Abstract
•First EBSD study comparing ferrite in granular bainite and bainitic laths in two TRIP steels.•Both TRIP steels (base and with Nb–Ti additions) subjected to the same TMP schedule.•Crystallography of the ferrite in the 2 bainites studied using the K–S orientation relationship.•Variants in GB associated with self-accommodation.•BF variant selection linked to RA plastic accommodation and limited volume.
Carbide-free bainites are important microstructural constituents in bainitic, nanobainitic and transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels. A comparison of the crystallography of ferrite in granular bainite and bainitic ferrite lath morphologies, both of which were simultaneously present in a base and a Nb–Ti containing TRIP steel, has been carried out using electron back-scattering diffraction. Ferrite in granular bainite was characterised by the realisation of nearly all 24 variants of the Kurdjumov–Sachs orientation relationship; which in turn was associated with the self-accommodation of the transformation strain. On the other hand, bainitic ferrite comprised a mostly parallel lath structure between thick interlayers of retained austenite and exhibited variant selection such that one or more crystallographic packets are not realised and sometimes only 1–2 variants formed in a crystallographic packet. The variant selection in bainitic ferrite laths was associated with: (i) the plastic accommodation of transformation strain by retained austenite and, (ii) the limited available volume for its formation.