Materials Science and Engineering, A131 ( 1991 ) 99-113
Continuous Heating Transformation of Bainite to Austenite
J. R. YANG
Graduate Institute of Materials Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 107 (Taiwan)
H. K. D. H. B H A D E S H I A
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Pembroke.Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ ( U.K.)
(Received December 27, 1989)
Abstract
The transformation of a bainitic F e - M n - S i - C
alloy into austenite has been studied using dila-
tometry, transmission electron microscopy and
microanalytical techniques. The formation of
austenite was investigated using two different start-
ing microstructures, the first consisting of a mixture
of bainitic ferrite and residual austenite, and the
second of a mixture of tempered bainitic ferrite and
carbides. Results from isothermal austenitization
experiments confirm earlier work on a different
alloy, that because of the incomplete reaction
phenomenon associated with bainite growth, there
is a large temperature hysteresis before the reverse
transformation to austenite becomes possible.
Continuous heating experiments revealed an iden-
tical austenitization behaviour for both initial
microstructures when the heating rate utilized was
small. This is because any residual austenite then
tends to transform into pearlite or to decompose
into ferrite and discrete particles of carbides before
the sample reaches a temperature where austenite
growth becomes thermodynamically feasible.
Consequently, the two initial microstructures
become identical by the time Ty is reached A t
faster heating rates the residual austenite remains
stable during heating and then commences to grow
as the appropriate elevated temperature is reached.
A slightly higher degree of superheating is found to
be necessary in the absence of residual austenite in
the starting microstructure, since austenite nuclea-
tion is then necessary prior to growth. Since the
excess superheating is rather small, the results
indicate that nucleation does not appear to be a
major hurdle to the formation of austenite in the
alloy studied
0921-5093/91/$3.50
99
1. Introduction
The success of the current spate of inter-
national research [1-15] on the modelling of
microstructure and properties in welded steel
fabrications depends to a large extent on the
availability of reliable phase transformation
theory to facilitate the computer models. A prob-
lem of particular importance in this respect is
related to the kinetics of austenite formation. A
quantitative theory dealing with the nucleation
and growth of austenite from a variety of starting
conditions is vital, especially for the estimation of
microstructure in multirun weld deposits, but also
for the heat-affected zones in the parent plates of
single-run welds. The heat input associated with
the deposition of successive layers of weld metal
causes some or all of the underlying structure to
be reheated to temperatures where austenite for-
mation occurs. The new austenite then trans-
forms during cooling to a microstructure which is
very different from the solidification structure
associated with weld deposits.
As a part of a programme of research on the
kinetics of austenite formation in steels, the work
reported here deals with austenitization from
bainitic microstructures. Many of the alloys used
in the deposition of high strength welds are
designed to transform into bainitic microstruc-
tures as the weld cools from the austenite phase
field, at rates typical of commercial fabrication
practice. It also appears that acicular ferrite,
which is in general a beneficial phase in steel weld
deposits, is essentially intragranularly nucleated
bainite [16], so that the general principles of
balnite growth and dissolution should also be
applicable to acicular ferrite. In some earlier work
© Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in The Netherlands
100

[17-19] a theory was developed to describe the (a) (b)

austenitization kinetics of mixtures of bainitic (or
acicular) ferrite and residual austenite*. It was :
~.
/-
2

found that the mechanism of the bainite reaction

has a profound influence on any subsequent
reverse transformation to austenite. For example,
i i,
i.-

