Tempering
Tempering is the process of heating a martensitic steel at a temperature below the eutectoid transformation temperature. This makes it softer and more ductile.
Martensite is a metastable structure, and it decomposes when reheated. In lath martensites of low-carbon plain-carbon steels there is a high dislocation density, and these dislocations provide lower energy sites for carbon atoms than there regular interstitial positions. This process can take place between 20 and 200C.
Martempering
Austempering