Martensite is a very hard form of steel crystalline structure. It is named after German metallurgist Adolf Martens. By analogy the term can also refer to any crystal structure that is formed by diffusionless transformation. [1]

Martensite is a very hard metastable structure with a body-centered tetragonal (BCT) crystal structure. Martensite is formed in steels when the cooling rate from austenite is 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 (Fe3C).

Martensitic stainless steels are a family of stainless steels having body-centered tetragonal (BCT) crystal structure and a predominately martensite structure.

Martensite is a body-centered tetragonal form of iron in which some carbon is dissolved. Martensite forms during quenching, when the face centered cubic lattice of austenite is distored into the body centered tetragonal structure without the loss of its contained carbon atoms into cementite and ferrite.

The different microscopic constituents of iron and steel which commonly occur are: 1. Ferrite. 2. Cementite. 3. Pearlite. 4. Martensite. 5. Austenite. 6. Troostite. 7. Sorbite. The other constituents comprise the three allotropic forms of nearly pure iron, graphite and slag.

Martensitic steel grades provide a cold formed alternative to hot formed press hardening steels. Not all product shapes can be cold formed.

Martensite is a hard, brittle form of steel with a tetragonal crystalline structure, created by a process called martensitic transformation.

…the low-temperature-transformation phase (known as martensite) increases with carbon content, and this can result in some very strong alloys.

Martensite remains of the greatest technological importance in steels where it can confer an outstanding combination of strength (>3500 MPa) and toughness (>200 MPa m 1/2).

Se llama martensita en honor al metalúrgico alemán Adolf Martens (1850-1914). La transformación martensítica no sólo ocurre en el acero, sino que otros sistemas de aleación se caracterizan por experimentar transformaciones sin difusión.