Bainite
kinetics exhibit characteristics of a nucleation and
Bainite is a microstructural product of eutectoid
decomposition; it forms when a high-temperature
phase decomposes into two different phases on cool-
ing. It is distinguished from pearlite, another eutectoid
decomposition product, by its morphology. Bainite is
a nonlamellar mixture of the two product phases that
evolves when these phases grow at different rates.
Pearlite is a lamellar mixture that forms when the
product phases grow cooperatively. Bainitic micro-
structures have significant commercial value because
they can be produced economically with simple pro-
cessing, and they provide some alloy steels and cast
irons with an attractive combination of mechanical
properties.
Although bainite is found in many nonferrous
alloys, research on the subject since the early 1900s has
focused primarily on alloy steels. A brief description of
some of the intriguing phenomena associated with
bainite in ferrous alloys is provided with an emphasis
on the physical metallurgy of bainite. A more complete
introduction to the subject is available in several
publications (Bainite 1990, 1991, Pacific Rim 1994,
Hillert 1995).
1. Introduction
The first systematic investigations of the intermediate
product, now called bainite in honor of Edgar C. Bain,
began with observations of steel microstructures pro-
duced by isothermal decomposition of austenite
(Hultgren 1920, Robertson 1929, Davenport and Bain
1930). These workers used optical microscopy to show
bainite (i) has an acicular structure, (ii) contains
carbides, and (iii) appears mainly at temperatures
below the range for pearlite. Early work showed it is
found in many alloy steels and its appearance varies
considerably with temperature and composition
(Griffiths et al. 1939, Hultgren 1947).
The first data on the kinetics of bainite formation
came from Germany. Magnetization and dilatometry
measurements on alloy steels obtained during aus-
tenite decomposition show bainite forms rapidly at
first but then stops well before the parent austenite is
completely consumed (Wever and Lange 1932, Wever
and Jellinghaus 1932). This behavior, which is limited
to the higher temperatures at which bainite forms, is
called the incomplete reaction phenomenon or trans-
formation stasis. The amount of bainite present when
transformation ceases increases from zero at the
uppermost temperature of bainite formation (desig-
nated the bainite start or Bs temperature) to nearly
100% as the transformation temperature decreases.
Based on the etching characteristics of bainite, early
workers speculated the ferritic component of bainite
incorporates an increasing amount of carbon from
austenite as the transformation temperature decreases.
However, it was also clear that bainite formation
growth process and differ drastically from martensite
formation kinetics.
2. Displacive Mechanism
Proposed mechanisms for the bainite reaction have
evolved along two lines of reasoning: the displacive
hypothesis that emphasizes similarities between
bainite and martensite, and the diffusional hypoth-
esis that emphasizes commonalties between bainite
and proeutectoid ferrite. The displacive model, first
articulated by Robertson and by Davenport and Bain
and later developed by others, envisioned bainite
formation as a two-step process: an essentially marten-
sitic change of crystal structure that produces carbon
supersaturated ferrite followed almost immediately by
carbide precipitation (Robertson 1929, Davenport
and Bain 1930). Early versions of this theory supposed
the ferrite forms in carbon-poor regions of austenite,
with the ferritic component inheriting the carbon
concentration of the carbon-poor austenite. However,
carbon-poor regions in austenite on the size scale of
bainite crystals have not been observed experimentally
and they do not appear plausible on statistical
grounds, so this aspect of the theory was eventually
discarded.
Zener provided a thermodynamic basis for the
displacive hypothesis in a seminal paper on ferrous
transformations published in 1946. His model assum-
ed the ferritic component of bainite (i.e., bainite before
carbides appear) inherits the full carbon concentration
of the parent austenite. This approach identified the Bs
temperature as the critical temperature below which it
is possible to convert austenite to ferrite without a
composition change. The model distinguished bainitic
ferrite from martensite by supposing bainite forms as
a strain-free product while martensite forms with
accompanying strain energy.
Zener suggested transformation stasis could arise
from a loss of driving force for ferrite growth as
carbon leaks out of ferrite and into the surrounding
austenite. As was then noted in the published dis-
cussion accompanying Zeners paper (Troiano 1946),
this explanation for stasis is not satisfactory because it
requires a change in the ferrite composition during
growth, thereby violating Zeners initial assumption
that ferrite and austenite have identical compositions.
It was also noted that the calculated Bs temperatures
did not agree with existing data. Predicted Bs tempera-
tures in FeCMo and FeCCr alloys have been
shown to lie as much as 200 mC above actual bainite
start temperatures (Enomoto and Tsubakino 1991).
