Low temperature bainite

It is demonstrated that bainite can be obtained by isothermal transformation at a temperature which is so low that the calculated diffusion distance of an iron atom, over the time scale of the experiment, is many orders of magnitude less than an interatomic spacing; and yet, it is possible to obtain plates of bainite which are a few micrometers in length. Bainite has been obtained by isothermal transformation at 400 K. The time taken for nucleation at this temperature can be many days, but the transformation results in the growth of extremely thin platelets of bainite, so thin that the hardness of the resulting steel can be greater than 600HV.