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Analysis of the mobility of migrating

austeniteferrite interfaces

E. Gamsjger, M. Wiessner, S. Schider, H. Chen & S. van der Zwaag

To cite this article: E. Gamsjger, M. Wiessner, S. Schider, H. Chen & S. van der Zwaag (2015)
Analysis of the mobility of migrating austeniteferrite interfaces, Philosophical Magazine, 95:26,
2899-2917, DOI: 10.1080/14786435.2015.1082662

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Published online: 11 Sep 2015.

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Philosophical Magazine, 2015
Vol. 95, No. 26, 28992917, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786435.2015.1082662

Analysis of the mobility of migrating austeniteferrite interfaces

E. Gamsjgera*, M. Wiessnerb, S. Schiderb, H. Chenc,d and S. van der Zwaagc
a
Institute of Mechanics, Montanuniversitaet Leoben, 8700 Leoben, Austria; bMaterials Center
Leoben, 8700 Leoben, Austria; cFaculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of
Technology, Delft, The Netherlands; dKey Laboratory for Advanced Materials of Ministry of
Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
(Received 12 April 2015; accepted 10 August 2015)

Dilatometric studies assisted by high-temperature laser scanning confocal

microscopy provide a comprehensive experimental picture with regard to cyc-
lic austenite-to-ferrite transformations in FeC alloys. The validity range for
the sharp interface and effective mobility approach is identied by comparing
modelling results with calculations based on experiments. The interface veloc-
ity for the austenite-to-ferrite transformation in pure iron is exclusively con-
trolled by the intrinsic interface mobility conforming to the upper boundary of
mobilities. The austenite-to-ferrite transformation in FeC alloys under con-
ventional cooling and heating conditions is primarily controlled by carbon
diffusion in austenite. The lower boundary of the temperature-dependent inter-
face mobility has been established for an FeC alloy over a wide range of
temperatures during cycling transformation. Austenite-to-ferrite transforma-
tions in FeCX alloys are characterized by still lower effective mobilities
depending on both temperature and composition, because substitutional ele-
ments X give rise to a solute drag effect. An estimate for the effective mobil-
ity valid for the austenite-to-ferrite transformation in lean FeCMn alloys is
provided.
Keywords: phase transformations; kinetics; diffusion; interface mobility

1. Introduction
Recently, the partial cyclic phase transformation concept has been developed and
applied to the austenite-to-ferrite transformation in low-alloyed steels [18] with the
aim of getting a more accurate insight into the kinetics of the moving interface by
excluding nucleation effects. In [8], the kinetics of the austenite-to-ferrite phase trans-
formation and vice versa has been described by means of two complementary sharp
interface models one assuming local equilibrium at the migrating interface and bulk
diffusion of both carbon and substitutionally dissolved components [9], the other by
taking into account interfacial reactions by an effective interface mobility and carbon
diffusion only, see e.g. [10] and related works based on this so-called mixed mode
approach [1113]. Near equilibrium conditions as they e.g. occur during cycling in the
two-phase region close to the observed stagnant stage which is due to slow diffusion of
substitutional components can be predicted perfectly by assuming local equilibrium

*Corresponding author. Email: e.gamsjaeger@unileoben.ac.at

2015 Taylor & Francis

2900 E. Gamsjger et al.

even at the migrating interface. However, it is possible to obtain results that are fairly
close by means of the effective mobility model, too. In case that the kinetics is at least
partly controlled by the interfacial reaction, the predictions of the local equilibrium will
deviate from the experimental results. According to [8], the effective mobility for the
austenite-to-ferrite transformation in FeCMn alloys was observed to markedly depend
on composition as well as temperature. However, the effective ferrite-to-austenite mobil-
ity appeared to be temperature dependent only. In this work, experimental data on the
austenite-to-ferrite transformation in FeC alloys obtained from dilatometry and high-
temperature laser scanning confocal microscopy (HTLSCM) are analysed by the sharp
interface effective mobility model with the purpose to nd the range for the effective
mobility in this system. Finally, this mobility will be compared to effective mobilities
in FeCX systems with X being a substitutional alloying component.

