Title: martensitic transition
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - martensitic transition
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.M03708
Status: current

Definition
A diffusionless transition (first studied in the steel alloy, Martensite), at constant composition, generated by coordinated atomic, ionic or molecular displacements over distances smaller than interatomic distances in the parent phase. The cooperative rearrangements of the crystal structure generally take place progressively by the movement of a two-dimensional interface through the solid. Examples: The face-centred-cubic to body-centred-tetragonal transition of iron containing some carbon; the transition of tetragonal $\ce{ZrO2}$ to monoclinic $\ce{ZrO2}$.

Related Terms
- diffusionless transition: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/D01728
- interface: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/I03082

Source
- PAC, 1994, 66, 577. 'Definitions of terms relating to phase transitions of the solid state (IUPAC Recommendations 1994)' on page 585 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199466030577)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/M03708/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/M03708/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/M03708/xml

Citation: Citation: 'martensitic transition' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.M03708
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-18T17:55:19+00:00