More sophisticated displacive models for bainite
growth include strain energy contributions to bainite
and incorporate partial carbon supersaturation in
ferrite during growth (Hsu 1990, Bhadeshia and
1
Bainite
Christian 1990, Olson et al. 1990). However, these
models remain to be tested against available data from
a series of alloys.
Attempts have also been made to determine the
carbon concentration in bainitic ferrite before carbides
appear, but most have relied upon indirect methods or
yielded a wide range of concentrations (Aaronson et
al. 1990). This important question remains to be
resolved.
In 1952 Ko and Cottrell made observations of
polished surfaces subsequently transformed to bainite
to show bainite produces a surface relief similar to that
of martensite. They also employed hot-stage micro-
scopy to follow bainite formation in situ and found
bainite grows much more slowly than martensite.
They reasoned bainitic ferrite grows by a martensitic
mechanism but at a rate paced by the removal of
carbon from ferrite. Carbon removal was suggested to
occur by diffusion into austenite, by precipitation of
carbides in ferrite, or both. In contrast to Zeners
approach, Ko and Cottrell argued the carbon had to
be removed from ferrite during growth (rather than
after growth) in order to reduce the dilatational strain
when ferrite forms and to provide sufficient driving
force to overcome the shear strain associated with a
martensitic transformation mechanism. The finding
that bainite grows slowly was verified by bainite
lengthening and thickening kinetics measurements
made later with other techniquesthe measured rates
were often slower than rates calculated on the basis of
carbon diffusion in austenite (Aaronson and Hall
1994, Hillert 1995).
The suggestion that the bainite structure change is
essentially martensitic has not been supported by
experiment. Unlike martensite, whose interfacial
structure is glissile (Sandvik and Wayman 1983),
carbide-free bainite has a sessile interfacial structure
that is incapable of moving in martensitic fashion
(Rigsbee and Aaronson 1979, Li et al. 1988). In
addition, single-crystal plates of ferrite have been
shown to produce tent-shaped surface reliefsa type
of relief wholly incompatible with a martensitic trans-
formation mechanism (Hall and Aaronson 1994).
3. Diffusional Mechanism
Following a systematic investigation of microstruc-
tures in a series of alloy steels, Hultgren proposed a
diffusional hypothesis for bainite formation. He sug-
gested bainite evolved with the nucleation of pro-
bainitic (acicular) ferrite, then nucleation of cementite
particles on the ferrite\austenite boundaries, followed
by the cementite being surrounding by growing ferrite,
and eventually nucleation of new cementite particles.
In contrast to bainite, pearlite was suggested to
develop by nucleation of a cementite plate, followed
by an adjacent ferrite plate, and then coordinated
lengthening of the plates.
2
Figure 1
Variation in eutectoid microstructures with ratio of the
product growth rates, G\G, and nucleation rate of the
slower growing product, J *, when the volume
fraction of the slower growing phase is small (after Lee
et al. 1988).
Electron microscopy observations of bainite and
pearlite have led to a mechanistic basis for this
approach. The resulting, more detailed, model articu-
lates the circumstances under which bainite and
pearlite form during a general eutectoid reaction (Lee
et al. 1988). This model relates the internal mor-
phology of a eutectoid product to two factors: (i) the
relative growth rates of the eutectoid phases, and (ii)
the rate at which the slower-growing phase renucleates
on the boundary between the faster-growing phase
and the parent (Fig. 1). An attractive feature of the
model is its ability to explain a variety of bainite
morphologies (Fig. 2) in terms of simple factors that,
at least in principle, can be measured or estimated. For
example, the model has been applied to interpret
transitions in internal morphology and in aggregate
shape of evolving eutectoid structures (the external
morphology) as a function of transformation tem-
perature and carbon concentration in a series of
FeC2 wt.% Mn alloys (Spanos et al. 1990 a, b). By
considering how the nucleation and growth rates of
ferrite and cementite change with temperature and
carbon concentration, it is possible to explain the
relatively sharp transition between upper and lower
bainite and the more gradual changes from upper and
lower bainite to nodular bainite.
