The radiation makes ordinary steel extremely brittle very quickly.

The city said the brittle steel had so far been found in large sections of the 8,900-foot-long pipe that was used to provide water to much of northern Queens.

The light-straw color is very hard, brittle steel, but the light-blue is softer and very springy.

Her sinking was likely caused by structural failure from the brittle steel used in her construction.

"Your rim was old cheap steel, brittle and rusted," he said.

Next, the sheets of steel move into an anealing process, a furnace that reheats the metal to develop the metallurgical properties that make steel malleable instead of brittle.

Iron remained dominant for structural applications until the 1880s because of problems with brittle steel, caused by high carbon, excess phosphorus or excessive temperature during rolling or too rapid rolling.

Hostite's blade alone was not steel, but true obsidian, brittle but sharper than any other.

This crystal structure makes such steels virtually non-magnetic and less brittle at low temperatures.