Effect of prior microstructures on the behavior of cementite particles during subcritical annealing of medium carbon steels

The effect of prior microstructures on the behavior of cementite particles in conjunction with microstructural changes of the matrix during subcritical annealing was investigated by changing the initial microstructures into ferrite + coarse pearlite, ferrite + fine pearlite, bainite, and martensite, in medium carbon steels. While the coarsening of cementite particles in martensite proceeded rapidly with the growth of large cementite particles at boundaries with the dissolution of smaller particles within martensite laths, the coarsening rate of cementite particles in bainite was found to be much slower than that in martensite. This could be attributed to the thermal stability of cementite particles, the smaller amount of carbon in solution, and the lower driving force for solute diffusion due to the uniform size distribution of cementite particles in bainite. The controlling coarsening kinetics in medium carbon steels with ferrite-pearlite, bainite and martensite, were found as boundary diffusion, diffusion along dislocation, a combination of boundary diffusion and diffusion along dislocation, respectively.