Effect of the Austenitization Route on the Bainitic Reaction Kinetics and Tensile Properties of an Alloyed Austempered Ductile Iron

The effect of the austenitization route on the bainitic reaction kinetics of an alloyed (3.2C–2.8Si–1.8Ni–1.4Cu–0.4Mn–0.2Mo–0.1Cr) austempered ductile iron was studied. Two-step, conventional and rapid austenitization heat treatments were employed to produce different austenite grains sizes (94, 39, and 15 μm, respectively) and, in one case, secondary graphite precipitation. The overall bainitic transformation kinetic at 350 °C was described using the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov equation, and the values of the Avrami's adjustable parameters were discussed. The austempering reaction of the coarser austenite microstructure with secondary graphite precipitation featured the fastest kinetics, while the one derived from the medium austenite grain showed the slowest reaction rate. The increase in the graphite/austenite interfacial area reduced the half-transformation time (t50-value) by one magnitude compared to the austenite grain boundary area. The austempered samples from the rapid austenitization route comparatively featured the best tensile properties and the highest ISO and ASTM standards grades despite the considerable proportion of grain boundary allotriomorphic ferrite.