A Variant Selection Rule in Transformation in Steel and Prediction of Transformation Texture

Abstract

Quantitative prediction of transformation textures in steel becomes possible if a variant selection rule is taken into account, in which ferrite nucleating on austenite grain boundaries prefers to have orientation relationship with two neighboring austenite grains at the same time. The mathematical model of the variant selection rule is described and some examples of simulation in transformation textures in hot-rolled steel sheets are presented using the textures of retrained austenite and the misorientation distribution function method. An excellent agreement is attained between the predicted and experimental ferrite textures.