A Kinetics Model for Martensite Transformation in Plain Carbon and Low-Alloyed Steels

An empirical martensite kinetics model is proposed that both captures the sigmodial transformation behavior for alloy steels and remains computationally efficient. The model improves on the Koistinen and Marburger model and the van Bohemen and Sietsma model with a function that better represents the transformation rate, especially during the early stages. When compared with existing models, the proposed model exhibits better predictions of volume fraction of martensite. The proposed model also predicts various other transformation properties accurately, such as M90 temperatures and retained austenite.