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Martensite is formed in carbon steels by the rapid cooling of the austenite form of iron at such a high rate that carbon atoms do not have time to diffuse out of the crystal structure in large enough quantities to form cementite (Fe 3 C). Austenite is gamma-phase iron (γ-Fe), a solid solution of iron and alloying elements.
As a result of the transformation, the microconstituents, pearlite and bainite, form; pearlite forms at higher temperatures and bainite at lower. TTT diagram of isothermal transformations of a hypoeutectoid carbon steel; showing the main components obtained when cooling the steel and its relation with the Fe-C phase diagram of carbon steels.
[9] [10] The alloy composition, and the high cooling rate of quenching enable the formation of martensite. Untempered martensite is low in toughness and therefore brittle.Tempered martensite gives steel good hardness and high toughness as can be seen below, and is largely used for medical surgical instruments, such as scalpels, razors, and ...
The term "martensite" was originally coined to describe the rigid and finely dispersed constituent that emerges in steels subjected to rapid cooling. Subsequent investigations revealed that materials beyond ferrous alloys, such as non-ferrous alloys and ceramics, can also undergo diffusionless transformations.
A deeper eutectic or more rapid cooling will result in finer lamellae; as the size of an individual lamellum approaches zero, the system will instead retain its high-temperature structure. Two common cases of this include cooling a liquid to form an amorphous solid, and cooling eutectoid austenite to form martensite.
Further excessive heat-treatment brings about the decomposition of the martensite and reversion to austenite. Newer compositions of maraging steels have revealed other intermetallic stoichiometries and crystallographic relationships with the parent martensite, including rhombohedral and massive complex Ni 50 (X,Y,Z) 50 (Ni 50 M 50 in simplified ...
Austempering is a technique used to form pure bainite, a transitional microstructure found between pearlite and martensite. In normalizing, both upper and lower bainite are usually found mixed with pearlite. To avoid the formation of pearlite or martensite, the steel is quenched in a bath of molten metals or salts.
This phase is called martensite, and is extremely hard due to a combined effect of the distorted crystal structure and the extreme solid solution strengthening, both mechanisms of which resist slip dislocation. All hardening mechanisms introduce crystal lattice defects that act as barriers to dislocation slip.