time time
because isothermal transformation of austenite to
bainitic ferrite ceases prematurely, before the
residual austenite reaches its equilibrium com-
position, any reverse transformation to austenite
cannot occur until the sample is heated to an
elevated temperature where the residual austenite
1.Balnitic ferrite and austenite l.Balnitic ferrite and austenlte
itself enters the austenite phase field. This leads
to a large hysteresis in the forward and reverse
transformation temperatures for austenite, a
hysteresis which is not found when the starting
microstructure is instead a mixture of allotrio-
morphic ferrite and austenite [20].
2. Austenite layers thicken 2. Tempered balnlte
The theory which explains these phenomena
[17-19] also makes other predictions which have
yet to be verified. Hence the work reported here
focuses on the effect of the carbon content of
residual austenite, i.e. the austenite left untrans-
formed after the formation of some bainite, on
3.Nucleatlon & growth of austenlte
the reversion to austenite. An examination of a
starting microstructure of bainitic ferrite and Fig. 1. Schematic diagrams illustrating austenite formation
using different initial microstructures; step 1 of the heat treat-
residual austenite is also of relevance, because ment corresponds to the transformation of a fully austenitic
bainitic steels which contain high concentrations sample into a mixture of bainitic ferrite and carbon-enriched
of silicon are becoming prominent in industry, residual austenite. (a) Austenitization by reheating the
mixture of bainitic ferrite and residual austenite. (b) Starting
both as wrought alloys [21] and in the form of microstructure of carbides and bainitic ferrite generated by
high silicon cast irons [22]. The high silicon step 2, which is a tempering heat treatment. Austenite nuclea-
concentration retards the growth of cementite, so tion is therefore necessary during step 3 of the heat treat-
ment.
that a microstructure of just bainitic ferrite and
residual austenite can be obtained by transforma-
tion of austenite below the bainite start (Bs) tem- extension of the earlier research is that both iso-
perature [23]. If this microstructure is, without thermal and continuous heating experiments have
cooling from the isothermal transformation been carried out in the present work.
temperature, reheated rapidly to higher tempera-
tures, then the austenitization process requires no
nucleation of austenite, permitting a controlled
2. Experimentalprocedure
study of the growth of austenite [17-19], as illus- The steel used had the chemical composition
trated in Fig. 1. On the other hand, the mixture of Fe-0.43C-3.00Mn-2.02Si (wt.%) and was pre-
bainite and austenite can be tempered to force the pared using high purity base materials as a 20 kg
latter phase to decompose into ferrite plus car- vacuum induction melt which was hot worked to
bides (Fig. 1). Austenitization of the resultant rods 8 mm in diameter. The hot-worked samples
microstructure of ferrite and carbides would then were then sealed in quartz capsules (under a
require the nucleation of austenite, permitting a partial pressure of argon) and homogenized for 3
study of the role of austenite nucleation in influ- days at 1250°C before hot reduction to rods
encing overall transformation kinetics. A further 3.2 mm in diameter.

2.1. Dilatometry
*Throughout this paper the term "residual austenite"
refers to the austenite that is left untransformed after the All kinetic measurements were performed
growth of bainitic ferrite stops. using a Theta Industries high speed dilatometer,
 101

which has a water-cooled r.f. furnace of essen-

tially zero thermal mass, since it is only the speci- 0'010
men which undergoes the programmed thermal
~ 0.000
cycle. This enables rapid heating or cooling
experiments. The length transducer on the dila- 0"006

tometer was calibrated using pure platinum and ~ O.OOt+

pure nickel specimens of known thermal expan- 0"002 -
410~

sion characteristics. The dilatometer has been

0000 .... i .... i .... I ....
interfaced with a BBC Acorn microcomputer so 500 1000 1500
that length, time and temperature information (a) Time, Seconds

can be recorded for fiLrther analysis. Specimens 800-

for dilatometry were in the form of rods 3 mm in .~700-

diameter, each of length 15 mm. To avoid surface t~
g6oo-
nucleation and surface degradation, all specimens
were electroplated with nickel (plating thickness ~SO0-
ca. 0.08 mm) and all heat treatments were carried '--~.O0-
out in a helium gas environment. 3OO
o o o'oz do,. o:o6 olo8 o:1o o:lz
(b) MOLE FRACTIONOF CARBON
2.2. Transmission electron microscopy F i g . 2. (a) D i l a t o m e t r i c curves illustrating isothermal trans-
Thin foil specimens for transmission electron formation to bainite at a variety of temperatures afte~
microscopy were prepared from discs 0.25 mm austenitization at 950 °C for 10 min. The absence of any
thick slit from specimens used in the dilatometric unwanted transformation during quenching to the isothermal
reaction temperature should be noted. (b) Calculated phase
experiments. The discs were abraded down to diagram for Fe-0.43wt.%C-3.00wt.%Mn-2.02wt.%Si, and
0.05 mm thickness using silicon-carbide-coated experimental data indicating that the transformation to
paper and then polished in a twin-jet electro- bainite stops approximately at the point where x. reaches the
T0' curve, rather than when the austenite reaet~es its para-
polisher using a 5% perchloric acid, 25% glycerol equilibrium composition.
and 70% ethanol mixture at ambient temperature
and 60 V polishing potential. The microscopy
is known:
was carried out using a Philips E M 4 0 0 T trans-
mission electron microscope operated at 120 kV. ~ - V~xa (1)
xy- 1-~,

