cementite

American  

[si-men-tahyt] / sɪˈmɛn taɪt /

noun

Metallurgy.

1. an iron carbide, Fe 3 C, a constituent of steel and cast iron, sometimes with part of its iron replaced by another metal, as manganese.

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cementite British  

/ sɪˈmɛntaɪt /

noun

1. the hard brittle compound of iron and carbon that forms in carbon steels and some cast irons. Formula: Fe 3 C

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Etymology

Origin of cementite

First recorded in 1885–90; cement + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

It is possible to change the relative sizes of the ferrite and cementite crystals by heat treatment.

From The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel by Colvin, Fred H. (Fred Herbert)

Apparently the quick cooling prevents the normal change back to definite and sizeable crystals of ferrite and cementite.

From The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel by Colvin, Fred H. (Fred Herbert)

From this combination, we are able to get a very strong ferrite matrix and a very hard tough cementite.

From The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel by Colvin, Fred H. (Fred Herbert)

But we may anticipate by saying that some of the iron unites with all the carbon to form a new substance, very hard, a carbide which has been called "cementite."

From The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel by Colvin, Fred H. (Fred Herbert)

The cementite, although adding to the tensile strength, is very brittle and the strength of the pearlite is the combination of the ferrite and cementite.

From The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel by Colvin, Fred H. (Fred Herbert)