Thermodynamics of Bainitic Formation in Carbon-depleted Region in Fe-C Alloys

Thermodynamic analysis for the formation of bainitic ferrite in carbon -depleted region has been conducted. The results show that the driving force of bainitic formation increases with depleting of carbon in parent austenite and with decreasing the transformation temperature. The critical driving force (absolute value) at the Bs temperature is 600-1 200 J / mol, which increases as the mean carbon content of Fe-C alloys increases. The freshly-formed bainitic ferrite has partial supersaturation of carbon, which increases smoothly with decreasing the transformation temperature Therefore, the displacive formation of bainitic ferrite in carbon-depleted region is thermodynamically feasible in the whole temperature range of bainitic reaction.