3. Results and discussion where ~f is the average carbon concentration of

Figure 2(a) illustrates the dilatometric curves
obtained using samples austenitized at 950 °C for
10 min followed by isothermal transformation to
upper bainite at 350, 380 and 410°C respec-
tively. The results confirm earlier experiments
[24] in which the maximum extent of transforma-
tion to upper bainite was found to increase as the
transformation temperature is reduced below the
bainite start temperature (Bs).
Because of the relatively high silicon concen-
tration in the steel used, the precipitation of
cementite tends to be rather sluggish. Conse-
quently, isothermal transformation to upper
bainite generates a microstructure consisting of
carbide-free bainitic ferrite and carbon-enriched
residual austenite [23]. It is then possible to esti-
mate the carbon concentration xr of the residual
austenite using a simple mass balance procedure
[25] if the volume fraction V~, of bainitic ferrite
the alloy and x~ is the carbon concentration of the
bainitic ferrite. Since the latter is always rather
small when compared with .f, it is assumed here
to be given by the carbon concentration of ferrite
which is in equilibrium with austenite in an Fe-C
alloy, as calculated using the McLellan and Dunn
quasichemical thermodynamic model [26, 27].
The volume fraction V~ can be calculated
from the dilatometric data as discussed elsewhere
[25]. The values of x~ estimated in the manner just
described, for the point where isothermal trans-
formation ceases at any given temperature, are
plotted on the phase diagram presented in Fig.
2(b). The phase boundaries were calculated as in
ref. 24, the Ae 3' curve represents the a + y / 7
para-equilibrium phase boundary. Para-equilib-
rium is a form of constrained equilibrium in
which the iron-to-substitutional-solute-atom ratio
is unaltered during reaction, but subject to that
constraint, the carbon partitions and achieves
102
equality of chemical potential in both the a and
phases [28-32]. The Ae 3' curve therefore defines
the maximum carbon concentration tolerated by
austenite which is in para-equilibrium with ferrite.
The TO curve (Fig. 2(b)) represents the locus of
temperatures at which austenite and ferrite of the
same chemical composition have equal free
energy [33, 34]. It is thermodynamically impos-
sible for the austenite to transform to ferrite
without a composition change if x~ exceeds the
appropriate value given by the TOboundary. The
TO' curve is calculated on the same basis as the TO
curve, but allowing for the 400 J mol- 1 of stored
energy in the bainitic ferrite [24] due to the shape
deformation accompanying its growth.
The data presented in Fig. 2(b) confirm that
the formation of upper bainite stops prematurely,
well before the carbon concentration of the resid-
ual austenite reaches the para-equilibrium Ae 3'
phase boundary. This effect is known as the
"incomplete reaction phenomenon" [33, 34] and
is believed to arise because bainitic ferrite grows
by diffusionless transformation, any excess car-
bon being partitioned into the residual austenite
rather quickly at some stage after transformation.
Since diffusionless transformation is not possible
beyond the TO'curve, it is natural that the reaction
should stop when xr = xr0,.
Figure 3 illustrates the microstructure ob-
tained by isothermal transformation to upper
bainite. From the point of view of reverse trans-
formation, it is important to note the two different
morphologies of austenite present. The blocky
regions of austcnite originate from the geomet-
rical partitioning of the prior austenite grains by
non-parallel sheaves of bainite. The thin films of
austenite are, on the other hand, confined to
individual sheaves and represent untransformed
austenite which is trapped between adjacent
platelets of a sheaf.
3.1. Austenitization by continuous heating
Isothermal transformation to bainite at 350 °C
ceases after about 30 min at the reaction temper-
ature. If the sample is held at that temperature for
only 10 min so that the amount of untransformed
austenite is rather large, and is then heated at a
controlled rate to induce the growth of the resid-
ual austenite, the latter is found to decompose
during heating to a mixture of ferrite and carbides
before reaching the higher temperatures where
the formation of austenite can be studied. This
was especially found to be the case when the
samples were heated at relatively low rates (0.06
and 0.15°Cs-1). Figure 4 illustrates how the
decomposition of the residual austenite could be
detected during heating via the expansion associ-
ated with the density change as ferrite and
carbides replace the austenite phase. This inter-
pretation is consistent with the fact that the
expansion observed at intermediate temperatures
(less than 600 °C) during slow heating is absent
for the higher heating rates, since the residual
austenite does not then have the opportunity to
decompose. For those cases where the heating
rate was slow enough to permit some austenite
decomposition during heating, the temperature at
which decomposition was first detected to occur
increased as the heating rate increased (Fig. 4).
The reaction can be expected to be delayed (and
eventually suppressed) to higher temperatures,
since the sample spends less time in the range
where austenite has a tendency to decompose, as
the heating rate is increased.
Metallography of samples which, during the
heating part of the treatment, were quenched
from 600 °C confirmed that austenite decomposi-
tion was responsible for the perturbations
observed in the length vs. temperature curves
from the continuous heating experiments. The
larger blocky regions of residual austenite were
found to decompose to pearlite (Fig. 5). The thin
films of austenite within the sheaf microstructure
also tended to decompose but into a mixture of
ferrite and discrete particles of carbides (Fig. 5).
This difference in behaviour between the two
forms of austenite is expected on two grounds.
Firstly, the larger surface-to-volume ratio asso-
ciated with the film morphology should lead to a
higher carbide nucleation rate, thus allowing the
transformation to begin in many different places
at the same time, and hence working against the
development of colonies of pearlite (each pearlite
colony consists of two interpenetrating ferrite and
cementite crystals [35], which in two-dimensional
sections give an appearance of alternating lamel-
lae). Furthermore, only a small amount of decom-
position is necessary before the films decompose
completely, so that there may not exist an oppor-
trinity for the development of the cooperative
growth of ferrite and cementite of the kind neces-
sary to establish a common transformation front
and a pearlite colony.
In fact, it is also known that the carbon concen-
tration in the residual austenite is not homogene-
ously distributed [36-40]. The films of austenite
 193