2. Model simulations and experiments

2.1. Dilatometric studies in the FeC alloy
Before addressing the transformation in FeC alloys, we may briey revisit the trans-
formation behaviour of pure iron and calculate the kinetics of this reference case. The
kinetics is controlled by the interfacial reaction, i e. the formation of the lattice of the
product phase starting from the parent phase. In the sense of linear non-equilibrium
thermodynamics, the austenite-to-ferrite transformation in pure iron is simply described
by
v Mint Df (1)
with Mint being the intrinsic mobility and f the driving force, i.e. the well-known tem-
perature difference in the chemical potentials of Fe as proposed by Dinsdale [14]. With
the previously estimated intrinsic mobility
M M0 expQ=RT  (2)
is assumed to be thermally activated with a constant activation energy
Q = 140 kJ mol1, obtained from [11] and later conrmed by others [15,16]. The pre-
exponential factor M0 of the intrinsic mobility has been estimated as log [M0/
(m2 s kg1)] = 3.66 0.5, i.e. M0 = 2.2 104 m2 s kg1. Details can be found in [17].
It is to be mentioned that the M0-value for the /-interface, see also Hillert and
Hglunds comparatively low value [15] (M0 = 1.8106 m2 s kg1 evaluated at
1168 K), is much lower than the M0-value for the /-grain boundaries [18]
(M0 = 3.5102 m2 s kg1). It is argued in Liu et al. [19] that the difference in the
M0-values of an /-grain boundary and a /-interface might be due to elastic and
plastic accommodation energies. Due to the volumetric mist of austenite and ferrite a
mechanical retarding force occurs, which counteracts the known chemical driving force
f. It is, however, demonstrated in [20] that the stress elds due to mist strains can be
effectively relaxed by the diffusive transport of vacancies in the matrix and their anni-
hilation or generation at the precipitate/matrix interface. Furthermore, Chen et al., see
e.g. [2] and [7], were able to describe experimental data concerning partial cyclic trans-
formations without the introduction of a mechanical retarding force. Transformation
kinetics was successfully described by the rate-controlling diffusion of components
 Philosophical Magazine 2901

only, implying that the retarding effect of a mechanical driving force can be neglected
in case of austenite/ferrite transformations at elevated temperatures.
Taking the intrinsic mobility value and the thermodynamic potentials for iron and
inserting these into a simple, planar 1d growth model for austenite grains of 50-m
diameter and assuming instantaneous nucleation, a TTT-diagram for full transformation
can be constructed, see Figure 1. It shows that in the absence of nucleation effects, the
transformation proceeds very fast, typically within a second. This short transformation
time is the consequence of the high interfacial velocity which can reach values up to
600 m s1.
This theoretical result should be connected to the experimental information provided
by Liu et al. [21] based on their dilatometric and calorimetric experiments using almost
pure iron. The complete transformation from austenite-to-ferrite at different cooling
rates is found to last more than 100 s for different cooling rates. This apparent discrep-
ancy can be resolved by the fact that the austenite-to-ferrite transformation in polycrys-
talline iron is a strongly discontinuous coupled nucleation and growth process.
Maximum values for the interface velocities were estimated by Equations 1 and 2.
However, rapid growth kinetics ceases again when a certain region has transformed to
ferrite and new nucleation is required for further increasing the ferrite fraction resulting
in so-called abnormal phase transformations.
We now turn to the case of binary FeC alloys. The jump condition or mass balance
of interstitial carbon at the migrating interface leads to the following equation
 c   c 
c a xC xaC xC xaC Vmc xcC  xa;eq
jC  jC c  a v c  c  a v 
C
v (3)
Vm Vm Vm Vm Vm Vmc
where the quantities jC, xC and Vm are the carbon ux, the carbon mole fraction and the
molar volume, respectively. The solubility of carbon in ferrite, xaC , is small compared to
the solubility of carbon in austenite, xcC , but the molar volumes in austenite and ferrite,
Vmc and Vma , respectively, are in the same order of magnitude. The diffusivity of carbon
in ferrite is about two orders of magnitude higher than the diffusivity of carbon in
austenite based on reported values with respect to ferrite [22] and austenite [23]. Thus,

Figure 1. TTT-diagram in pure Fe for a grain size a 50m.

