The Effects of Si on the Nucleation Kinetics of Ferrite in Dual Phase Steels

It is generally accepted that Si promotes kinetics of polygonal ferrite due to thermodynamic factors such as Ae3 and maximum amount of ferrite formed. However, in this study, it was found that the difference between the measured rates of ferrite formation in C-Mn steel and Si added steel was much larger than that expected considering only thermodynamic factors. The classical nucleation theory with pillbox model was adopted to figure out what is the most controlling factor in formation of ferrite. The volume free energy change was calculated by use of the dilute solution model. The diffusivity of carbon (DC) was formulated as functions of C, Mn and Si by using experimental data. It was found that the volume free energy change was still predominant but the kinetic factors such as interfacial energy and the diffusivity of carbon by addition of Si were not negligible at lower undercooling. However, with increasing undercooling, the diffusivity of C was the most effective on the ferrite kinetics, though the ambiguity of treating interfacial energy was not yet clear.