Pearlitic microstructure

A lamellar composite of ferrite and cementite formed by the eutectoid decomposition of austenite during slow cooling. It provides a balanced combination of plastic deformability and enhanced tensile strength.

Pearlite forms when austenite cools slowly below the transformation point. Ferrite and cementite layer out, giving a strong but still formable structure.

When welding, watch the cooling rate. If you cool too fast, hard, crack-prone martensite forms. If you cool too slowly, the structure gets coarse and impact toughness suffers.

For a clean pearlite structure, control cooling in the critical range so it's neither too fast nor too slow. Then you get a uniform, weldable structure without nasty surprises.

MetallurgieSchweißtechnik