Discussion on “Stable eutectoid transformation in nodular cast iron: modeling and validation”

Abstract

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2017 Given that cast irons are multicomponent alloys, the decomposition of the high temperature austenite into ferrite and graphite happens within a finite temperature range and not at an invariant point, as often described schematically. Only a few models explicitly consider the existence of such an austenite–ferrite–graphite range: the contribution under discussion,[1]those that inspired it[2,3] and one previous study from the present author.[4]For kinetics reasons, this latter work explained that ferrite could not grow within the equilibrium three-phase field under continuous cooling; this is in contradiction with the other three reports. The aim of this discussion is first to recall the experimental evidence about ferrite formation during eutectoid transformation of cast iron and then to provide an explanation as to why ferrite starts forming upon cooling only when the temperature of the material is below the equilibrium three-phase field range, as observed experimentally.