martensite Metallurgy.
(ˈmɑːrtɛnzaɪt)
[f. name of Prof. A. Martens, a German metallurgist + -ite.]
See quot. 1902. (Cf. pearlite 2.)
| 1898 Roberts-Austen Introd. Metallurgy (ed. 4) 147 Martensite is the very hard substance of which hardened steel consists. 1902 H. M. Howe in Encycl. Brit. XXIX. 572 Martensite, the characteristic and chief constituent of hardened steel, is a hard brittle mass, with a needle-like structure, consisting of iron containing carbon in proportions which vary from nothing up to about 2 per cent. |