Abstract
EVERY one has a general idea of what is meant by o hardness—that the diamond is harder than steel, and steel harder than copper. The workman judges of hardness as the resistance of a material to the action of his cutting-tools or files. But there is as yet no rational definition of hardness. A property connected with hardness is resistance to abrasion or wear. As Sir Robert Hadfield has said, rails are demanded which will not wear out quickly and tyres which will not need renewing every few months. It was entirely for these reasons that modern qualities of steel were produced. To some extent hardness is opposed to ductility or toughness. Very hard materials are generally brittle. The engineer requires a material in which hardness is obtained without too great a sacrifice of toughness.
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U., W. Hardness Tests. Nature 112, 242–243 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/112242a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/112242a0