2902 E. Gamsjger et al.

the mole fraction prole of carbon in ferrite is almost at and the mole fraction of car-
bon in ferrite at the interface is approximated by the equilibrium mole fraction xa;eqC .
The deviation of the ratio of the molar volumes from unity is about 1%. By setting this
ratio to unity a simplied expression of the right-hand side of Equation (3) is obtained.
The jump of the chemical potentials of carbon at the migrating sharp interface has
to be zero,
lcC  laC 0 (4)
The carbon ux in the austenite bulk material has been calculated based on Ficks laws.
For a low initial amount of carbon xC = 3 104, a rst very rapid interface mobil-
ity-controlled transformation stage followed by a sluggish carbon diffusion controlled
stage was observed in [24] during cooling and subsequent isothermal holding, and this
investigation was conrmed by similar results from Liu et al. [25] at a similar initial
mole fraction of carbon. This conclusion differs from the conclusions drawn by Liu
et al. [26] based on their dilatometric and calorimetric experiments using ultra-low car-
bon FeC alloys (xC = 1 104). They proposed a transition from diffusion-controlled
to interface-controlled growth for small cooling rates. It is likely that during these
experiments rstly only a small fraction of austenite transformed to ferrite with
favourable transient conditions at the interface.
In the following, it is demonstrated that the austenite-to-ferrite transformation kinet-
ics in a binary FeC alloy with a nominal mass fraction of wC = 103, i.e. a mole frac-
tion xC = 4.7 103 at 750 C is purely controlled by this C-diffusion. To this aim, rst
the following computer experiment is performed. After an -seam has nucleated at the
former grain boundary this seam is assumed to thicken. The proles of the mole frac-
tions of carbon are plotted at different transformation times, see Figure 2. The diffusion
coefcient of carbon in austenite is assumed to be a thermally activated quantity
according to

Figure 2. Calculated growth of a planar ferrite front in a binary FeC alloy with an initial mole
fraction xC = 4.7 103 at 750 C and at different transformation times. The initial austenite grain
size is set to 50 m. The evolution of the mole fraction of carbon in austenite, xcC , at the interface
position zint(t) is plotted by a dotted line.
 Philosophical Magazine 2903
 
QD
DcC D0  exp 
RT

with D0 2:343  105 m2 s1 and QD 148 kJ mol1 taken from [23].
Based on these calculations, it is concluded that already after 0.1 s the conditions at
the interface are close to equilibrium. The current simulations for an FeC alloy with
an initial C-mole fraction xC = 4.7 103 show that in this time period only a small
fraction of ferrite has formed and the transformation becomes fully controlled by carbon
diffusion in the -phase.
We now turn to the cyclic (partial) transformation approach which allows a con-
trolled study of the austeniteferrite and the ferriteaustenite transformation and the
determination of the relevant interfacial mobilities. To this aim, we take the same FeC
alloy (xC = 4.7 103) and cycle between two temperatures #1 = 650 C and
#2 = 850 C at heating rates #_ = 0.167 K s1 and cooling rates #_ = 0.167 K s1.
Whereas the higher temperature #2 lies in the austeniteferrite two-phase region, the
lower temperature is in the ferrite/pearlite region. The details of the heat treatment are
depicted in Figure 3.
Dilatometer tests are performed with quenching dilatometer DIL-805A. The
dilatometer signal vs. temperature is plotted in Figure 4. It is obvious that a certain drift
with respect to the dilatometer signal (i.e. the dilation is shifted proportional to the
observation time) occurs predominantly during phase transformation. This effect cannot
be suppressed when using quenching dilatometers, see e.g. [2] and [27]. Transformation
plasticity is considered in detail elsewhere [28], but the reported models are non-conclu-
sive as the origin of the transformation plasticity in a more or less stress-free state as
encountered in a dilatometric experiment. In current transformation plasticity models
generally a creep law [29] is used to account for the rate-dependent deformation beha-
viour. It is evident that the ndings strongly depend on the heating and cooling rate.
For the low cooling rate (0.167 K s1) during these experiments the inuence of the

Figure 3. Heat treatment during cyclic transformation. The horizontal dotted and dash lines
indicate the A3-temperature and the A1-temperature, respectively.
2904 E. Gamsjger et al.

Figure 4. (colour online) Experimental dilatometric signal during four successive cyclic
transformations.

viscoplastic transformation on the measured dilatation is certainly much smaller than

that obtained in [28], but not negligible during immediate cooling after heating as
observed in our experiment. The apparent contraction of the sample due to a cyclic par-
tial transformation comes to an end in the fourth cooling cycle, which is preceded by a
longer hold time at 850 C. While not being conclusive, the observations suggest that
the continued slower isothermal transformation and the longer residence time at the
high temperature result in a diffusion-assisted stress relaxation (Figure 4).
With the precise origin of the transformation plasticity during this experiment
remaining unclear, it is found to be possible to remove this data drift by subtracting a
linear function with respect to time from loop to loop. The corrected dilatation vs.
temperature is plotted in Figure 5.

