Acicular ferrite and its heterogeneous nucleation mechanism in steels

The steels with an acicular ferrite microstructure show excellent mechanical properties,such as high tensile strength and toughness.Here,the reasons for good properties of acicular ferrite were discussed with the consideration of its crystal morphology and phase microstructure.The heterogeneous nucleation mechanism and the main factors that influence the nucleation of acicular ferrite in steels were also analyzed.Finally,some prospects was put forward.