The founder of the theory of diffusionless (martensite) transformations in metallic alloys

Abstract

In February 1997 G. V. Kurdyumov is to celebrate his 95th birthday. Doing justice to this wonderful scientist, we publish an article by his disciples (colleagues at the Bardin Central Research Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy) devoted to his achievements in the field of martensite transformations. We also present one of his fundamental works on martensite transformations published in 1948 in Reports of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Vol. 60, No. 9.Very important achievements in Russian science and in the solution of many problems in physical metallurgy and metals science and the theory of heat treatment are connected with the name Georgii Vyacheslavovich Kurdyumov and the scientific school created by him. He belonged to the group of outstanding Russian scientists who promoted the rapid development of science in the 30s-70s.The circle of Kurdyumov's scientific interests was very wide. It included problems of steel hardening and tempering, the nature of martensite transformations, the theory of strength and plasticity, alloying theory, the thermodynamics of phase transformations, the mobility of atoms at high temperatures, and problems of heat resistance. He promoted wide use of theoretical physics and experimental methods in metals science and metallurgy. The works of Kurdyumov stimulated the development of many directions of physical metallurgy and metals science.The principal direction in the listed fields of research was the study of martensite (diffusionless) transformations. He started to work on the problem as a student and developed experimental and theoretical aspects of it for almost 60 years, creating a widely known scientific school. The characteristic feature of his scientific method consisted in combining experimental and deep theoretical studies, constant improvement of research methods, accumulation of experimental data necessary for theoretical generalization and experimental verification of developed concepts. The works of Kurdyumov and his disciples on martensite transformations stirred wide interest both within the country and abroad. The present paper does not aim at covering all of Kurdyumov's works devoted to martensite transformations but is an attempt to show how this direction was developed and how the research progressed from a particular practical task to a large problem of metals science and solid-state physics having various theoretical and applied aspects. MARTENSITE TRANSFORMATION IN STEELSSeevnty years ago when Kurdyumov began his scientific work the problem of martensite transformations attracted the interest of researchers but their opinions on the nature of martensite in hardened steel and on the causes of its high hardness differed greatly and did not seem well substantiated. No wonder that in 1926 the well-known French metallurgist A. Sauvier [ 1 ] generalized the answers of outstanding metallurgists of his time to his questionnaire, commenting ironically that a review of the answers does not make it possible to distinguish a predominant point view. He wrote that those who...