Autocatalytic nature of the bainitic transformation in steels: a new hypothesis

To ensure improvements in predicting the kinetics of bainite formation, it is important to understand the autocatalytic nature of the transformation so that this accelerating effect can be rigorously incorporated in kinetic models. In the present paper, it is assumed that the broad faces of bainitic plates in particular provide new potential nucleation sites for autocatalytic nucleation. The dislocations in the austenite near a bainitic plate are thought to stimulate autocatalysis because carbon is assumed to pile up at these regions and thereby other austenite–bainite interface regions may contain less carbon which promotes nucleation. Based on these assumptions, it is derived that the autocatalytic contribution is proportional to the volume fraction of as-formed bainite, which is consistent with the dependence proposed by Entwisle [V. Raghavan and A.R. Entwisle, Special Report No. 93, The Iron and Steel Institute, London, 1965, p.30] on the basis of empirical knowledge. In addition, it is assumed that autocatalytic nucleation can also depend on the morphology of bainite due to the associated difference in cementite precipitation. This new hypothesis for autocatalysis offers a viable explanation for the irregular variation in kinetics associated with the transition from upper to lower bainite measured for an alloy with eutectoid composition. Furthermore, comparison with experimental data of a Si-rich steel demonstrates that the isothermal kinetics of bainite formation can only be satisfactorily described when the autocatalytic factor is inversely proportional to the thickness of bainitic plates, which is consistent with the model proposed.