Recent work has shown that bainitic ferrite plates produced by transformation at low temperatures can be as thin as 20 nm with a hardness in excess of 650 HV. However, it may take several days in order to achieve the required degree of transformation at low temperatures. In this work we report methods for accelerating the rate of reaction without compromising strength.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Dirección General de Investigacion de la Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid (CAM)Peer reviewed