E.C.BAIN''S IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO X-RAY METALLOGRAPHY
E.C.Bain在X射线金相学方面的重要贡献

During 1921-1927, E.C.Bain made many important contributions to metallography by means of X-ray powder diffraction studies. He discovered the AuCu3 and Au3Cu superlattices, the face-centered structure of the Fe-Mn austenite, the Fe3W3C (or M6C) carbide in high-speed steels, and the Sigma phase in Cr-Ni stainless steels. Through a comprehensive study of the transformation of austenite, he proposed a crystallographic relationship (the Bain relationship) between austenite and martensite and developed the method to determine the amount of retained austenite by X-ray diffraction. This finally led him to study the isothermal transformation of austenite in 1930 and obtained a new transformation product at intermediate temperatures which was named Bainite after him. No doubt he was one of the pioneers in the development of X-ray metallography.