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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cementite

A quickly quenched carbon steel is mostly martensitic which, as noted, is a solid solution of beta iron and Page 113 cementite, hard and brittle.

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

The growth is continually destroyed by the hammering, which should consequently be continued down to the upper critical temperature when the austenite crystals break up into ferrite and cementite.

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

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 Fred H. (Fred Herbert) Colvin

Many of the properties of steel, as they vary with carbon content, can be linked up with the increasing amount of this hard carbide cementite, distributed in very fine particles through the softer iron.

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

In fact, the difference between the hard, brittle cementite and the soft, greasy graphite, accounts for many of the differences between steel and gray cast iron.

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

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