Hultgrens original model of bainite formation also
proposed an explanation for transformation stasis
(Hultgren 1947). Two types of ferrite were envisioned:
orthoferrite, which differs from austenite in carbon
concentration and in the concentrations of substitu-
tional alloying elements, and paraferrite (paraequilib-
rium ferrite), which differs from austenite in carbon
concentration but not in alloy content. It was sug-
 Bainite

Figure 2
Schematic illustrations of various bainite morphologies. The white constituent represents the majority eutectoid phase
(e.g., ferrite) and the dark constituent represents the minority phase (e.g., cementite). (a) Nodular bainite, (b) columnar
bainite along a prior matrix grain boundary, (c) a sheaf of upper bainite laths, (d) lower bainite, (e) grain boundary
allotriomorphic bainite, and (f) inverse bainite (after Spanos et al. 1990 b).

gested that the Bs temperature is the temperature
below which paraferrite appears, and transformation
stasis just below the Bs temperature is caused by a slow
reaction rate associated with the upper portion of the
C curve of paraferrite on the TTT diagram. This
explanation for the Bs temperature and transform-
ation stasis does not explain subsequent experimental
results. Partitioning data and measured growth
kinetics from a variety of FeCX alloys indicate the
transition to paraferrite occurs at temperatures well
above the range of observed Bs temperatures
(Aaronson et al. 1988). Also, the amount of ferrite
found during transformation stasis in FeCCr and
FeCMo alloys is well below the metastable fraction
expected to form under paraequilibrium (Enomoto
and Tsubakino 1991).
A promising framework for understanding trans-
formation stasis was built on the effects of alloying
elements on ferrite growth. Measured transformation
kinetics in ternary alloys (e.g., Reynolds et al.
1990 a, b) have shown transformation stasis is not a
general property of bainite, but rather a characteristic
of particular alloying elements and concentrations. In
general, alloys that exhibit transformation stasis also
tend to be those in which ferrite growth is significantly
slower than predicted under paraequilibrium (Shiflet
and Aaronson 1990). The ability of specific solute
species to slow ferrite growth is widely attributed to a
solute drag effect, or solute drag-like effect, depending
on how one describes the origin of the drag force
(Reynolds et al. 1990 a, Purdy and Brechet 1995,
Enomoto 1999). Efforts to ascertain the degree of
solute adsorption at ferrite\austenite boundaries have
yielded somewhat mixed results, although the presence
of molybdenum accumulations at these boundaries in
FeCMo alloys now appears certain (Aaronson et al.
1990, Aaronson et al. in press). There is, however, a
large body of microstructural and kinetic evidence for
the solute drag effect in steels, and investigations into
interactions between solutes and growth interfaces are
likely to be a productive area for research.
The central assumption needed to explain trans-
formation stasis below Bs is that the solute drag effect
must be strong enough to slow markedly or stop ferrite
growth. This is feasible when sufficient concentrations
of carbon and of an effective solute are present, the
reaction temperature is relatively low, and ferrite
boundaries have migrated far enough to pick up the

3
Bainite
dragging solute. Under these circumstances, re-
nucleation of ferrite on immobilized ferrite\austenite
boundaries (sympathetic nucleation) becomes feasible
if sufficient undercooling is available. The temperature
below which copious sympathetic nucleation begins
corresponds to the kinetic Bs temperature. The de-
generate ferrite morphology found below the bay
temperature results from a change from relatively
smooth, ledgewise migration of ferrite boundaries to
irregular startstop migration during which ferrite
nucleates, grows until stopped by solute drag, and is
then forced to renucleate again (Reynolds et al.
1990 a).
4. Summary
Hypotheses for the mechanism of bainite formation in
steels have been discussed in the context of available
experimental evidence. Single-crystal ferrite plates
often exhibit complex surface reliefs that are incon-
sistent with a displacive transformation mechanism.
The interfacial structure found on ferrite plates formed
at low temperatures is sessile and must migrate in a
nonconservative fashion. Also, Bs temperatures calcu-
lated assuming a displacive growth mechanism for
ferrite are in poor agreement with the Bs temperatures
of many steels. These circumstances indicate the ferrite
component of bainite does not form by a displacive
transformation mechanism.
Features of the internal and external morphologies
of bainite can be explained by considering the relative
nucleation rates and ledgewise, diffusional growth
rates of the product phases. Measured ferrite growth
kinetics significantly slower than those calculated
assuming paraequilibrium are found in alloys that
exhibit transformation stasis. Slow ferrite growth in
these alloys is ascribed to a solute drag effect. When
potent, the solute drag effect is believed to be re-
sponsible for the appearance of copious sympathetic
ferrite nucleation below Bs. If this initially takes place
without significant interphase boundary carbide pre-
cipitation, transformation stasis appears.
See also: Pearlite; Nucleation; Precipitate Growth
Kinetics
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