Fig. 3. (a) Optical micrograph showing the upper bainitic ferrite and residual austenite following isothermal transformation at
350 °C for 120 min. The blocky regions of austenite appear as the white etching regions, the film austenite being too fine to
resolve, (b) Bright field transmission electron micrograph of a sample transformed isothermally at 350 °C for 120 min, high-
lighting the (grey) films of austenite between adjacent bainitic ferrite platelets. (c) Corresponding retained austenite dark field
image.
104

0.010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' ............. I ................ I ............. I .................. i

0.06 and 0.15 °C s-1 respectively. They show
,f'/i
1" r"
much smaller dimensional changes due to the
0.008-
1 ~_ s P ~ j r- austenite decomposition reaction, partly because
d~
the samples contain a smaller volume fraction of
0.006-~. residual austenite, but also because the austenite
0.004-
•" i contains a higher carbon concentration and

0.002- ,.1 S'*""~

// I hence possesses a higher hardenibility with
respect to pearlitic decomposition. The decom-
position process is in each case manifested as a
/.
+, small deviation from linearity in the plot of length
0.000 ........... r~....,................... ,................... ,................... ,................... ,................... [
(a) 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 vs. temperature (Fig. 6). The higher carbon
Temperature, °C enrichment in the austenite causes its lattice
parameter to be larger, thereby reducing the
0.010
density difference between austenite and ferrite
and thus leading to a smaller length change
.~ O.O08-
(J during decomposition of austenite, but this is a
0.006-
relatively minor effect.
..,,.¢
The above results were confirmed metallo-
.~ 0.004- graphically using samples whose continuous
i ° heating treatments were interrupted at a variety
//" of temperatures (Fig. 7). Because of the higher
~, 0.002-
/ degree of transformation at 350 °C, most of the
0.000 residual austenite was in the form of films and
(b) 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 decomposed into a mixture of ferrite and discrete
Temperature, °C
carbide particles (Fig. 7). A small amount of
Fig. 4. The relative length change vs. temperature curves for austenitization is apparent in Fig. 7(c), which
samples which were first transformed isothermally at 350 °C
for 10 rain before continuously heating, directly from the represents a sample whose heating cycle was
isothermal transformation temperature, at a variety of interrupted at 730 °C by helium quenching. The
heating rates: (a) 0.06 °C s-i; (b) 0.15 °C s-i. The expansion slow heating clearly leads to the decomposition of
observed at intermediate temperatures during slow heating
due to the decomposition of austenite into a mixture of ferrite high carbon residual austenite into tiny carbide
and carbides should be noted. particles located primarily between the platelets
of bainitic ferrite.

