Effects of magnetic field and prior austenite grain size on the structure formed by reverse transformation from lath martensite to austenite in an Fe-0.4C alloy

Abstract

Effects of magnetic field strength and prior austenite grain size on the microstructure formed by the reverse transformation from lath martensite to austenite have been investigated in Fe-0.4C alloy. The degree of elongation of reverse-transformed austenite increases with increasing applied magnetic field, which is a similar result with that for austenite to ferrite transformation. However, well-elongated austenite is formed not only in small prior austenite grains but also in relatively large prior austenite grains, which is different from the case of austenite to ferrite transformation.