The Effect of Isothermal Heat Treatment Time on the Microstructure and Properties of 2.11% Al Austempered Ductile Iron

In this article, the bainitic transformation during austempering was studied for a 2.11% Al containing ductile iron under different isothermal holding times. The austenitizing time and temperature were selected to be 60 min and 920 °C, respectively, referring to previous studies. The isothermal austempering heat treatments were performed at 350 °C for different durations. Microstructures have been examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Microstructural investigations revealed that austempering treatment at 350 °C for durations up to 100 min results in microstructures consisting of carbide-free bainitic ferrite with considerable amounts of retained austenite while the extension of isothermal transformation time leads to precipitation of carbides. Hardness measurements were also carried out the results of which were shown to be consistent with microstructural evolutions.