Figure 5. (colour online) Corrected dilatometer signal.

 Philosophical Magazine 2905

As described in Kop et al. [30], the task to quantitatively evaluate the dilatation
curves (Figure 5) in hypoeutectoid steels with respect to the ferrite-to-austenite trans-
formation is complicated by carbon enrichment of austenite during transformation and
by the occurrence of pearlite below the eutectoid temperature. The lattice parameters of
austenite a, ferrite a and the lattice parameters a, b and c of the orthorhombic
phase cementite are provided in [31]. The volumes of the unit cells V, V and V of
these phases are functions of the lattice parameters (see also [30]):
1 1 ah b h c h
V a aa 3 ; V c ac 3 ; Vh : (5)
2 4 12
The volume of pearlite is given by

V p 1  nh V a nh V h ; (6)

with = 0.12 assumed to be the constant fraction of cementite in pearlite. The total
volume
xi
V t V a V p  V a e : (7)
x
is linearly related to the initial mole fraction xi in austenite. The mole fraction of the
eutectoid composition in the binary FeC system is denoted by xe 37  103. For
xi xe , the microstructure is entirely pearlitic. In this investigation, the initial mole
fraction of carbon in austenite equals xi = 4.7 103. As described in [30], the relative
dilatation or length change of the sample during rst cooling of the sample is plotted
vs. temperature T in Figure 6 according to
l0 DV
Dl   ; (8)
3 V0

Figure 6. Calculated and experimental dilatation l vs. absolute temperature T during rst
cooling after austenitizing the sample (and taking the extrapolated austenite length at 923 K as
the reference length).
2906 E. Gamsjger et al.

with the initial length of the sample, l0 10 mm, with V0 being the volume of the unit
cell of austenite at 923 K and V is the deviation from V0.
The dilatation of pure austenite (l, exp.) due to thermal expansion is obtained
from linearly extrapolating the experimental curve (dilatation during cooling) and is set
to zero at the lowest temperature 650 C (i.e. 923 K). The theoretical curve (l, calc.)
deviates slightly from the experimental one (l, exp.). The dashed line extrapolated
from the experimental curve indicates the end of the transformation. The line with the
full squares is the dilatation of pure ferrite (l, calc.) relative to pure austenite (l,
exp.). The theoretical dilatation of pure ferrite plus pearlite mixture is denoted by open
triangles (Dl apearlite , calc.).
By comparing the experimental and the theoretical curve, it is evident that the pre-
diction for the ferrite plus pearlite mixture results in larger length changes than found
experimentally. The volume fraction of ferrite assuming that the sample transforms to
ferrite only is obtained by the lever rule:
Dl  Dl c
na : (9)
Dl a  Dl c
At the lowest temperature, 923 K that would give a value = 1.04. Similar to the nd-
ings in [30], the volume fraction of ferrite is overestimated, when the formation of pear-
lite is not considered. The value for the ferrite pearlite mixture amounts to
napearlite 0:95 being below the theoretical value, which should not be far from 1 at
this temperature. The reason for the underestimation of the theoretical curve is the drift
mentioned above, which will also cause the dilatation monitored during rst cooling to
be smaller than expected. A similar effect is described in [30]. If we assume that
austenite completely transformed to ferrite and pearlite at 923 K, the fraction of pearlite
can be obtained from the theoretical values resulting in approximately npearlite 0:09. In
this work, the focus is set to the transformation from austenite to ferrite. Thus, we may
assume that the volume fraction of ferrite is obtained by the lever rule for the whole
range of temperatures investigated. It is reasonable that the volume fraction of ferrite
only is below 1 at that temperature since pearlite forms during cooling.
The temperature-dependent equilibrium fraction of ferrite, na;eq is obtained from the
mass balance:
xi  xcC T
na;eq T (10)
xaC T  xcC T
The equilibrium fraction has been calculated for the nominal initial carbon mole fraction
xi = 4.7 103.
The evolution of the volume fraction alters slightly (see Figure 7). The -to-
and -to- transformations do not seem to be inuenced by the dissolution and nucle-
ation of -grains as the evolution of the volume fraction is practically identical for large
parts of the loops 13. In addition, it is worth to note that the amount of ferrite when
holding at the higher temperature (# = 850 C) is much smaller than the equilibrium
amount of ferrite. This effect seems to be a result of the previous cooling from higher
temperatures where an undercooling for the formation of ferrite is observed. The austen-
ite/ferrite plates can easily move forward and backward over a range where they already
have existed. The transformation curves as shown in Figure 7 will be analysed in terms
 Philosophical Magazine 2907

