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 D. T A B O R
Surface Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge

The hardness of solids

Abstract. This revieu is concerned with the basic physical meaning of hardness.
It is shown that indentation hardness of ductile materials is essentially a measure of
their plastic properties. There is a large hydrostatic component of stress around the
indentation and since this plays no part in plastic flow the indentation pressure is
appreciably higher than the uniaxial flow stress of the material. For many materials
it is about three times as large but if the material shows appreciable elasticity the
yielding of the elastic hinterland imposes less constraint on plastic flow and the factor
of proportionality may be considerably less than 3.
Indentation hardness depends on the time of loading and on the temperature and the
inforination so obtained inay be correlated with the creep properties of the solid.
At very high rates of loading as in dynamic measurements it is possible to calculate the
dynamic hardness simply from the velocity of impact and rebound.
With brittle solids the high hydrostatic pressures around the deformed region are
often sufficient to inhibit brittle fracture. Under these conditions both indentation
and scratch hardness are essentially a measure of the plastic rather than the brittle
properties of the solid. This provides a simple physical basis for the Mohs scratch
hardness scale.
The revien also deals with the relation between Brinell, Vickers and Rockwell
hardness. the hardness anisotropy of single crystals, microhardness and the hardness
of very small volumes, the indentation hardness of polyniers and rubbers, and concludes
with a brief discussion of the relation between hardness and niolecular structure.

Hard is what is dense, and soft what is rare. . . Hard and soft as well as
heavy and light are differentiated by the position and arrangement of the
voids, Therefore iron is harder and lead heavier.
Deniocritiis (c, 460-370 B.c.). quoted by Theophrastus, de xeiisii 61-62.

1. The concept of hardness

Broadly speaking o u r ideas concerning hardness a r e based o n the resistance a solid
shows to local deformation. With metals Me press a hard indenter into the surface a n d
measure the size of the permanent indentation f o r m e d ; a similar type of test is used for
polymers a n d other materials that flow plastically. With rubber-like materials we press a n
indenter into the material and assess hov. far it has sunk i n under load. With minerals a n d
brittle solids t h e classical method is t o scratch one mineral by another of specified hardness
number. All these tests are essentiall) means of giving a quantitative value t o the material’s
ability t o resist local deformation. I n this article we shall show that all these hardness
values are in fact a measure of certain bulk properties of the solids.

2. Hardness of metals
2 . I . The most coiiiiiioii qf’iizecr.suriiig hardiless
iilrtllods
T h e first of the modern techniques for measuring the hardness of metals was d u e to
Brinell. T h e origin of the te\t may be of some interest t o industrial scientists. Brinell
\vas Technical Manager of thz Fagersta Bruks steel u o r k s in Suedeii a t t h e turn of t h e
century. H e received complaints that a ne\+ batch of. steel was not as ‘good’ a s a previous
batch, although t h e exact ph>sical property being denigrated was n o t at all clear t o the
customer. Brinell thought of a very simple test t o compare t h e satisfactory a n d unsatis-
factory batches. H e t o o k a steel plate of each batch. placed a hard steel ball between them
a n d squeezed them together in a vice. T h e comparative sizes of the dents showed whether
one steel was ‘harder’ t h a n the other.
1 145
146 D.Tabor
In the standard Brinell test (Brinell 1900) a hard steel ball (usually 1 cm in diameter)
is pressed normally on to the surface of the metal under examination. The load W varies
from 500 kg for soft metals to 3000 kg for hard steels and is usually applied for a standard
period of 30 s. It is then removed and the diameter d of the indentation measured. If
there is negligible friction between ball and indentation it is easy to show that the true mean
pressure over the surface of the indentation is

