Acoustic Emission During Phase Transformation in Steel

TLDR: In this article, the authors observed that the intensity of acoustic emission generated during martensite formation decreased markedly as the carbon content of the steel decreased, becoming nearly undetectable in a maraging steel.

Abstract: Acoustic emission was monitored during phase transformations that occur during cooling in a wide variety of steels. Acoustic emission was generated during the formation of martensite but not during the formation of ferrite, bainite, or pearlite. This observation is consistent with the rapid, diffusionless, shear-like nature of martensite formation and the slow, diffusion-controlled growth of ferrite, bainite, or pearlite. The martensite start temperatures, and the temperature range of martensite formation determined by acoustic emission were in good agreement with those determined by metallographic or dilatometric methods. The intensity of acoustic emission generated during martensite formation decreased markedly as the carbon content of the steel decreased, becoming nearly undetectable in a maraging steel. This decrease in intensity correlates with a morphological change from large plate-shaped martensite units to smaller lath-shaped martensite units as the carbon content of the steel is decreased.