martensite

American  

[mahr-tn-zahyt] / ˈmɑr tnˌzaɪt /

noun

Metallurgy.

1. a metastable microconstituent of any of various forms of carbon steel, produced by undercooling sufficiently below the normal transformation temperature, especially a hard, brittle product of the decomposition of austenite, produced in this way.

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martensite British  

/ ˌmɑːtɪnˈzɪtɪk, ˈmɑːtɪnˌzaɪt /

noun

1. a constituent formed in steels by rapid quenching, consisting of a supersaturated solid solution of carbon in iron. It is formed by the breakdown of austenite when the rate of cooling is large enough to prevent pearlite forming

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Other Word Forms

• martensitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of martensite

1895–1900; named after Adolf Martens (died 1914), German metallurgist; see -ite ¹

Example Sentences

He is then able to pick out its component minerals, ferrite, austenite, martensite, pearlite, graphite, cementite, and to show how their abundance, shape and arrangement contribute to the strength or weakness of the specimen.

From Creative Chemistry Descriptive of Recent Achievements in the Chemical Industries by Slosson, Edwin E.

Moderate reheating or annealing changes this structure largely into troostite, which is a partly transformed martensite, possessing much of the hardness of martensite, but with a largely increased toughness and shock resistance.

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

In the most quickly quenched high carbon steels, austenite commonly forms the ground mass which is interspersed with martensite, a large field of which is illustrated in Fig.

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

This structure is called martensite and is desired when maximum hardness is essential.

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

The structure is then austenite and the air-cooled structure of this steel is martensite.

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