Polycrystalline hardness

Reviews on the synthesis of sinter materials consisting of p-BN and/or y-BN and their use as machining tools are numerous and have been cited with the respective applications. Variable intergrain bonding additives are contained in polycrystalline hard boron nitride sinters, and it is difficult to decide if a material should be classified as a polycrystalline hard boron nitride sinter, as a sintered boron nitride base ceramic, or as hard metal-bonded dense boron nitride. 

Houle, M.C., Coble, R.L., 1962. Ceramographic techniques, I. Single phase polycrystalline hard materials. Bull. Am. Ceram. Soc. 41, 378. 

In the case of the polycrystalline polyester thermoplastic rubbers the simple domain theory does not seem to apply. With these rubbers it would appear that they contain spherulitic structures consisting of 4GT radial lamellae with inter-radial amorphous regions that are mixtures of PTMEG soft segments and noncrystalline hard segments. 

At room temperature, NiAl deforms almost exclusively by (100) dislocations [4, 9, 10] and the availability of only 3 independent slip systems is thought to be responsible for the limited ductility of polycrystalline NiAl. Only when single crystals are compressed along the (100) direction ( hard orientation), secondary (111) dislocations can be activated [3, 5]. Their mobility appears to be limited by the screw orientation [5] and yield stresses as high as 2 GPa are reported below 50K [5]. However, (110) dislocations are responsible for the increased plasticity in hard oriented crystals above 600K [3, 7]. The competition between (111) and (110) dislocations as secondary slip systems therefore appears to be one of the key issues to explain the observed deformation behaviour of NiAl. 

Hard to extremely hard competent rock formations can be drilled with turbine motors using diamond or the new polycrystalline diamond bits. 

Silver white, relatively soft metal that is only applied in alloys. Oxygen and water attack pure Ca. The most prominent compound is the oxide (CaO) = burnt calcium, which hardens to calcium carbonate in mortar. Annual production of about 120 million tons. Burnt gypsum (CaS04 0.5 H20) hardens with water. A great step in evolution was the replacement of hard shells of brittle calcium carbonate by an internal skeleton of tough calcium phosphate (hydroxylapatite)-protein composite. Calcium is essential for all life forms. The daily requirement is 0.7-1.0 g. Humans (70 kg) contain 1 kg of calcium. Calcium silicate is the main component of cement. Marble is calcium carbonate in polycrystalline form and the favorite material of sculptors. 

The behavior of polycrystalline materials is often dominated by the boundaries between the crystallites, called grain boundaries. In metals, grain boundaries prevent dislocation motion and reduce the ductility, leading to hard and brittle mechanical properties. Grain boundaries are invariably weaker than the crystal matrix, and... 

Cubic Phase of Boron Nitride c-BN. The cubic phase of boron nitride (c-BN) is one of the hardest materials, second only to diamond and with similar crystal structure. It is the first example of a new material theoretically predicted and then synthesized in laboratory. From automated synthesis a microcrystalline phase of cubic boron nitride is recovered at ambient conditions in a metastable state, providing the basic material for a wide range of cutting and grinding applications. Synthetic polycrystalline diamonds and nitrides are principally used as abrasives but in spite of the greater hardness of diamond, its employment as a superabrasive is limited by a relatively low chemical and thermal stability. Cubic boron nitride, on the contrary, has only half the hardness of diamond but an extremely high thermal stability and inertness. 

Steel-gray crystalline brittle metal hexagonal crystal system atomic volume 13.09 cc/g atom three allotropes are known namely, the a-metaUic form, a black amorphous vitreous solid known as P-arsenic, and also a yellow aUotrope. A few other allotropes may also exist but are not confirmed. Sublimes at 613°C when heated at normal atmospheric pressure melts at 817°C at 28 atm density 5.72 g/cc (P-metallic form) and 4.70 g/cm (p-amor-phous form) hardness 3.5 Mohs electrical resistivity (ohm-cm at 20°C) 33.3xlCh (B—metallic polycrystalline form) and 107 (p—amorphous form) insoluble in water. 

Less sensitive to the structure, of polycrystalline material is the Brinell hardness tester which acts on the tested surface with an indenter in the... 

Comparative estimation of hardness of different materials by an indirect method of measurement of the elasticity modulus has shown that the results conform with those expected. This agreement can be estimated especially for ceramic materials whose polycrystalline structure practically precludes correct measurement of hardness using a hardness pin (Vickers, Knoop and other methods). 

Most solids are not crystalline on their surface. This is certainly true for amorphous solids. It is also true for most crystalline or polycrystalline solids because for many materials the molecular structure at the surface is different from the bulk structure. Many surfaces are for example oxidized under ambient conditions. A prominent example is aluminum which forms a hard oxide layer as soon as it is exposed to air. Even in an inert atmosphere or in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) the surface molecules might form an amorphous layer on the crystalline bulk solid. 

With a high-pressure hot-pressing method c-BN-TiC/TiN composites are prepared by sintering and subsequently heat treatment between 1000 and 1400 °C. The samples exhibit a dense polycrystalline structure of c-BN-TiN/ TiC, and a thin layer of fine TiB2 is visible at the c-BN-binder interface. Hardness decreases significantly after heat treatment [256]. 

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