Effect of interlamellar spacing on cementite dissolution during wire drawing of pearlitic steel wires

In pearlitic steels, interlamellar spacing, i.e. transformation temperature, has a significant effect on cementite dissolution and tensile strength of drawn wires, whereas the influence of pearlite colony size is negligible. Cementite dissolution is significantly influenced by the thickness of the cementite lamellae, i.e., interlamellar spacing. The deformability of the cementite depends not only on interlamellar spacing but also on the stress states of the cementite lamellae which depend on the directionality of the cementite to the drawing axis, while colony size has little influence. It is interesting that there exists a microstructural threshold of cementite dissolution and a lower plateau of cementite fraction.