p = ~
W - 4w
- __
Projected area of indentation nd2’
However, Brinell noticed that for most materials the pressure p increased as he made the
indentation larger. As we shall see this is due to work-hardening of the metal by the
indentation process itself. In order to provide a hardness value which would show a much
smaller variation with indentation size Brinell, therefore, chose as his definition of Brinell
hardness number (BHN)
BHN = ~-
Load --~
Curved area of the Indentation’
For indentations which are not too deep the difference between the BHN given by equation
(2) and the true contact pressure (sometimes known as the Meyer hardness) given by
equation (1) is not more than a few per cent. In the extreme case if the indenter is pressed
into the metal up to its diameter the BHN will of course be only one half the Meyer hardness.
In fact the general recommendation is that the chordal diameter d of the indentation should
be between 0.3 and 0.4 of the diameter D of the indenter. Under these conditions
BHN ~ 0 . 9 7 ~ . (3)
It is seen that the Brinell hardness and the Meyer hardnessp have the dimensions of pressure.
They are generally expressed in kilograms per square millimetre. Typical BHN values are
4 for lead, 6 for tin, 50 for annealed copper, 95 for brass, 150 for mild steel, 350 for tool
steel. If as is customary the indenter used is of ball bearing steel (it may be shown by
other tests that this has a hardness of about 900) it is advisable not to use it for testing
metals of hardness greater than about 400 as otherwise some permanent deformation of
the indenter itself may occur.
In the Vickers test (Smith and Sandland 1925) a square based diamond pyramid is used
as the indenter. This can be used to determine the hardness of extremely hard materials.
Again the Vickers Diamond Pyramid Hardness Number (DPH) is defined as

DPH= -~ -
Load ~

Pyramidal area of the indentation‘ (4)

-
-
Load
(Length o f d r G o n T 2 ’ (44

In the Knoop test (Knoop et al. 1939) a diamond indenter is used but its shape is such
that it forms an elongated pyramidal impression. It is very useful for studying the effect
of crystal orientation on hardness. The Knoop hardness number is again defined by
equation (4). The Brinell. Vickers and Knoop indenters give hardness values which in
most cases are close to one another.
The Rockwell test uses a spherical or a conical diamond indenter with a spherical tip.
A small preliminary load is applied, then the main load is applied and removed and the
depth of the residual indentation measured. This is shown on a dial gauge and is quoted
as a Rockwell number. The test is very rapid and does not involve the optical measurement
of the indentation diameter. For this reason it is a very convenient instrument in industry
particularly if it is used mainly t o check whether components satisfy a given specification,
Depth measurements have, however. a number of basic weaknesses arising from ‘piling-up’
 The hardness of solids 147
and ‘sinking-in’ of material around the indentation and from the elastic recovery of the
indentation when the load is removed (see later). A rapid test which avoids this defect
could be a great asset to industry. One possible development along these lines which
shows considerable promise is that due to Kleesatel (1966): the area of the indentation
formed under load is deduced from the acoustic impedance of the indenter-metal interface,
The hardness is again shown as a number on a dial but it is based on the area of the in-
dentation, not on its ‘recovered’ depth.
Finally we may mention a method due t o Bierbaum (1920) in which a fine diamond is
dragged over the surface under a specified normal load and the width of the groove measured.
This is essentially a research tool and provides a very useful technique for comparing the
hardness of different portions of a surface. For example it can be used to study the hardness
of different grains and of grain boundaries themselves.
A very full account of hardness equipment and mode of operation is to be found in the
book by Weingraber (1952).
Most of the indentation methods used in industry operate at loads of the order of tens o r
hundreds of kilograms and the indentation size is of the order of a mm in diameter. The
whole process may, of course. be miniaturized. If the indenters have very well-defined
profiles, loads of the order of gms may be used. The indentations are then of the order of
micrometres in diameter and high power microscopes must be used. Such tests are known
as micro-hardness measurements and provide a valuable means of studying the deformation
properties of very small regions. One of the major difficulties is that spurious values may
be caused by vibration.
2 . 2 . The size of the specimen : ,friction between the indenter and the specimen
Two technical points may be mentioned. The specimen must be appreciably larger
than the indentation so that boundary effects d o not influence the results. In general, if
the diameter of the indentation is d the distance of the indentation from the edge of the
specimen (or from another indentation) should not be less than 3 to 4d. Similarly the
thickness of the specimen should be at least three times the diameter (or eight to ten times
the depth of the indentation) otherwise the indenter will ‘sense’ the presence of the surface
on which the specimen rests. This is particularly important in measurements of the
hardness of thin coatings.
The friction between the indenter and the specimen gives a higher value of the indentation
hardness. Some theoretical calculations for two-dimensional wedges have been described
by Grunsweig et al. (1954). More recently Johnson (1970) has re-examined the problem
and shown that friction can appreciably change the patterr? of deformation below the
surface; however, it has relatively little effect on the indentation pressure itself. For
example for a wedge of semi-angle 70 ’; and a coefficient of friction of p=O.1 the indentation
pressure is increased by about 10%. No solution exists for an axially symmetric indenter
though one would expect the effect to be less marked. As a very crude approximation we
may express the indentation pressure p when the coefficient of friction is p by a relation
of the form
+
p =Po( 1 p cot e)
where po is the value for frictionless indentation and 6’ the semi-apical angle of the indenter.
For a Vickers diamond pyramid where the average value of 6’ is about 70 this gives
O,

