Effects of Vanadium on the Kinetics of Austenitization from Pearlite in Fe–V–C Alloys

Abstract

Vanadium effects on the kinetic characteristics of the austenit transformation in Fe-V-C ternary alloys were investigated by microstructure analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov model (JMAK). The results show that the vanadium gives rise to the refinement of pearlite lamellar spacing before transformation, the original austenite grain size decreases after transformation, and and the increase of the amount of carbide at the grain boundarsy. Studies on kinetics showed that the austenization of the Fe-V-C ternary alloys is characterized by JMAK model involving site saturation nucleation, diffusion-controlled growth, and impingement correction. V increases the diffusion activation energy and decreases the pre-exponential factor for diffusion.