become isolated by adjacent platelets of bainitic 3.2. Different initial microstructures and bainite
ferrite and consequently may contain a relatively transformation temperatures
larger concentration of carbon, since any excess In order to investigate further the effect of
carbon dumped into the films cannot easily be carbon in the residual austenite on its growth
dissipated into the surroundings by diffusion. kinetics, specimens austenitized at 950°C for
This may also contribute to a higher carbide 10 rain were isothermally transformed to bainite
nucleation rate in the film austenite. In the experi- for 120 min ( i . e . longer than is necessary for the
ments described above, the samples were allowed reaction to cease), before heating to induce
to transform to bainite at 350 °C for only 10 min, austenite growth. Figure 8 shows the results
so that the fraction of austenite left untrans- obtained in the form of a plot of the austenitiza-
formed is relatively large and its enrichment with tion start temperature T~ vs. the heating rate for
carbon correspondingly small. Other experiments four different starting microstructures. Three of
were also carried out in which bainitic transfor- these microstructures consisted of mixtures of
mation was permitted for 120 min at 350 °C, a upper bainitic ferrite and residual austenite and
time period longer than is necessary to ensure the were generated by isothermal transformation at
maximum volume fraction of bainitic ferrite. 350, 380 and 410 °C respectively, the sample in
Figure 6 illustrates the dilatometric data from each case being held at the transformation tem-
experiments in which the samples were first trans- perature for 2 h to allow the reaction to proceed
formed isothermally to bainite at 350°C for to its maximum extent, after which the specimens
120 min and then heated above 350 °C at rates of were heated for the austenitization process. The
 105

Fig. 5. Electron micrographs confirming the decomposition of austenite during heating at slow rates. The heat treatments given
are as follows: 10 min at 950 ° C - 10 min at 350 ° C - continuous heating to 600 °C (heating rate = 0.06 °C s ])~ quenched using
helium gas. (a) Electron micrograph showing a pearlite-like colony in the microstructure. (b) Electron micrograph showing the
discretely nucleated carbides.

fourth microstructure (Fig. 9) consisted of a thermodynamically possible. Consequently, the

mixture of cementite and ferrite, generated by
tempering the bainitic microstructure obtained by
isothermal transformation at 350 °C for 2 h at a
temperature of 610 °C for 30 min prior to heating
to induce the nucleation and growth of austenite.
It is evident from the data that the carbon
content of the residual austenite influences the
austenitization behaviour. Because of the negative
slope of the TO curve, a higher bainitic transfor-
mation temperature leads to a lower degree of
carbon enrichment in the residual austenite.
Consequently, the growth of the residual austen-
ite then begins at a higher temperature, when its
composition equals that given by the A e 3 phase
boundary, which was calculated as in ref. 41
(Fig. 10).
At relatively low heating rates, lower than
0.6 °C s- 1, the three bainitic microstructures were
found to have nearly the same austenitization
start temperatures (Fig. 10), since the residual
austenite in such cases decomposes during heat-
ing to a mixture of ferrite and carbides before a
temperature is reached where its growth becomes
austenite has to renucleate before the austenitiza-
tion process can begin at elevated temperatures.
These observations are also consistent with the
fact that the austenitization start temperatures for
the bainitic microstructures are identical to those
of the tempered bainite at low heating rates. On
the other hand, when the starting microstructures
are heated more rapidly, the austenitization start
temperatures are found to be higher for the tem-
pered bainite relative to the microstructures
which consisted initially of mixtures of bainitic
ferrite and residual austenite. The additional
superheating necessary at high heating rates for
the tempered bainite can be attributed to the need
in that microstructure for the austenite to nucle-
ate before growth can commence. When mixtures
of bainitic ferrite and austenite are heated suffi-
ciently rapidly, the latter phase remains stable to
elevated temperatures and simply begins to grow,
so that the nucleation stage is unnecessary and a
lower degree of superheating above the equilib-
rium temperature is needed. It is interesting that
for the conditions relevant to the present work,
106

0008i ............................. " ...........................'....................................................................... i decomposition of austenite into a mixture of

