Stability of a Lamellar Structure – Effect of the True Interlamellar Spacing on the Durability of a Pearlite Colony / Stabilność Struktury Płytkowej – Wpływ Rzeczywistej Odległości Międzypłytkowej Na Trwałość Kolonii Perlitu

Abstract

A lamellar microstructure is, beside a granular and dispersive one, the most frequently observed microstructure in the case of metal alloys. The most well-known lamellar microstructure is pearlite, a product of a eutectoidal transformation in the Fe-Fe3C system. The lamellar morphology of pearlite - cementite and ferrite lamellae placed interchangeably within one structural unit described as a colony - is dominant. The durability of the lamellar morphology is much diversified: in the microstructure of spheroidizingly annealed samples, one can observe areas in which the cementite is thoroughly spheroidized, next to very well-preserved cementite lamellae or even whole colonies of lamellar pearlite. The mentioned situation is observed even after long annealing times. The causes of such behaviour can vary. The subject of the previous work of the authors was the effect of the orientation between the ferrite and the cementite on the stability of the lamellar morphology. This work constitutes a continuation of the mentioned paper and it concerns the effect of the true interlamellar spacing on the stability of the lamellar morphology of cementite.