The growth and propagation behavior of austenite-to-bainite isothermal transformation in laser-cladded, Si-rich, and Fe-based coatings is investigated. The crystallographic features, orientation relationship at different isothermal temperatures, and the morphology of the nanostructured bainite are determined. The Nishiyama-Wassermann type orientation relationship is observed at a high temperature and at a low temperature, and mixed Nishiyama-Wassermann and Kurdjumov-Sach mechanisms are seen. The growth direction is investigated by the partial dislocation theory and an extrapolated model based on the repeated formation of lenticular-shaped subunits and pile-up along the close-packed directions of the close-packed planes. The variants of the bainite growth directions would be more selective at the high transformation temperature.
Keywords: growth behavior; laser cladded coating; nanostructured bainite; orientation relationship; sheaves.