ISSN 0967-0912, Steel in Translation, 2008, Vol. 38, No. 8, pp. 684–687. © Allerton Press, Inc., 2008.

Original Russian Text © I.A. Bataev, A.A. Bataev, V.G. Burov, Ya.S. Lizunkova, E.E. Zakharevich, 2008, published in “Stal’,” 2008, No. 8, pp. 99–102.

Structure of Widmanstatten Crystals of Ferrite and Cementite

I. A. Bataev, A. A. Bataev, V. G. Burov, Ya. S. Lizunkova, and E. E. Zakharevich
Novosibirsk State Technical University

Abstract—Structural analysis of Widmanstatten crystals in ì8, 10, and 5ã carbon steel shows that Widman-
statten ferrite is first deposited at the austenite grain boundaries in cast 50ã steel. The intervals are filled with
polyhedral ferrite. The plates of Widmanstatten ferrite and cementite are laminar in structure. The layer thick-
ness is ~103 nm or less. Analysis of the fine structure of the Widmanstatten plates confirms that the layers of
plate crystals grow by diffusional migration of steps along their broad boundaries. The laminar structure of the
crystals of Widmanstatten ferrite and cementite explains their behavior in plastic deformation of the steel.

DOI: 10.3103/S0967091208080251

Steel treatment facilitating the formation of ferrite
and cementite crystals of Widmanstatten type is often
encountered in practice. Widmannstatten ferrite is
present in weld seams and cast parts made of subeutec-
toidal steel. The formation of Widmanstatten cementite
in transeutectoidal steel is facilitated by heating above
950°C. Crystallographic relations are created between
the plates of Widmanstatten ferrite and the austenite
from which they are formed [1]: {110}Φ || {111}A and
〈111〉Φ || 〈110〉A. There are no reliable data on the orien-
tational correspondence of the austenite and Widman-
statten cementite.
We know that Widmanstatten crystals impair the
mechanical properties of steel—in particular, charac-
teristics affecting the reliability of the material, such as
the resistance to static and fatigue cracks, the impact
strength, and the plasticity. In the present work, we
study the fine structure of components of Widmanstat-
ten type and explain the behavior of steel containing
ferrite and cementite with clearly oriented structure in
plastic deformation.
To study Widmanstatten cementite, ì8 steel is satu-
rated with carbon to 1.6%, at a depth of ~1 mm. In the
initial state, the steel contains 0.82% C, 0.33% Mn,
0.17% Si, 0.018% S, and 0.020% P. To form Widman-
statten cementite in the carbon-saturated layer, the steel
is heated to 1100°C, held for 30 min, and cooled at
~5°C/min. The Widmanstatten-ferrite structure is
obtained in steel 10 by laser welding on a Sibir-2 unit
and also in cast 50ã steel. The chemical composition of
steel 10 is as follows: 0.09% C, 0.48% Mn, 0.32% Si,
0.035% S, and 0.030% P. Sheet of thickness 3 mm is
investigated. A butt joint without separation of the
edges is welded in helium, which prevents oxidation of
the seam on both sides of the sheet. The laser power is
2 kW; the welding rate is 1 m/min. The composition of
50ã steel is as follows: 0.52% C, 0.48% Mn, 0.35% Si,
0.04% S, and 0.035% P. The samples are obtained by
casting in a sand–clay mold.
An NU 2E optical microscope and a Leo-420 raster
electron microscope are used for structural research.
Typical samples of Widmanstatten cementite are
shown in Fig. 1a. The metallographic sections of most
crystals exhibit a characteristic needle structure; plate
structure is seen in the volume. The plates are predom-
inantly deposited at the boundaries of the former auste-
nite grains. In large grains, plates are deposited not only
along the boundaries but also within the body.
Structural data indicate that the cementite plates
have a pronounced laminar structure. The layer thick-
ness is ~103 nm or less. The laminar cementite structure
may even be observed under a metallographic micro-
scope. This is facilitated by defects formed at the
boundary of individual layers (Fig 1b). The laminar
structure is most distinct in raster electron microscopy
(Fig. 1c). Steps formed as a result of successive disinte-
gration of individual layers are clearly seen on the frac-
tograms of dynamic disintegrated samples.
Lamination indicates that the layer boundaries are
defective and hence weaker than the interior of the lay-
ers. The presence of numerous layers within the Wid-
manstatten cementite plates explains some features of
steel deformation and failure. Weak boundaries permit
mutual shear of the layers. Hence, deformation of even
massive cementite structures (thickness more than
10 µm) is possible without failure-crack formation
(Fig. 1d). Thus, the deformation of Widmanstatten
cementite may resemble the shift of cards in a deck.
Laser welding gives rise to factors that encourage
the formation of Widmanstatten ferrite in subeutectoi-
dal steel—in particular, large austenite grains and an

