Abstract
The incomplete transformation (ICT) phenomenon is defined as the temporary cessation of ferrite formation (in the absence of carbide precipitation at α:γ boundaries) before the fraction of austenite transformed to ferrite predicted by the Lever rule is attained. The ICT phenomenon is central to the “overall reaction kinetics” definition of bainite but plays lesser roles in the quite different groups of phenomena comprising the “surface relief” and “generalized microstructural” definitions. Experimental generalizations that can be made about the ICT are briefly noted. Effects of alloying elements, X, upon various aspects of the nucleation and growth of ferrite are listed in order of apparently increasing strength. The ICT is seen to be one of the stronger effects in the latter spectrum. Theories of the ICT are then critically examined. The currently most promising theories involve (1) the cessation of growth induced by the coupled-solute drag effect (C-SDE), accentuated by the overlap of the carbon diffusion fields associated with adjacent ferrite crystals; and (2) the concepts of item (1) plus local alloying element partition between ferrite and austenite (LE-NP), thereby making any further ferrite growth require volume diffusion of X in austenite and thus to take place exceedingly slowly. Distinguishing between these theories will require use of an Fe-C-X system in which the temperature-carbon concentration paths of the paraequilibrium (PE) Ae3 and of the “no partition” boundary are well separated. Although the Fe-C-Mo system has proved convenient for studying many aspects of the ICT phenomenon, it does not fulfill this specification. Fe-C-Mn alloys do so and should be particularly useful subjects for future investigations of the ICT phenomenon.
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This article is based on a presentation made in the “Hillert Symposium on Thermodynamics & Kinetics of Migrating Interfaces in Steels and Other Complex Alloys,” December 2–3, 2004, organized by The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.
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Aaronson, H.I., Reynolds, W.T. & Purdy, G.R. The incomplete transformation phenomenon in steel. Metall Mater Trans A 37, 1731–1745 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-006-0116-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-006-0116-9