+
p =PO( 1 0 . 4 ~ ) .
Consequently for a value of ~ 2 0 . 1 a, reasonable value for surfaces contaminated in the
atmosphere, the observed indentation pressure is about 4 % greater than the true value.
I n a later section we shall see that the friction can be very important in hardness
measurements at extremely small loads.
2.3. The stress-strain characteristics of metals
All the indentation hardness methods we have described are concerned with the perma-
nent impressions formed in the metal. Although, as we shall see, some elastic effects may
148 D.Tabor
be involved the overriding process is the plastic flow of metal around the indenter. This
implies that the mean pressure over the indenter is connected with the plastic rather than
the elastic properties of the metal. In what follows we shall in fact show that the hardness
is directly related to the plastic stress-strain characteristics of the metal.
We consider the behaviour of a rod of metal subjected to uniaxial tension. We apply a
given load and measure the extension of the rod. If the original length is I and the extension
is d l the ratio dl// is known as the linear or engineering strain E . We express the tensile
stress as the tensile force at any instant divided by the cross section of the specimen a t that
instant. This is the true stress S as distinct from the engineering or nominal stress in which
the force is divided by the initial cross section of the specimen. We need this quantity
since it provides a true measure of the stress producing plastic flow.

Tensile stress
s,.L
A

Section +d l

L i n e a r strain

Linear s t r a i n E

(b)
Figure 1. (a) Tensile specimen, (b) tensile experiment in which the true stress S (not the nominal
stress) is plotted against the linear strain E .

The results obtained when S is plotted against E are shown in figure 1. Over the range
OA the deformation is elastic. The strain is proportional to the stress and the deformation
is reversible. If the material is ductile, elastic deformation will proceed until a t some
critical stress Y,, known as the yield stress, the onset of permanent or plastic deformation
occurs. If we continue along the plastic curve there is generally an increase in stress with
deformation. In order to distinguish this from the initial yield stress Y,, the stress is now
generally referred to as the flow stress Y and its increase is known as work-hardening.
 The hardness of solids 149
Over a limited portion of the stress-strain curve the flow stress can be represented by a
relation of the form
Y=b@ (5)
where b is a constant for the metal and s is a work-hardening index, usually ranging from a
value 0 for metals which d o not work-harden to about 0.6 for annealed metals which are
capable of undergoing very marked work-hardening. A similar behaviour is observed if
the metal specimen is compressed uniaxially between ‘frictionless’ anvils. It must be
emphasized that equation (1) is a very crude relation, for it is clear that the plastic deforma-
tion curve does not start from the origin and Y does not increase indefinitely with increasing
strain ; there is a n asymptotic trend i n Y at high values of E . However, for our purposes
the simple relation is adequate.
If an indentation experiment is carried out on a metal with a stress-strain curve similar
to that shown in figure 1 the deformation associated with the plastic indentation process
will increase Y by varying amounts around the indentation. Before we can understand
how to cope with this it is clearly desirable to consider the indentation behaviour of a
metal which is not work-hardened by the indentation process itself. We may obtain such
a material by starting with a metal such as that shown in figure 1 and deforming it heavily
u p to, say. the point D and then removing the applied stress. The specimen recovers
elastically to the point 0’ where 00’ is the amount of permanent or plastic deformation.
If this work-hardened specimen is now subjected to a renewed tensile test with the point 0’
as the new origin, the stress-strain curve follows the dotted curve O’DE, i.e. the flow stress
Y along D E is almost constant. If an indentation is made in such a material the indentation
process will have a negligible effect on Y. Consequently we may expect a relation between
the indentation hardness and Y.

