DefinitionA <MARTENSITIC STEEL> is a <STEEL> with a microstructure of Martensite at ambient temperature and higher temperatures which was obtained during normal cooling from Austenite. (Martensite is the solid phase of Iron with a tetragonal space lattice)
Martensite transforms from Austenite by a specific mechanism with supercooling as the driving activity and not by means of mass-diffusion. Through addition of certain elements, the required cooling rate is influenced in order to reached the required conditions for the whole part. Martensite is a metastable microstructure.