Aspect ratio of bainite in steels

The aspect ratios of bainitic plates formed in 10 experimental alloys have been statistically analyzed. The results, based on the measurements of 129 individual plates, show that the aspect ratio of bainite is less than 0.25, and generally less than 0.1. with the most frequent value around 0.025 and a theoretical minimum value of 0.008. Alloying elements exert different in fluence on the aspect ratio. Both C and Si significantly decrease while Cr slightly decreases the aspect ratio. However, Mn clearly increases the aspe ct ratio. Attempts have been made to interpret the influence of alloying el ements on the aspect ratio, and the variation in the aspect ratio has been related to the energy increase due to the balancing between the elastic and interfacial energies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.