2.4. Indeiitatioii of materials of constant yield stress

A material obtained in the above way is a good approximation to the perfectly plastic
material much favoured by theoreticians i n studies of plastic deformation. Although in a
perfectly plastic material the uniaxial stress to produce plastic yielding is a constant, Y , this
only applies to the case of simple tension or compression in one direction. The stresses
around an indentation are very complex. It is therefore necessary to know how a n ideal
plastic material will deform under combined stresses. One hint to the solution of this
problem is provided by the observation that hydrostatic pressure itself plays n o part in
producing plastic flow. If, for example. a cylindrical specimen that would yield plastically
under a uniaxial tensile (or compressive) stress Y is subjected to a hydrostatic pressure of
amount Y or 2 Y or 3 Y no plastic flow occurs ; a superposed uniaxial tensile (or compressive)
stress Y must still be applied if plastic flow is to take place.
Now analysis shows that the only part of a stress field that is unaffected by hydrostatic
pressure is a shear stress. We conclude that plastic flow is associated with a critical resolved
shear stress. This is fully supported by microscopic studies which show that plastic
deformation is always accompanied by slip of atomic planes over one another. In its
analytical form this leads to two slightly different criteria for plastic flow: one is a maximum
shear-stress criterion (Tresca et a/.). the other a criterion of maximum shear-strain
energy (Huber et a/.). Both agree that hydrostatic stress plays n o role in plastic flow and
provide a means of determining the behaviour of material under complex stress situations.
The full analysis of the indentation process is far too involved to be given here but we may
summarize the main conclusion descriptively by saying that nearly two-thirds of the mean
pressure of contact is in the form of a hydrostatic pressure and plays n o part in producing
plastic flow; only one-third remains effective for this purpose (Hill 1950, Tabor 1951).
Consequently if p is the mean pressure between the indenter and the indentation +p2: Y or
150 D.Tabor
This is the basic equation for all indentation measurements. It is necessary to emphasize
at this stage the conditions under which it is valid. First the solid is assumed to be isotropic.
This implies that, in practice, the metal must be polycrystalline without any preferred
orientation. Secondly. it is assumed that it is fully work-hardened and has a constant yield
stress Y , i.e. there is no difference between yield stress and flow stress. In practice this means
that if the material work-hardens appreciably or shows an upper yield point, some other
approach must be used. Thirdly it is assumed that elastic deformation is unimportant.
This is generally true for most metals except very hard steels; it becomes increasingly
inaccurate for materials for which E/ Y (where E is Young's modulus) becomes less than
about 100. In that case elastic yielding of the hinterland imposes less constraint on the
plastic zone and p < 3 Y. We shall discuss these issues in greater detail in later sections of
this article.

2.5. Vickers hardness of materials of constant yield stress

The Vickers indenter is a square-based pyramid made of diamond in which the angle
between the opposite faces is 136 (figure 2). Plasticity theory suggests that the mean yield
O

pressure will depend somewhat on the angle of the indenter, but the relation betweenp and Y
will be close to that given in the above equation. This conclusion may be examined by
work-hardening metals as far as convenient, until a portion of the stress-strain curve is
I

Plastic zone
(0) (6) (C 1
Figure 2. (a) Standard Vickers diamond pyramid indenter, (b) the indentation it produces,
(c) the plastic flow around the indentation as deduced from theory.

reached where Y is substantially constant. Vickers indentations may then be made and
the mean pressure p over the indentations calculated. This is given by

p =- - ~
Load ~ - ~~

Projected area of indentation'

Typical results are given in table 1 ; it will be seen that for a wide range of materials
p = 3.2 Y. Since the Vickers hardness number DPH is defined as the ratio of the load to the
pyramidal area of indentation (see equation (4)) DPH is less than p by a numerical factor
depending on the shape of the pyramid. For the standard Vickers indenter this factor is
0.9272. Consequently,
DPH = 0.9272 x 3.2 Y Y 3 Y . (7)
Hence the Vickers hardness number of an ideal plastic material is roughly three times its
yield stress. Although many other factors are involved, it remains the basic relation
between the indentation hardness and the bulk properties of a metal.

2.6. Vickers hardness and ultimate tensile strength

Since an ideal plastic material under tensile conditions passes its maximum nominal
tensile stress Tu as soon as plastic yielding begins, Y is essentially the same as Tu. Hence
to a close approximation Y = T,=0.33 (DPH). In engineering circles the ultimate tensile
 The hardness of solids 151
stress is usually expressed in tons per square inch, whilst the Vickers hardness number is
expressed in kilograms per square millimetre. This reduces the conversion factor by
1.57; consequently
Tu (ton in-2)=0.21 (DPH kg mm-2). (8)
This relation is widely used as a means of determining ultimate tensile strengths from hardness
measurements for fully work-hardened materials. It should, however, be noted that this
relation is not applicable to materials. such as cast iron, which are brittle in tension.

