A study of the microstructure of all steels usually starts with the metastable iron-carbon (Fe-C) binary phase diagram (Figure 1). It provides an invaluable foundation on which to build knowledge of both carbon steels and alloy steels, as well as a number of various heat treatments they are usually subjected to (hardening, annealing, etc).
Figure 1. Iron Carbon Phase Diagram
At the low-carbon end of the metastable Fe-C phase diagram, we distinguish ferrite (alpha-iron), which can at most dissolve 0.028 wt. % C at 738 °C, and austenite (gamma-iron), which can dissolve 2.08 wt. % C at 1154 °C. The much larger phase field of gamma-iron (austenite) compared with that of alpha-iron (ferrite) indicates clearly the considerably grater solubility of carbon in gamma-iron (austenite), the maximum value being 2.08 wt. % at 1154 °C. The hardening of carbon steels, as well as many alloy steels, is based on this difference in the solubility of carbon in alpha-iron (ferrite) and gamma-iron (austenite).
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