A comprehensive treatment of the chemistry and physics of mechanical hardness

Chemistry and Physics of Mechanical Hardness presents a general introduction to hardness measurement and the connections between hardness and fundamental materials properties.

Beginning with an introduction on the importance of hardness in the development of technology, the book systematically covers:



Indentation
Chemical bonding
Plastic deformation
Covalent semiconductors
Simple metals and alloys
Transition metals
Intermetallic compounds
Ionic crystals
Metal-metalloids
Oxides
Molecular crystals
Polymers
Glasses
Hot hardness
Chemical hardness
Super-hard materials

Chemistry and Physics of Mechanical Hardness is essential reading for materials scientists, mechanical engineers, metallurgists, ceramists, chemists, and physicists who are interested in learning how hardness is related to other properties and to the building blocks of everyday matter.