Table 1. Relation between yield-stress Y and indentation pressure p (Vickers indenter)

Metal Y(kg "-2) ~(kgmm-2) PI y
Tellurium-lead 2.1 6.7 3.2
Aluminium 12.3 39.5 3.2
Copper 27 88 3.3
Mild steel 70 227 3.2

2 . I . Principle of geometric similarity

The principle of geometric similarity states that if two indentations are made of the same
geometric shape. then, whatever their size, the strain distribution and the stress distribution
around the indentations will be geometrically similar. This is valid whether the material is
fully work-hardened or undergoes work-hardening as a result of the indentation process,
but it is only valid if the grain-size is so small that the material can be considered macro-
scopically as being uniform and homogeneous. In its simplest terms the principle implies
that a large indentation is essentially a magnified picture of a small indentation, the strains
and hence the stresses being the same at any geometrically similar region. Consequently
the indentation yield pressure p , which is the mean pressure acting on the indenter, will be
the same whatever the size of the indentation. It follows that for a pyramidal (or conical)
indenter the hardness is independent of the size of the indentation. This is well borne out
in Vickers hardness measurements where the hardness is generally found to be independent
of the load.
We consider here two applications of this principle : the Vickers hardness of materials
which work-harden and the Rockwell hardness test.

2 . 8 . Vickers hardness of materials n,hich work-hardetz

With a material which can work-harden. the indentation process itself will produce
work-hardening, that is, it will produce an increase in the flow stress Y. With the Vickers
pyramidal indenter the plastic strains produced will vary from point to point so that Y
will also vary from point to point. A detailed analytical solution of the problem is not
possible but we may provide a very simple analysis in the following way. We assume that
there is a representative value of the flow stress Yr. which is related to the observed Vickers
hardness by the relation D P H = c Y r , where c again has the value of about 3. By a n
empirical method it is found that the indentation produces an average or representative
strain E r (corresponding to Yr) equivalent to an 8 % tensile strain. Hence, if on the known
tensile stress-strain curve of the metal we determine the flow stress for an additional 80,;
strain, the Vickers hardness value will be three times this value. Because of the principle
of geometric similarity, this additional strain will be the same whatever the size of the
indentation. It also turns out that the additional strain is roughly constant whatever the
initial state of work-hardening of the specimen. This is shown in table 2 for annealed
copper and steel specimens which were work-hardened by various strains €0 and had their
Vickers hardness measured. The flow stress at a strain of ( € 0 + 8) was determined from
their stress-strain curves and compared with the observed Vickers hardness values. The
agreement between the last two columns is fairly good. It should, of course, be borne in
152 D.Tabor
mind that the addition of linear strains is not strictly valid. Indeed a more detailed analysis
of these data by Voce (1951). using natural or logarithmic strains which are additive and a
more sophisticated type of relation for the stress-strain curve, gives even better agreement
than that recorded in table 2 .

Table 2. Relation between flow-stress Y and Vickers hardness number, for metals
which are work-hardened by the indentation process
Metal Initial ( € 0 + 8) Y (kg mni-') CY 0bserved
deformation ( OO) at strain of (kg mnir2) Vickers hard-
€0 ( C O T 8) F" c = 2.9 ness number
("") (kg mni-')
Mild steel 0 8 55 159 I56
6 14 62 176 177
10 18 66 190 187
13 21 67 194 193
25 33 73 21 1 209
C= 3.0
Annealed copper 0 8 15 45 39
6 14 20 60 58
12.5 20.5 23.3 70 69
17.5 25.5 25 75 76
25 33 26.6 80 81
More recently Dugdale (1958) has analysed the relation between hardness and flow stresses
in much greater detail. His results show that in order to obtain consistent agreement a
very much more complicated treatment is necessary. However. our greatly simplified
analysis shows that hardness values obtained with the Vickers indenter provide a measure of
the plastic flow stress of the metal as augmented by the indentation process itself.

