pearliten.
/ˈpəːlʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈpərˌlaɪt/ Metallurgy.
A finely laminated mixture of ferrite and cementite formed in cast iron and steel by the cooling of austenite containing more than 0.8 per cent carbon.
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pearlite1888
martensite1898
sorbite1900
troostite1902
granular pearlite1910
bainite1935
1888 H. M. Howe in Engin. & Mining Jrnl. 18 Aug. 132 Minerals which compose iron. Name suggested here... Pearlyte. A mixture of about 2/ 3 ferrite and 1/ 3 cementite.
1889 Nature 14 Nov. 37/2 Prof. Howe, of Boston,..even suggests mineralogical names, such as ‘cementite’, ‘perlite’, ‘ferrite’, for the various associations of carbon and iron.
1946 V. N. Wood Metall. Materials v. 148 Sorbite is similar to pearlite but harder, and with a less perfectly developed structure consisting of very fine particles of cementite in ferrite.
1989 A. C. Davies Sci. & Pract. Welding (ed. 9) I. ii. 97 Bainite, a structure which when viewed under high magnification can be seen as an aggregate of ferrite and carbide particles like finely divided pearlite.
2003 Foundry Managem. & Technol. (Nexis) 131 17 Ferrile content may dominate even after normalizing, without the use of pearlite stabilizers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1888