MODELLING METHODS OF PHASE TRANSFORMATION IN BAINITIC STEEL: A REVIEW

For rail steels, there are increased requirements for the mechanical properties and performance characteristics. Therefore, the development of new grades of rail steel is an urgent task. Continuously cooled carbide-free bainitic steels are potential candidates for railway applications owing to their high fracture toughness, fatigue resistance, and wear resistance. The heat-treatment process has a significant impact on the limiting mechanical properties of bainitic rail steels. Predicting the microstructure is a decisive factor in reshaping the production technology. To move away from the enumeration method, it is necessary to create mathematical models of rail cooling that consider the chemical composition. To model structural phase transformations in rails under non-isothermal conditions, two approaches are being developed: Avrami-Kolmogorov with the Scheil rule and the phase field model. This review focuses on modern research on computer simulations of structural phase transformations using these two approaches. The first approach was proposed in the 30 s of the 20th century for isothermal conditions and was later developed for the non-isothermal case in the framework of Scheil's rule. At present, the interest of researchers in this approach has not weakened owing to the short calculation time. However, this method cannot describe the spatial distribution of phases and structures; therefore, methods of the phase field are being actively developed, the calculations of which can range from several hours to several days. This review analyses these approaches and demonstrates their limitations.

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