A study of the austenite to ferrite transformation in fe-c-x alloys using decarburization experiments

The austenite to ferrite transformation has received much attention over the years because of its industrial importance. One approach to examining this transformation is by the controlled decarburization of austenitic specimens at elevated temperature. Under appropriate conditions, a planar layer of ferrite grows in from the surface and the growth kinetics can be very accurately determined using standard metallographic techniques. Observations on the Fe-C-Mn, Fe-C-Si and Fe-C-Cr systems are summarized and compared with the theoretical predictions of the local equilibrium-negligible partition (LENP) model.