A new technique based on the study of the transmitted neutron beam has been developed to study the low-temperature decomposition of austenite in a 0.4 wt.% C–3 wt.% Mn–2 wt.% Si steel. Experiments were conducted in which the neutron beam continuously passed through a specially designed layered sample, the temperature of which could be controlled to allow for a high-temperature austenization treatment followed by accelerated cooling to an isothermal transformation temperature in the range of 275–450 °C. It was possible to measure the volume fraction of the face-centred cubic (fcc) and body-centred cubic (bcc) phases and the carbon concentration of the fcc phase by characterizing the neutron Bragg edges in the transmitted beam. This provides a technique for in situ continuous measurements on the decomposition of austentite. The technique has been validated by comparing the data with other experimental techniques such as dilatometry, quantitative optical metallography and room temperature X-ray diffraction.

<p> The Fe-C-Mn phase diagram has been calculated from thermodynamic data. Experimentally determined tie-lines are in good agreement with the calculated diagram. </p> <p> It has been shown that the assumption that the austenite-ferrite interface is in a local equilibrium condition during the late stages of the transformation in highly supersaturated alloys and at all times in alloys in an area of low supersaturation is justified. The approximate solution to the diffusion equations correctly predicts the experimentally determined manganese concentration profiles. </p> <p> Hillert's concept of paraequilibrium has been examined and explicitly defined. The concentration given by a paraequilibrium calculation correctly predicts the experimentally observed growth rates of Kinsman and Aaronson (1967) for very highly supersaturated alloys. </p> <p> A convolution technique for use in the interpretation of strongly localized concentration changes determined by electron beam microanalysis has been developed. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)