Which risk increases when quenching steel too rapidly past the nose of its Time-Temperature-Transformation diagram?

💡 Explanation

Martensite formation promotes brittleness because rapid quenching bypasses equilibrium diffusion; it causes a diffusionless transformation. Therefore, brittle martensite forms rather than softer phases, because the cooling rate exceeds diffusional kinetic limits. This is caused by non-equilibrium phase stabilization.

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