Abstract: During the incubation period of isothermal treatment (or aging) within the bainitic transformation temperature range in a salt bath (or quenching in water) immediately after solution treatment, not only are the defects formed at high temperatures maintained, but new defects can also be generated in alloys, iron alloys and steels. Due to the segregation of the solute atoms near defects through diffusion, this leads to non-uniform distributions of solute atoms in the parent phase with distinct regions of both solute enrichment and solute depletion. It is proposed that when the Ms temperature at the solute depleted regions is equal to or higher than the isothermal (or aged) temperature, nucleation of bainite occurs within these solute depleted regions in the manner of martensitic shear. Therefore it is considered that, at least in steel, iron and copper alloy systems, bainite is formed through a shear mechanism within solute depleted regions, which is controlled and formed by the solute atoms diffusion in the parent phase.

Key words: Pre-bainite phenomenon, Solute segregation, Solute depleted region, Martensitic shear...