684
 STRUCTURE OF WIDMANSTATTEN CRYSTALS OF FERRITE AND CEMENTITE
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 1. Structural features of Widmanstatten cementite in
transeutectoidal steel: a) cementite distribution in the sam-
ple volume, × 250; b) laminar structure of cementite plates,
× 1000; c) electron-microscope image of the fracture sur-
face, × 700; d) change in shape of cementite plate on cold
deformation (rolling), × 250.
increased cooling rate. The Widmanstatten ferrite struc-
ture is most distinct in the thermal-influence zones on
both sides of the weld seam (Fig. 2a). As we know, the
ferrite crystals within the same volume take the form of
plates. Structural data indicate a laminar structures and
plates of Widmanstatten ferrite, as well as crystals of
Widmanstatten cementite (Fig. 2b). The thickness of
individual layers in both structural components is
approximately the same (~103 nm or less).
STEEL IN TRANSLATION Vol. 38 No. 8 2008
685
(a)
(b)
Fig. 2. Structure of Widmanstatten ferrite in subeutectoidal
steel: a) steel 10, weld seam, × 100; b) 50ã steel in the cast
state, × 1000.
Austenite grain
Layer of
cementite plate
Direction
of layer growth
Layer defect
(ferrite bridge)
Layer boundary
Grain boundary
Fig. 3. Growth of laminar Widmanstatten cementite plate in
austenite grain.
Analysis of the structural data suggests similarities
in the formation of Widmanstatten cementite and ferrite
plates and the formation of laminar structure in the
plates. The fine structure of the phases indicates that
crystal growth occurs by the migration of steps along
the broad faces [2]. Accordingly, the new single crystal
that appears (ferrite or cementite) grows by motion of
the incoherent boundary in a single direction. The lat-
eral plane boundaries of the crystal are motionless and
have a coherent or semicoherent relationship with the
matrix (austenite). When the growing layer reaches
some thickness, its coherent relationship with the aus-
686 BATAEV et al.

The layer boundaries in the ferrite and cementite

crystals may also be decorated with various structural
defects, For Widmanstatten ferrite, these may be small
carbide particles, which are deposited at the interphase
(α–γ) boundary during the diffusional growth of the
plate in the longitudinal direction. For Widmanstatten
cementite, they may be ferrite interlayers, due to fluctu-
ations of the carbon content in the austenite. For this
(a) reason, we may expect interlayer defects randomly dis-
tributed in the growing crystal.
Accordingly, we may now explain the reduced plas-
ticity of the subeutectoidal steel containing deposits of
Widmanstatten ferrite: the loss of plasticity is due to
defects along the many layer boundaries. The crack
develops at the weakest point in the ferrite structure—
most likely along the layer boundaries in the plate.
In many cases, a mixed structure containing crystals
of both Widmanstatten and polyhedral type is formed in
(b)
the high-temperature treatment of steel. Examples of
such structures formed in casting subeutectoidal 50ã
steel are shown in Fig. 4. The sequence of deposition of
the different types of ferrite is of interest. On the basis
of Fig. 4b, it seems that polyhedral ferrite is deposited
along the austenite boundaries in the first stages of its
decomposition. However, analysis of the fine structure
of the ferrite deposits close to the former austenite grain
boundaries indicates the opposite: Widmanstatten fer-
(c) rite crystals are deposited independently, without the
involvement of polyhedral ferrite. It is evident from
Fig. 4. Ferrite structure in cast steel 50: (a) × 50; (b) × 150; Fig. 4c that the Widmanstatten ferrite is V-shaped.
(c) × 1000. Obviously, the arms of the ferrite grow in different aus-
tenite grains. The polyhedral ferrite is covered by Wid-
manstatten crystals.
Analysis of metallographic data suggests that mixed
Widmanstatten ferrite structure is formed as follows (Fig. 5). In the first stage
Grain boundary
of γ-phase decomposition, crystals of Widmanstatten
ferrite form, mostly at austenite grain boundaries and
crystal defects with high energy. In the next stage of
cooling, the gaps between the Widmanstatten ferrite
plates are filled with polyhedral ferrite. The sequence of
austenite decomposition in transeutectic steel is proba-
bly analogous. First, cementite crystals of plate type are
Polyhedral ferrite formed, and then the free sections of the austenite
boundaries are filled in by cementite in the form of a
carbide grid.
Fig. 5. Formation of Widmanstatten and polyhedral ferrite
at the austenite grain boundary.
CONCLUSIONS
tenite is disrupted. The adjacent layer grows in the same 1. The plates of Widmanstatten ferrite and cementite
sequence. However, there will be an incoherent bound- have a laminar structure (layer thickness ~103 nm or
ary between the two layers that appear. For this reason, less). Analysis of the fine structure of the Widmanstat-
the layer boundaries may be identified by various struc- ten plates confirms that the plate-crystal layers grow by
tural methods. The proposed growth mechanism is diffusional migration of steps along the wide faces.
illustrated in Fig. 3 for the example of a laminar plate 2. The laminar structure of the Widmanstatten fer-
of Widmanstatten cementite. rite and cementite crystals explains aspects of their

STEEL IN TRANSLATION Vol. 38 No. 8 2008

 STRUCTURE OF WIDMANSTATTEN CRYSTALS OF FERRITE AND CEMENTITE
behavior in the plastic deformation of steel. The weak
layer boundaries facilitate mutual shift of the cementite
plates and their marked distortion in the deformation of
transeutectoidal steel. The ferrite plates lose their
reserves of plasticity in the presence of the weak layer
boundaries, which are structural defects of the α phase.
3. Experiments show that, when ferrite structure of
mixed type is formed along the austenite grain bound-
aries, Widmanstatten crystals are first formed. The
intervals between the plate crystals deposited in the first
stage are then filled by polyhedral ferrite.
STEEL IN TRANSLATION Vol. 38 No. 8 2008
687
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Financial support was provided by the Russian Min-
istry of Education and Science within the framework of
the federal research program on priorities in the techno-
logical development of Russia between 2007 and 2012.
REFERENCES
1. Livshin, B.G., Metallografiya (Metallography), Mos-
cow: Metallurgiya, 1990.
2. Novikov, I.I., Teoriya termicheskoi obrabotki (Theory of
Heat Treatment), Moscow: Metallurgiya, 1986.