Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A solid solution of iron and up to one percent of carbon, the chief constituent of hardened carbon tool steels.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A very hard carbide of iron, approximately of the composition Fe24C, formed in the recalescenee of steel at 850° C. in cooling from a temperature of 1,000° C. or over. It remains unchanged if the metal is then suddenly cooled, as by plunging it into cold water, but on slow cooling is decomposed into iron and the carbide Fe3C. On the other hand, it appears that this latter compound, known as cementite, may split into martensite and carbon in the form of graphite.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun metallurgy A
solid solution ofcarbon iniron ; the chief constituent ofsteel - noun physics, chemistry Any
crystal structure formed by amartensitic transition
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a solid solution of carbon in alpha-iron that is formed when steel is cooled so rapidly that the change from austenite to pearlite is suppressed; responsible for the hardness of quenched steel
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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This structure is called martensite and is desired when maximum hardness is essential.
The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916
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In the ordinary practice of hardening steels, the quenching is not so drastic, and the transformation of austenite back to ferrite and cementite is more or less completely effected, giving rise to certain transitory forms which are known as "martensite," "troostite," "sorbite," and finally, pearlite.
The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916
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The engineers are running programs that show how adding tiny amounts of alloys to ferrite and martensite—crystalline structures of iron—during the steelmaking process changes the steel's strength, as well as its ability to be shaped into different parts.
Metal Firms Seek Weight Loss Robert Guy Matthews 2011
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When cooled rapidly, however, as in the tempering of steel, martensite remains a homogeneous solid solution, or hard steel.
Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 Anonymous
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When cooled slowly below 670 degrees, martensite yields a heterogeneous mixture of pearlite and ferrite (or cementite, if the original mixture contained between 0.8 per cent. and two per cent. of carbon).
Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 Anonymous
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When heated to 670 degrees, it becomes homogeneous, an amount of carbon up to two per cent. dissolves in the iron, and hard steel or martensite is formed.
Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 Anonymous
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The structure is then austenite and the air-cooled structure of this steel is martensite.
The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916
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Troostite is of doubtful composition, but possibly is an unstable mixture of untransformed martensite with sorbite.
The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916
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This toughness is the chief characteristic of the next material in the transformation series, sorbite, which is merely martensite wholly transformed into
The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916
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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
The Working of Steel Annealing, Heat Treating and Hardening of Carbon and Alloy Steel 1916
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