Bainite is a plate-like microstructure that forms in steels at temperatures of 125–550 °C (depending on alloy content). … A fine non-lamellar structure, bainite commonly consists of cementite and dislocation-rich ferrite.

What is the microstructure of lower bainite?

The general definition of bainite is that the microstructure consists of a non-lamellar mixture of ferrite and carbides. … Lower bainite consists of fine needlelike plates or laths with the carbides precipitated within the laths.

What is cementite microstructure?

Cementite (or iron carbide) is a compound of iron and carbon, more precisely an intermediate transition metal carbide with the formula Fe3C. By weight, it is 6.67% carbon and 93.3% iron. It has an orthorhombic crystal structure. … The name cementite originated from the research of Floris Osmond and J.

What is the microstructure of martensite?

Martensite was originally named for a very hard, very brittle phase of steel that has needle-shaped microstructural features, with a microstructure being the arrangement of the phases on the microscopic scale. In steel, martensite forms due to the very fast cooling of a high-temperature phase called austenite.

Why is martensite so hard?

Because the cooling rate is so sudden, carbon does not have enough time for diffusion. Therefore, the martensite phase consists of a metastable iron phase oversaturated in carbon. Since the more carbon a steel has, the harder and more brittle it is, a martensitic steel is very hard and brittle.

Is bainite FCC or BCC?

At the temperature of about 300-400 C, austenite in many steels decomposed to lower bainite, a type of BCC iron ferrite with finely dispersed carbide cementite.

How do you identify a bainite?

Bainite and martensite were distinguished by combining dilatometry, SEM and EBSD. Bainitic ferrite appears as thin acicular units and irregularly shaped laths below Ms. Tempered martensite appears in the form of laths with wavy boundaries and ledge-like protrusions.

Is pearlite FCC or BCC?

The alpha phase is called ferrite. Ferrite is a common constituent in steels and has a Body Centred Cubic (BCC) structure [which is less densely packed than FCC]. Fe3C is called cementite and lastly (for us), the eutectic like mixture of alpha+cementite is called pearlite.

What is the difference between upper and lower bainite?

Upper bainite forms at higher temperatures, permitting the excess carbon to partition before it can precipitate in the ferrite. In lower bainite, the slower diffusion associated with the reduced transformation temperature provides an opportunity for some of the carbon to precipitate in the supersaturated ferrite.

What are the types of microstructure?

What microstructure means?

Microstructure is the very small scale structure of a material, defined as the structure of a prepared surface of material as revealed by an optical microscope above 25× magnification. … In fact, for many materials, different phases can exist at the same time.

What is the full form of TTT in TTT curve?

Isothermal transformation diagrams (also known as time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagrams) are plots of temperature versus time (usually on a logarithmic scale).

What is martensite and types?

MARTENSITE is a structure characteristic of quenched steels and consists of an aggregate of very minute needle-shaped crystals. … By X-ray analysis, Westgren and others have found that the martensite has a body-centred cubic lattice, carbon atoms being present within the interspace of the lattice.

What is difference between austenitic and martensitic?

Austenitic stainless steels are much easier to weld with in comparison to the martensitic ones. The martensitic steels have higher carbon contents than most austenitic counterparts. This reduces the corrosion resistance, increases the toughness and increases the risk of chromium carbide precipitation while welding.

How martensite is formed?

5 Martensite Formation. Martensite is a phase that forms when certain alloys are cooled through and below a critical temperature. Concurrent stress and plastic deformation can affect the martensitic transformation temperatures. Thus the drawing temperature of such alloys can greatly affect drawn properties.

Is martensite the hardest form of steel?

1) Martensite is the hardest and most brittle microstructure obtainable in a given steel. 2) Martensite hardness of the steel is a function of the carbon content in that steel. … 5) Reheating as quenched Martensite to a temperature just below the AC1 results in the best combinations of strength and toughness.

Why is untempered martensite so brittle?

Untempered martensite is a strong, hard, brittle material. The stronger and harder it is, the more brittle it is. The strength and hardness is a due to elastic strain within the martensite, which is a result of too many carbon atoms being in the spaces between the iron atoms in the martensite.

What does martensite look like?

For steel with 0–0.6% carbon, the martensite has the appearance of lath and is called lath martensite. For steel with greater than 1% carbon, it will form a plate-like structure called plate martensite. Between those two percentages, the physical appearance of the grains is a mix of the two.

What is bainite and martensite?

Bainite is a type of steel that’s produced by cooling faster than pearlite but slower than martensite. Additionally, bainite has plate-shaped designs in its microstructures, while martensite has long oval-shaped designs. … Without tempering, martensite is simply too hard, making it susceptible to breakage upon impact.

What is the crystal structure of martensite in steel?

Martensite is a body-centered tetragonal form of iron in which some carbon is dissolved. Martensite forms during quenching, when the face centered cubic lattice of austenite is distored into the body centered tetragonal structure without the loss of its contained carbon atoms into cementite and ferrite.

What conditions are needed to form bainite?

Bainite forms by the decomposition of austenite at a temperature which is above MS but below that at which fine pearlite forms. All bainite forms below the T0 temperature. All time–temperature–transformation (TTT) diagrams consist essentially of two C–curves (Fig. 1).

Which Microconstituents of steel is hardest?

The equilibrium microstructure of eutectoid steel obtained at room temperature is pearlite (Fig. 6(c)) which is a mixture of two microconstituents named ferrite (α) and cementite (Fe3C); ferrite is very soft while cementite is a very hard constituent of steel.

Is ferrite harder than Cementite?

Cementite is harder and stronger than ferrite but is much less malleable, so that vastly differing mechanical properties are obtained by varying the amount of carbon.

What is the microstructure of mild steel?

The microstructure is predominantly martensite but also has allotriomorphic ferrite, Widmanstätten ferrite, bainite and pearlite. Notice that the spherical shape of a pearlite colony is obvious in this sample because of the lack of impingment.

Is FCC more ductile than BCC?

A face-centered cubic crystal structure will exhibit more ductility (deform more readily under load before breaking) than a body-centered cubic structure. The bcc lattice, although cubic, is not closely packed and forms strong metals. … The fcc lattice is both cubic and closely packed and forms more ductile materials.

Is Cast iron FCC or BCC?

Table 1: Crystal Structure for some Metals (at room temperature)

Aluminum FCC FCC
Cadmium HCP BCC
Iron BCC HCP
Lead FCC HCP
Magnesium HCP

Is iron FCC or BCC?

Between room temperature and 912oC, iron has the BCC structure, and is a tough, hard metal (tough as nails). Above 912oC, pure iron switches over to the FCC (austenite) structure, which is much more ductile.

What is bainitic structure and show their microstructure?

Bainite is a microstructure made up of packets of parallel plates in the so-called morphological packet. The good toughness of this microstructure could be related to the high density of the high-angle boundaries that these microstructures usually present (124).

Why is Spheroidite ductile?

By heating at this temperature pearlite, which is the lowest energy arrangement of steel, gets converted to ferrite and cementite. … The structures in spheroidite are one thousand times larger than those of pearlite and are spaced further apart. This means the spheroidite steel is extremely ductile.

What is meant by Austempering?

Austempering is a heat treating process for medium-to-high carbon ferrous metals which produces a metallurgical structure called bainite. It is used to increase strength, toughness, and reduce distortion.