Martens & Osmond: Hardenite Past & Future

Since its discovery by Osmond, who named it after Martens, the transformation responsible for the quench hardening of steel has evolved from the subject of extreme controversy to the best understood solid-state phase transformation. The depth of mechanistic understanding of the complex phenomena underlying martensite has led the way in establishing a science-based systems approach to computational design of high-performance martensitic steels, multiphase TRIP alloys, and advanced shape memory alloys. Grounded in the CALPHAD fundamental database system now known as the Materials Genome, parametric materials design and AIM accelerated process optimization linking microstructural simulation to macroscopic thermal processing models has delivered a new technology of ICME accelerated materials development. For the case of UHS martensitic aircraft landing gear steels, the typical 20 year development cycle has been compressed to 6 years from “clean sheet” material design to flight qualification at the material and component level, already meeting the acceleration goals of the national Materials Genome Initiative. As the rediscovery of the economic importance of manufacturing brings a rediscovery of the importance of metals, a New Metallurgy is now available to respond to the opportunity.