Figure 7. (colour online) Volume fraction as a function of temperature during four successive
cyclic transformations. The initial mole fraction in the FeC alloy equals xC = 4.7 103.

of the interface mobility in Section 2.3, using the topological information to be

presented in Section 2.2. Wei et al. [32] also observed that the growth of austenite
exceeded the equilibrium amount. They concluded that a nal transformation stage con-
trolled by diffusion of substitutional components might result in a shrinkage of austenite
to attain equilibration. As the material used in this work is a binary FeC alloy, it is
likely that the process of austenite shrinkage from a transient metastable state to the
equilibrium state might be controlled by C-diffusion in austenite, too.

2.2. HTLSCM on FeC alloys

In addition to dilatometry, the kinetics and microstructural evolution during cyclic phase
transformations of the same FeC alloy (xC = 4.7 103) have been investigated by
(HTLSCM Yonekura VL 2000 DX), see also [7] for the extensive description of the
set-up. Real-time recording of dynamic processes is accessible by this technique. The
microstructure is revealed by thermal etching and a phase transformation is visible due
to local changes in the position of the illuminated surface as a result of local contraction
or expansions of the underlying grain segment undergoing a phase transformation from
ferrite to austenite or from austenite to ferrite, respectively. The migration of the inter-
face is directly observed by changes in contrast in the corresponding videos. The
HTLSCM specimen is subjected to a thermal regime, which is shown in Figure 8 and
is similar to the heat treatment for the cyclic transformation dilatometer test, see
Figure 3.
The microstructural changes are illustrated by in situ micrographs. The migration of
the austenite-to-ferrite transformation fronts during rst cooling is presented in Figure 9.
The almost planar fronts migrate with velocities which are approximately in the range
of v = 1030 nm s1. The velocities are smaller at lower temperatures. This is observed
from Figure 9 as the mean distance between the white line (interface position 1 at
814 C) and the orange line (interface position 2 at 780 C is larger than that between
2908 E. Gamsjger et al.

Figure 8. Heat treatment during the HTLSCM experiment.

the orange line and the blue line (interface position 3 at 746 C), although the
temperature intervals and the cooling rate is kept constant.
Planar austenite-to-ferrite interfaces which initially nucleated at the edges of the for-
mer austenite grains migrate in the direction of the centre of the grain until pearlite is
formed in the remaining space during cooling. Austenite nucleates in the carbon-rich
pearlitic region during heating and eventually attains a similar shape as the dissolved
pearlite. In this way, it is possible that during further heating ferrite-to-austenite inter-
faces migrate in the opposite direction than the austenite-to-ferrite interfaces.
The interface migrates back and forth during high temperatures in loop 1
(Figure 10). According to the in situ micrograph, the interface velocities during heating
reach values up to v = 80 nm s1 (the negative sign is due to the transformation from
ferrite to austenite).
The interface velocity is sufciently small that no motion of the interface has been
observed for a time period of about 60 s (between # = 848 and 838 C) during that
stage of transformation where the product phase changes from austenite to ferrite
during cooling. After this stagnant stage, the interface reaches velocities up to
v = 100 nm s1 at the higher temperatures # > 820 C for individual interfaces. For this
FeC case, the dilatometer test, Figure 7, clearly indicates that the interface velocity
becomes rather small, when changing the direction of migration, but no real stagnant
stage of measurable duration is observed. However, during cyclic transformation in
ternary FeC-Mn alloys the arrangement of the new lattice is strongly retarded by the
presence of Mn resulting in a pronounced stagnant stage, during which the temperature
dependence of the dilatation equals that of the thermal expansion coefcient as shown
in [2].

