Abstract: lntragranular ferrite was formed at inclusions in a vanadium microalloyed steel with excess amount of sulfur. The chemical composition of inclusions in the steel was analyzed by SEM-EDS. The inclusions were mainly composed of MnS and aluminum oxides. The precipitation of MnS at aluminum oxides might result in Mn depletion, which, in turn, promotes the formation of intragranular ferrite. Optical and SEM observations and threedimensional (3D) reconstruction demonstrated that intragranular ferrite was formed at inclusions. The morphology of intragranular ferrite changed with undercooling. At higher temperatures intragranular ferrite was nearly equiaxed whereas it was plate-like or lath-like at lower temperatures.

Key words: steels, intragranular ferrite, nucleatiion