Super-hard materials are materials above a certain level of hardness beyond which traditional methods of component manufacturing such as milling and turning cannot be utilized. Some examples of these super-hard materials are tungsten carbide, diamond, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, and high-speed steel.
Hardness and toughness are often seen as similar material properties but they are defined differently. Hardness is a material property that protects against wear. The higher the hardness of a material, the more will be its resistance to continuous wear. Incorporating super-hard materials in components that experience repeated friction in industrial machines will reduce downtime and enhance performance.
Toughness is a material property non-complementary to hardness. It is a material’s property to resist failure or deform without fracturing. The higher the toughness of a material, the lower will be its brittleness. Incorporating materials with higher toughness in applications such as beams on the bridge result in reliable and long-lasting establishments.
Ideally, materials would demonstrate high levels of both hardness and toughness. But as Exhibit 1 shows, there is a trade-off between the two properties: for the same class of materials as hardness increases, its toughness decreases. Hence, a very hard material can be susceptible to failure. It thus becomes imperative for components and systems to be optimally designed using appropriate materials.
Exhibit 1. Relationship between hardness and toughness for various materials.
Companies that are involved in research and design of industrial equipment with components made from super-hard materials can benefit from a careful evaluation of their choices and options to ensure enhanced performance and reliability. ADI Chemical Market Resources brings deep insight and expertise in various chemical and material families to support such product design and development needs.
By Uday Turaga and Panuswee Dwivedi