Cellular automaton modeling of austenite formation from ferrite plus pearlite microstructures during intercritical annealing of a C-Mn steel

A mesoscopic cellular automaton model was developed to study the microstructure evolution and solute redistribution of austenization during intercritical annealing of a C-Mn steel. This model enables a depiction of three-stage kinetics of the transformation combined with the thermodynamic analysis: (1) the rapid austenite growth accompanied with pearlite degeneration until the pearlite dissolves completely; (2) the slower austenite growth into ferrite with a rate limiting factor of carbon diffusion in austenite; and (3) the slow austenite growth in control of the manganese diffusion until the final equilibrium reached for ferrite and austenite. The effect of the annealing temperature on the transformation kinetics and solute partition is also quantitatively rationalized using this model.