2.3. Modelling the cyclic phase transformation behaviour for FeC alloys
The evolution of the volume fraction of ferrite, as obtained from the dilatometric
study of the cyclic phase transformations in the FeC alloy is compared to modelling
results assuming different values of the interface mobility. The interface between
 Philosophical Magazine 2909

Figure 9. (colour online) Interface migration during rst cooling.

austenite and ferrite is assumed to be planar and rst temperature is kept constant at
650 C until the equilibrium position is reached. Then one temperature loop from 650
to 850 C and back to 650 C is simulated at the same heating rates #_ = 0.167 K s1
and cooling rates #_ = 0.167 K s1 as used in the experiment. The interface mobility is
assumed to be equal to the intrinsic interface mobility introduced in Equation 4.
It is worth emphasizing that the cyclic -to-, -to- transformation in the
FeCMn system can only be modelled by a temperature-dependent activation energy
term, see [8] due to the inuence of Mn on the kinetics. For modelling the austenite-
to-ferrite and ferrite-to-austenite transformation in the FeC system a thermally
activated mobility sufces. The volume fraction vs. temperature is presented in
Figure 11. The pre-exponential factor M0 has been varied from comparatively low
effective mobility values M0 = 7.2 108 m2 s kg1 up to the intrinsic mobility with
M0 = 2.2 104 m2 s kg1.
2910 E. Gamsjger et al.

Figure 10. (colour online) Interface migration in the rst loop at high temperatures.

For the intrinsic mobility and even for values two orders of magnitude smaller than
the intrinsic mobility, the experimental results and the simulated curve are close, i.e. the
transformation process is entirely controlled by carbon diffusion. Only for rather small
values of the interface mobility the simulated curves deviate from the experimental
observation. The interface velocities v as they occur during cyclic transformation are
calculated with the interface mobilities used above and are plotted in Figure 12.
The absolute values of the average interface velocities are comparably high at high
temperatures except for that temperature range when the sign of the velocity has to
change as ferrite becomes the product phase during cooling. The stagnant stage
observed in Figure 10 coincides with this temperature range. It is evident that the inter-
face velocity of a certain interface is higher than the average transformation rate; how-
ever, the velocity values extracted from the in situ micrographs are in the same order of
magnitude as the calculated average velocity values.
 Philosophical Magazine 2911

Figure 11. (colour online) Evolution of the volume fraction for different interface mobilities
compared with experimental results (FeC-alloy).

Figure 12. (colour online) Evolution of the interface velocity v for different interface mobilities
(FeC-alloy).

2.4. Modelling the cyclic phase transformation behaviour for FeCMn alloys
In a recent LSCM-study [7], planar transformation fronts have been observed during
temperature cycling in the austenite-ferrite two-phase region for FeCMn alloys. Thus,
a model similar to that described in [8] is used, assuming that the and the -phase are
separated by a planar interface. The grain size of the prior austenite grain boundaries is
set to 50 m. The kinetics of the cyclic -to- / -to- phase transformation in an
FeCMn alloy (with the composition xMn = 1.7 103, xC = 1.1 103, see also [2])
has been calculated by means of the effective mobility model [10]. Data from
experiment 1 (see Table 1 of [2]) have been used to calculate the evolution of the
volume fraction of ferrite.
2912 E. Gamsjger et al.

Table 1. Coefcients for effective mobility in the FeCMn alloy (wMn = 1.7 103,
wC = 2.3 104).

#-range TS (K) M0 (m2 s kg1) a (J mol1 K1)

860 (#/C) 885 1133.15 2 108 1.2 103
, A 860 (#/C) 885 1133.15 1 106 1.2 103
, B 860 (#/C) 885 1133.15 5 107 1.2 103
, C 860 (#/C) 885 1133.15 1 107 1.2 103

The cooling rate and heating rate during cycling between the upper temperature
#2 = 885 C and the lower temperature #1 = 860 C were 0.167 Ks1. As substitutional
diffusion in the bulk phases is a slow process, substitutional components are assumed
to be effectively immobile on a micrometer scale, but may partition to the moving
interface. This means that the ratios of the mole fraction of the solvent s (e.g. Fe) to the
alloying components i (e.g. Mn or Ni etc.) remains constant in both phases. These
constants Ki are obtained by
xas xcs
Ki c (11)
xai xi
and are input parameters in the model. The constant KMn is calculated based on the ini-
tial composition, KMn = 578 (xMn = 1.7 103, xC = 1.1 103).
Temperature-dependent effective mobilities Meff have been found in [8] for both the
-to- and the -to- transformation by adjusting the pre-exponential mobility factor M0
and the coefcient a of the temperature-dependent activation energy to the results
provided by the local equilibrium calculation:
 
