Abnormal ferrite in hyper-eutectoid steels Original Research Article

The microstructural characteristics of ultra-high carbon hyper-eutectoid Fe–C and Fe–C–Cu experimental steels have been examined after isothermal transformation in a range just beneath the eutectoid temperature. Particular attention was paid to the formation of so-called “abnormal ferrite”, which refers to coarse ferrite grains which can form, in hyper-eutectoid compositions, on the pro-eutectoid cementite before the pearlite reaction occurs. Thus it is confirmed that the abnormal ferrite is not a result of pearlite coarsening, but of austenite decomposition before the conditions for coupled growth of pearlite are established. The abnormal ferrite formed on both allotriomorphic and Widmanstätten forms of pro-eutectoid cementite, and, significantly, it was observed that the pro-eutectoid cementite continued to grow, despite being enclosed by the abnormal ferrite. Under certain conditions this could lead to the eventual formation of substantially reduced amounts of pearlite. Thus, a model for carbon redistribution that allows the pro-eutectoid cementite to thicken concurrently with the abnormal ferrite is presented. The orientation relationships between the abnormal ferrite and pro-eutectoid cementite were also determined and found to be close to those which have been reported between pearlitic ferrite and pearlitic cementite.