bainite
Sign in to savethumb|Bainite in steel with composition Fe–0.98C–1.46Si–1.89Mn–0.26Mo–1.26Cr–0.09V wt%, which was transformed at 200 °C for 15 days
Article
12 sectionsContents
- History
- Formation
- Displacive theory
- Diffusive theory
- Morphology
- Upper bainite
- Lower bainite
- Incomplete transformation
- Difference between martensite and bainite
- Applications
- References
- External links
thumb|Bainite in steel with composition Fe–0.98C–1.46Si–1.89Mn–0.26Mo–1.26Cr–0.09V wt%, which was transformed at 200 °C for 15 days
Bainite is a plate-like microstructure that forms in steels at temperatures of 125–550 °C (depending on alloy content). First described by E. S. Davenport and Edgar Bain, it is one of the products that may form when austenite (the face-centered cubic crystal structure of iron) is cooled past a temperature where it is no longer thermodynamically stable with respect to ferrite, cementite, or ferrite and cementite. Davenport and Bain originally described the microstructure as similar in appearance to tempered martensite.