New insights to the effects of ausforming on the bainitic transformation

The effects of prior deformation conditions on the bainitic transformation are investigated using dilatometry and optical metallography. The influences of both deformation temperature and strain on bainite transformation kinetics and morphology are examined in superbainitic carbide-free steel. The transformation is retarded by deformation at high temperature due to the retardation of bainite growth by dislocation debris in deformed austenite. At low deformation temperatures, the initial transformation rate is accelerated due to the presence of prolific nucleation sites in deformed austenite. The growth rate is, again, retarded by deformation. The combined effect of accelerated nucleation and retarded growth results in a complex dependence of the phase transformation kinetics on applied strain. For small deformation strains at 300 °C, the overall transformation kinetics is faster than that in the non-deformed material. From a practical point of view, this provides an important opportunity to reduce the processing times for carbide-free bainitic steels. Interestingly, both the final transformed bainite and retained austenite fraction under these conditions are much higher than the non-deformed material. The retardation of growth dominates the overall transformation kinetics at large strains and low temperature leading to a high volume fraction of martensite in the final microstructure.