High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Bainite is an acicular microstructure (not a phase) that forms in steels at temperatures from approximately 250-550°C (depending on alloy content). First described by E. S. Davenport and Edgar Bain, it is one of the decomposition products that may form when austenite (the face centered cubic crystal structure of iron) is cooled past a critical temperature of 727 °C (about 1340 °F). Davenport and Bain originally described the microstructure as being similar in appearance to tempered martensite.