Influence of initial microstructure and grain size on transformation of bainite to austenite in large size forgings

The kinetics of austenite formation in the surface and center regions of a 40 t forged ingot of a high-strength medium-carbon low-alloy steel was studied using high-resolution dilatometry. The starting microstructures from the surface or center regions had different proportions of bainite and residual austenite as well as different prior austenite grain sizes. Two heating rates representing the actual heating rates in the surface (5 degrees C s(-1)) and center regions (0.5 degrees C s(-1)) of large size forged blocks were utilized. Dilatometric curves revealed only one transformation step of austenite formation at both heating rates independent of grain size or proportion of phases. Optical microscopy, field emission gun scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to study microstructure evolution and confirm the results obtained by dilatometry. The kinetic parameters for austenite formation were determined from the dilatometry data by Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) equation. The JMAK coefficients were determined for each condition of the investigated steels. The calculations indicated that the nucleation and growth of austenite in the surface region were accelerated more than 10,000 times due to a significantly smaller average prior austenite grain size, stability of initial retained austenite, and accumulation of coarse carbides at the surface. The results were discussed in the framework of classical nucleation and growth theories using the kinetic parameters for austenite formation.