Effects of Heating Rate on Formation of Globular and Acicular Austenite during Reversion from Martensite

The effects of heating rate on the formation of acicular and globular austenite during reversion from martensite in Fe–2Mn–1.5Si–0.3C alloy have been investigated. It was found that a low heating rate enhanced the formation of acicular austenite, while a high heating rate favored the formation of globular austenite. The growth of acicular γ was accompanied by the partitioning of Mn and Si, while the growth of globular γ was partitionless. DICTRA simulation revealed that there was a transition in growth mode from partitioning to partitionless for the globular austenite with an increase in temperature at high heating rate. High heating rates promoted a reversion that occurred at high temperatures, which made the partitionless growth of globular austenite occur more easily. On the other hand, the severer Mn enrichment into austenite at low heating rate caused Mn depletion in the martensite matrix, which decelerated the reversion kinetics in the later stage and suppressed the formation of globular austenite.