1
Meff M0  exp Q aT  TS  (12)
RT
The quantity Q in Equation 11 is the activation energy for the arrangement of the new
lattice and is set to the well-accepted value of Q = 140 kJ mol1, see [18] and [33]. The
start temperature TS equals the lower cycling temperature. It is possible to choose the
pre-exponential factor M0 of the effective mobility so that the temperature-dependent
volume fraction approximates the results based on experimental data. Therefore, the
pre-exponential factor M0 has been set to three different values for the
transformation, a comparatively high value (Case A: M0 = 1 106 m2 s kg1), a
medium value (Case B: M0 = 5 107 m2 s kg1) and a small value (Case C:
M0 = 1 107 m2 s kg1), see also Table 1. It is worth mentioning that the coefcient a
determined in [8] has been used in this simulation. The volume fractions determined
from experiments and the numerical results for the Cases A, B and C are compared and
presented in Figure 13.
It is shown that the simulated curve calculated using the highest M0-value
(Case A) is able to replicate the experimental data quite well, whereas the shape of
the ferrite volume fraction vs. temperature curve deviates signicantly from the
experimentally observed curve for the lower mobility (Case B) and even more so for
Case C.
 Philosophical Magazine 2913

Figure 13. (colour online) Evolution of the volume fraction for different interface mobilities
(Case A, B and C) compared with experimental results (FeCMn alloy).

Figure 14. (colour online) Evolution of the interface velocity for different interface mobilities
(Case A, B and C) for the FeCMn alloy.

The interface velocities v for Case A, B and C in the FeCMn alloy are calculated
and plotted vs. temperature in Figure 14. A smooth transition from to
transformation is obtained for the highest mobility, i.e. Case A only.

2.5. Interface mobilities in FeC and alloys with substitutional alloying components
From the results reported above, it can be concluded that the lower bound for the interface
mobility in the FeC alloys is M0 = 2.2106 m2 s kg1 with Q = 140 kJ mol1. The upper
bound, i.e. the intrinsic interface mobility is estimated to be M0 = 2.2104 m2 s kg1, see
[24] and [34] and a compilation and discussion of these data in [17]. Hillert and Hglunds
estimation [15] of the intrinsic interface mobility is about two orders of magnitude below
the value reported in [17] as presented in Figure 15.
2914 E. Gamsjger et al.

Figure 15. (colour online) Interface mobilities in pure Fe, FeC, FeX and FeCMn alloys.

This discrepancy can be at least partly explained by the following reasoning. Hillert
and Hglund [15] assumed spherical growth from a spherical nucleus, which is realistic
for small volume fractions of ferrite only. However, previous studies [35] and direct
observation in [7] and in this work conrms that thickening of ferrite plates or shells is
the realistic phase arrangement during transformation. Furthermore, the experimentally
obtained transformation curves at the beginning of the austenite-to-ferrite transformation
(up to ferrite volume fractions of 0.2) could not be reproduced by the model. Thus, the
intrinsic interface mobility (i e. the mobility in pure Fe) is expected to be much higher
than stated in [15].
An additional indication for the higher value of the intrinsic mobility is based on
the work of Vooijs et al. [36] regarding the FeCo data. The extrapolated value
M0 = 2.2104 m2 s kg1 is twice as large as that of Vooijs et al. [36], who investigated
an iron alloy with a mass fraction of 1% cobalt. The value for the iron alloy with a
mass fraction of 2% cobalt is half of the value for the alloy with a mass fraction of 1%
cobalt. Wits et al. studied the austenite-to-ferrite transformation in binary substitutional
alloys [37]. For samples with higher impurities of nitrogen an inuence on the kinetics
was reported. Thus, only the FeX samples with a low content of nitrogen are depicted
in Figure 15. The effective mobilities in the binary FeX alloys and FeC alloys are all
between the upper bound and the lower bound.
In case that carbon diffusion slows down the interfacial migration additional sub-
stitutional alloying components especially manganese further retard the kinetics by
solute drag, see e.g. [38]. Such a coupled solute drag effect where eventually even
substitutional bulk diffusion is reported [3] is enforced by the slow interface
migration during the change of the direction of the migration in FeCMn alloys [2].
 Philosophical Magazine 2915

Table 2. Coefcients for effective mobilities in different FeCMn alloys during

transformation.