0.007 1 /s" ~_ ferrite plus carbide rather than due to the for-
o.ooo / mation of more austenite.
For austenitization at temperatures exceeding
: o.oo5~ ,,.,,,,-~--"'~ r-
710 °C, the layers of austenite present in the start-
000,4 /," ing microstructures were found to thicken (Fig.
o.oo
- ./ 13). From these observations the lowest tempera-
o.oo2- / ture at which austenite growth begins from an
~' o.ooi- ,,/-- initial microstructure obtained by isothermal
f transformation to bainitic ferrite is found to be
~0.000 .............. ~.. ................ ~................... ~ ................... ~ ...................
f................... E................... about 720 °C. This is in fact consistent with the
(a) 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Temperature, °C theoretical analysis, which indicates that austenite
0.008 ..............: ..................' ................... ~................... J ...................J...................~................... growth should begin when the temperature
exceeds that denoted by point a in Fig. 10. Figure
0.007, "" F
13 illustrates transmission electron micrographs
== 0,006"
.,= ..y" ["
of the austenite growth observed after holding the
~d 0.005" °**°"" " ' ~ ' " " " L initial microstructure at temperatures greater
0.004", ...o.." than 720°C, in each case for 2 h. Figure 13(c)
0.003 ~ shows that austenite formation is incomplete even
° after holding the sample at 820 °C for 2 h. Note
~-,~ 0.002"0.001. ..""'""" also that the regions of ferrite that are left do not
,,*'" resemble the original bainitic plate microstruc-
0.000
(b) 300
...................

400
[ ...................

500
] ................... I ...................

600 700
~ ................... I ...................

800
~ ..................

900 1000 ture, since they have in effect spheroidized. Thus

Temperature, °C the final stages of austenite formation can be very
Fig. 6. The relative length change v s . temperature curves for sluggish, even when the alloy lies fully in the
samples which were first transformed isothermally at 350 °C austenite phase field (as indicated by Fig. 10).
for 120 min before continuously heating, directly from the
isothermal transformation temperature, at slow heating rates: That this is a kinetic limitation was confirmed by
(a) O.O6°Cs ];(b)0.15°Cs -I. holding a sample at 780°C for 1 week, after
generating the initial microstructure by isother-
the need for nucleation results in only a small mally transforming at 350 °C for 2 h; the alloy
additional degree of superheating, implying that became fully austenitic (Fig. 14). The results are
austenite nucleation at high temperatures is not a consistent with the fact that the last stages of
very difficult process, presumably since both the austenitization, which involve the long-range
diffusion coefficients and driving force increase diffusion of substitutional elements, are tortu-
with superheat. This is unlike the case where ously slow [42], but a fully austenitic sample can
austenite transforms to ferrite, where the diffu- eventually be obtained at 780 °C, consistent with
sion coefficient decreases as the driving force theory (point b, Fig. 10).
increases with supercooling below the equilib- Microanalytical measurements were carried
rium transformation temperature. out using energy-dispersive X-ray analysis on a
Philips EM400T transmission electron micro-
3.3. Isothermal austenitization scope. The microanalytical data (Fig. 15 and
Specimens austenitized at 950°C for 10 min Table 1) cover a range of isothermal austenitiza-
were transformed isothermally to bainite at tion temperatures. The results show that for 2 h
350 °C for 2 h and then, without cooling below of transformation time, the degree of partitioning
350 °C, were heated rapidly to a higher tempera- of alloying elements as indicated by the deviation
ture for isothermal austenitization. Some of the of the apparent partition coefficient ki, from
dilatometric curves for these experiments are unity, where
shown in Fig. 11. Small changes in length were
detected dilatometrically even at the relatively _x, ~
low isothermal transformation temperatures k,-x7
studied (690 and 710°C), but for temperatures
less than 720°C, electron microscopy (Fig. 12) decreases with increasing austenitization temper-
showed clearly that they were due to the partial ature. At 835 °C for 2 h the partition coefficient
 107

Fig. 7. Samples austenitized at 950 °C for 10 min, quenched to an isothermal transformation temperature of 350 °C and held
there for 120 min before continuously heating at a rate of 0.06 °C s ~, and interrupting the heating cycle by helium quenching
when the temperature To was reached. (a) TO = 600 °C, showing that the residual austenite has decomposed into a mixture of
ferrite and carbides. (b) TO = 700 °C, showing that the residual austenite has decomposed into a mixture of ferrite and carbides.
(c) To = 730 °C, showing the formation of a layer of austenite (which decomposed to martensite on quenching).
108

800
Fe- 043C- 3"OOMn-2'02Si
9 5 0 ~ . 10 mins -+-']50=C,2hr s ~ 610¢~, ~ 0 rain ~ c ontinuous h~.~firlg
10eC,2hrs
800"
9S0=C,10mins gS0°C,ghr~ ~ co~muous h e a t i n g
780-

t-J
*-.7 6 O-
as

c~

~-7/~ 0- ~- 600. •...........

