An overview on bainite formation in steels

The present report makes an attempt to review some studies by Chinese researchers on bainite in steel from the viewpoint of thermodynamics, kinetics, crystallography, microstructure, mechanism, etc. Due to the complexity of bainite transformation in steels, the extensive disagreement between the diffusion school and the shear school on bainite formation are discussed. A sympathetic nucleation and diffusion controlled ledgewise growth mechanism rather than shear mechanism is favored by the authors. Nevertheless, some further works are still necessary for a full understanding of various bainite with different composition and morphology.