Alloy #-range TS/K M0/m2 s kg1 a/J mol1 K1

xC = 1.1 103, xMn = 1.7 103, [2] 860 (#/ C) 885 1133.15 10.0 107 1.2 103
xC = 7.8 103, xMn = 7.5 103, [10] 735 (#/ C) 765 1008 6.9 107 1.2 103
xC = 4.2 103, xMn = 0.016, xSi = 0.02, [39] 725 (#/ C) 755 998 9.6 107 1.2 103

Effective mobilities based on dilatometry in an FeCMn steel (mole fractions

xC = 7.8103 and xMn = 7.8103) can be found in [10]. Effective mobilities obtained
for the austenite-to-ferrite transformation in a 10MnSi7 steel grade (mole fractions:
xC = 4.17103, xMn = 1.63102 and xSi = 1.98102) (see [39]) are also below the
lower bound of the FeC mobility elaborated in this work. The effective mobilities
describing the kinetics of the FeCMn alloys are provided in Table 2. As the coef-
cient a has been set to a = 1.2103 for all FeCMn alloys and the lowest tempera-
tures TS are taken as known input parameters, the only remaining parameter is M0 from
Equation 12. Interestingly, this parameter M0 appeared to be very similar for all lean
FeCMn alloys (total mass fraction of alloying components typically below 5%)
investigated in this work as shown in Table 2.
Generally speaking, by using the effective interface approach the contact conditions
at the migrating interface differ from equilibrium conditions. The composition at the
interface will not obey tie-lines, but is controlled by the rate-controlling interfacial reac-
tion. This interfacial reaction can be different for austenite transforming to ferrite or fer-
rite transforming to austenite. Alternatively, it is also possible to apply the local
equilibrium interface conditions and simulate the interfacial reaction, i e. the deviation
from local equilibrium by a solute drag model [40].

3. Conclusions
The combined results of experimental (dilatometry and HTLSCM) and model-based
studies on the kinetics of cyclic partial phase transformations in experiments on FeC
alloys have indicated that the effective transformation kinetics allowed establishing a
lower and upper value for the pre-exponential factor M0 of the interface mobility
(2.2106 m2 s kg1 M0 2.2104 m2 s kg1), taking the activation energy Q as
140 kJ/mol. According to the calculations, a more precise experimental determination of
the interface mobility is not possible for these FeC alloys as the net kinetics of the fer-
rite-to-austenite and austenite-to-ferrite transformation is practically not inuenced by
interface mobilities in the above-mentioned range.
The interface mobility is certainly decreasing with increasing mole fractions of sub-
stitutional alloying components, as demonstrated in Figure 15. In FeCX alloys, the
interface velocity is reduced by carbon bulk diffusion, so that diffusion of substitutional
X in the interfacial region further retards the kinetics. The effective mobilities for the
austenite-to-ferrite transformation in FeCX alloys are all below the lower value found
for the FeC alloy investigated and generally do not obey an Arrhenius relationship. In
addition, the values of the coefcients in the equation for the effective mobilities in
FeCMn alloys have been determined. Thereby, it is possible to estimate the effective
mobilities for the transformation and based on known driving forces the growth
2916 E. Gamsjger et al.

velocities in FeCMn alloys. The effective mobility concept allows a huge acceleration
in large and multi-scale computational models for microstructure development in real
size FeCMn steel slabs and shaped products.

Acknowledgements
Financial support by the Austrian Federal Government (in particular from Bundesministerium fr
Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie and Bundesministerium fr Wissenschaft, Forschung und
Wirtschaft) represented by sterreichische Forschungsfrderungsgesellschaft mbH and the Styrian
and the Tyrolean Provincial Government, represented by Steirische Wirtschaftsfrderungsge-
sellschaft mbH and Standortagentur Tirol, within the framework of the COMET Funding
Programme is gratefully acknowledged. Walter Tichauer is sincerely acknowledged for his help
with the preparation of the HT-LSCM-pictures (Figures 9 and 10).

Disclosure statement
No potential conict of interest was reported by the authors.

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