300 i
720- 0.0 ~02 ~0~ 66 o:o8 0110 0~2
MOLE FRACTION OF CARBON
Fig. 10. Phase diagram showing the equilibrium Aeg, para-
7001~ ~ . . . . . I~i . . . . . . i~) . . . . . . I~.~,., equilibrium Aeg', T0 and To' phase boundaries for
Heating Rate (*C/S) Fe-0.43wt.%C-3.00wt.%Mn-2.02wt.%Si alloy. The Ae3' , TO
and To' curves are calculated as in ref. 24, and the A e 3 curve
Fig. 8. The experimentally observed austenitization start is calculated as in ref. 41. $ is the average carbon concentra-
temperatures as a function of heating rate and starting micro- tion of the alloy. The horizontal construction lines refer to
structures. the varie~ of temperatures at which mixtures of bainitic
ferrite and residual austenite were generated by isothermal
reaction, and the intersection of the corresponding vertical
construction lines with the A e 3 curve define the temperature
at which austenite growth should begin in each case.

4. Summary and conclusions

Fig. 9. The ferrite and cementite microstructure of tempered
bainite formed by isothermal transformation at 350 °C for
2 h, followed by tempering at 610 °C for 30 min.
for manganese is close to unity, but that for sili-
con is still found to deviate significantly from
unity. The results are generally consistent with
the hypothesis that less partitioning can be toler-
ated during rapid transformation at higher driving
forces (higher temperature in the present con-
text).
The process of austenitization from bainite in a
silicon steel has been investigated, using starting
microstructures which consist either of a mixture
of bainitic ferrite and austenite or of tempered
bainite, under conditions of both isothermal and
continuous heating. The isothermal experiments
firstly served to confirm the incomplete reaction
phenomenon associated with the growth of bain-
ite, in which the reaction ceases well before the
austenite reaches its equilibrium or para-equilib-
rium carbon concentration. The results from iso-
thermal austenitization experiments confirmed
the predictions of a theory developed earlier,
especially that austenite growth should not begin
immediately the temperature of a fully reacted
mixture of bainitic ferrite and residual austenite is
raised. Instead, a considerable superheat is
needed before austenite growth commences, the
degree of superheating depending on the com-
position of the residual austenite in the initial
microstructure. Austenitization only begins when
the carbon concentration of the residual austenite
exceeds its equilibrium carbon concentration.
The isothermal experiments also confirmed
published work [42] that the need for long-range
substitutional solute diffusion makes the final
stages of the reaction disproportionately slow.
Microanalytical data revealed that the degree of
partitioning of substitutional solutes decreases as
the driving force for the growth of austenite
increases.
 109

0-006

0"005- 690°C 720°C

o.oo~-

~ 0'003-
0"002-
0
0.001-

0.000

O-OOS-
c
----~--- . . . . . . . . . . . . 750°C
~ o.004- 780°C

~ 0.003"
J 0"002-
o>
o 0.001.
i
0000 i i r i

~oo 1'ooo ;soo 0 500 1000 1500

Time, Seconds Time, Seconds

Fig. 1 1. Dilatometric curves for isothermal austenitization experiments in which samples containing a mixture of bainitic ferrite
and residual austenite were rapidly heated to and held at the austenitization temperature indicated.

Fig. 12. Transmission electron micrographs illustrating the microstructures obtained after heating mixtures of bainitic ferrite and
residual austenite to a variety of isothermal austenitization temperatures. (a) Partial decomposition of austenite into carbide
(10 min at 950 °C ~ 2 h at 350 °C ~ 2 h at 690 °C ~ gas quench to ambient temperature). (b) Partial decomposition of austenite
into carbides ( l 0 min at 950 °C ~ 2 h at 350 °C ~ 2 h at 710 °C ~ gas quench to ambient temperature).
110

Fig. 13. Transmission electron micrographs illustrating the microstructures obtained after heating mixtures of bainitic ferrite and
residual austenite to a variety of isothermal austenitization temperatures. (a) 10 min at 950 °C ~ 2 h at 350 °C --' 2 h at 720 °C ~ gas
quenched to ambient temperature. (b) 10 rain at 950 °C ~ 2 h at 350 °C - 2 h at 750 C ~ g a s quenched to ambient temperature;
shows that the austenite (which transforms to martensite on cooling) films havethickened. (c) Optical micrograph showing the
microstructure after isothermal austenitization at 820 °C for 2 h. (10 min at 950 ° C - 2 h at 350 °C ~ 2 h at 820 °C ~ quenched
using helium gas). Regions of residual ferrite (light grey) etching are apparent in an otherwise martensitic matrix, indicating that
the austenitization process is incomplete.
 111

Fig. 14. (a) Optical micrograph and (b) transmission electron micrograph illustrating the fully martensitic microstructure
obtained by prolonged annealing at 780 °C ( 10 min at 950 °C ~ 2 h at 350 °C ~ 168 h at 780 °C ~ water quench).
112

,04/
I i .i
~
~ i
i i
~i i
i'..-..i~"~1
~ ] I
!n0"cl
-,silli i" i i i i~." I
I ~o-I~"i ~".'! i'.".i i"1
,o{. :i,i : i. I
1 2 3 1 2 3

~,o !lo,•l
i : i'.. o• 2"5 ""

2'0 ".
i
•~3.01 • IT'Ll 765"C
2hrs
2o 1 ...'.. 1.5
i i"i v l i,
1 Z
a v
2.5t ,t v ! •
~4.0 .' .. ...

~3° 1 ,. ~'' i.'.

i.~ 2'01 " ".~
• i • " i~.c
20/: , • , !OOOO
'~2hrs
i.
'1 '2 '1 '2

.,0I
> | .
:
i ~: ." i.i
~zs~
, .L ~ " " ".
• ~-~,~
~.'
! '83s'c
i ::ZhrsI
E3"O ~ "'. ]' ! " G2.0 " i i

I
•. . i-.i ,.

Y : y tt y
'1 '2

3-0

Z.O
t • : ~ " ° °

v
" • o" I.•.o
i,:i I
• • 2.0

1"5t
..
o

v
oO, ,:

a
i
! t • "oio , ° t • • e . I

y
035"C [
6Shrs

'1 '2 '1 '2

Oisfance (lam) Distence ( pM
Fig. 15. Microanalytical data obtained using energy dispersive X-ray analysis on a Philips E M 4 0 0 T transmission electron
microscope, from partially austenitized specimens.

T A B L E 1 M i c r o a n a l y t i e a l data for the a u s t e n i t e a n d ferrite decomposition before reaching an elevated tem-

p h a s e s d u r i n g a u s t e n i t i z a t i o n f r o m a starting m i c r o s t r u c t u r e perature where its growth become possible. It is
of bainitic ferrite and c a r b o n - e n r i c h e d r e s i d u a l a u s t e n i t e .
T h e error in the data is typically +_ 0.2 wt.% found that the larger regions of residual austenite
tend to decompose into fine colonies of pearlite,
Centi- Hours Mn Mn Si Si whereas the films of austenite which are trapped
grade 7 a 7 a
between platelets of bainitic ferrite tend instead
720 2 4.11 2.37 1.58 2.15 to decompose into a mixture of ferrite and dis-
765 2 3.91 2.42 1.85 2.31 cretely nucleated carbide particles. This is pre-
800 2 3.70 2.37 1.58 2.04
835 2 3.21 3.18 2.09 2.25 sumably because the smaller regions decompose
835 6.5 3.22 3.20 1.86 2.08 completely before the cooperative growth of
ferrite and cementite, a vital characteristic of
pearlitic decomposition, can be established.
Austenitization during continuous heating of Hence at slow heating rates both of the initial
starting microstructures which contain residual microstructures (i.e. tempered bainite and bain-
austenite is complicated by the fact that at slow itic ferrite plus residual austenite) were found to
heating rates the residual austenite may undergo have nearly the same austenite start temperatures,

since any austenite present in the starting condi-
tion decomposes during heating. At higher heat-
ing rates the tempered bainite austenitizes at a
slightly higher superheat, since unlike the micro-
structure which already contains some residual
austenite, new austenite has to be nucleated.
However, the excess superheat is found to be
rather small, indicating that the nucleation of
austenite is not very difficult because of the high
temperatures necessarily involved in such experi-
ments.
Finally, the results have all been backed by
extensive metallographic studies, using both light
and transmission electron microscopy.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Professor D. Hull
for the provision of laboratory facilities at the
University of Cambridge, and the Ministry of
Education, Republic of China for funding this
work.
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