2.9. The Rockwell test using a cotiical itidetiter

The indenter is first located on the specimen with a 'minor' load of 10 kg. The depth
measuring dial indicator is set at zero. The 'major' load (usually 100 o r 150 kg) is then
applied for a specified short period and then removed. The indenter. under its minor load.
rests at the bottom of the indentation and the dial indicator now records the Rockwell
hardness number.
The basic connection between the Rockwell hardness number and the indentation
hardness of the material is easily derived if we make a few simplifying assumptions. We
ignore the presence of the spherical tip and assume that the indenter is a perfect cone.
We ignore the effect of the 'minor' load and assume that the depth is essentially the same
as if only the major load had been used. Finally Lve ignore pile-up or sinking-in of material
around the indentation (see below) as well as shallowing of the indentation due to elastic
recovery. Elastic shallowing can be particularly marked with hard steels (see later).
For a conical indenter the principle of geometric similarity applies so that the mean
indentation pressure p for a given material is independent of the load. If d is the diameter
of the indentation and a constant load is used i n testing various metals, p = k 1 / ' d 2 . The
depth of penetration t is - i d c o t 8.n.here 0 is the semi-angle of the cone. Consequently
t = k z p - l 1 2 for a given cone. This means that the depth is smaller for larger values of p ,
that is, for harder materials. I n order to provide a scale in which large-scale readings are
associated with harder materials, the depth-measuring dial-gauge is run in reverse, that is,
the depth of penetration is subtracted from a fixed zero value, say C. The observed
Rockwell depth RC is then

The apical angle of the cone is not widely different from that of the Vickers pyramidal
indenter and the indentation pressure is roughly the same in both cases. We may therefore
 The hardness of solids 153
put p equal to the Vickers hardness DPH and so obtain a relation between the Rockwell Rc
scale and the Vickers hardness values.
Rc = C - kz (DPH)-'/z. (9)
A typical calibration curve is given in figure 3. I n view of the simplifying assumptions
made the agreement is surprisingly good.

60 i

I I 1 I I I I 1 I ,
100 300 500 700 900
Vlckers hardness (kg rnm-*)

Figure 3. Comparison of Rockwell C hardness values and Vickers hardness. -Experimental

results, ----curve calculated according to the theoretical relation Rc= 110 (1-12.4 (DPH)-1/2).

2.10. Brinell hardness measurements of fully work-hardened metals

We consider first the indentation of a fully work-hardened metal specimen (i.e. of constant
yield stress Y ) by a hard sphere. At small loads the surface is deformed elastically the
maximum shear stress occurring at a region within the metal a little way below the centre
of the contact region. At some critical load this exceeds the critical resolved shear stress
of the metal and a small amount of plastic flow occurs within the larger elastic hinterland
(figure 4(a)). The first permanent indentation is very small and the contact pressure is of
the order p z 1.1 Y. As the load is increased the indentation grows in size, the plastic zone
grows and the contact pressure increases. By the time the plastic zone has reached the
free surface and has completely embraced the region around the indenter the contact
pressure has reached a value of about p z 3 Y (figure 4(b)). The behaviour now resembles
that of a conical or pyramidal indenter so that the hardness is nearly the same as in a

W W

(0) (6)

Figure 4. Deformation around a spherical indenter (a) onset of plastic flow below the surface,
(6) at a higher load 'full plasticity' is reached and flow surrounds the indenter and extends to the
free surface.
2*
154 D.Tabor

300/ 'Elastic

3- Full plasticity ,b/y=24

-a-----

.
I,
Q
2-

- -- - I_
-- -- --
I .Onset of plasticity p l y = 1.1

Approx. volues of U h"

0.01 0.02 0.04 0.05 0.10
I IO 100 1000
W (kq)
(b)
Figure 5 . (a) Indentation pressure p as a function of load W for a hard steel ball of diameter
10 mm pressed into the surface of a fully work-hardened mild-steel specimen (yield stress
Y= 77 kg "-2). (6) The same results plotted a s p / Y against In W. This figure also shows that
the radius a of the indentation increases by a factor of about 10 as the deformation passes from the
onset of plasticity to full plasticity.

Vickers test. I n fact at this stage the hardness appears to be nearer 2.8 Y than 3 Y and this
seems to be generally true for spherical indenters. As figure 5 shows, the condition of full
plasticity is reached at a load about 300 times that at which the onset of plastic deformation
occurs. This corresponds to an increase in the diameter of the indentation by a factor of
about ten. The hardness remains constant at higher loads.
The difference between the onset of plastic indentation and full plasticity has a direct
bearing on the deformation of the indenter itself. Suppose the sphere has a yield o r flow
stress Y Band the metal a yield or flow stress Yir. As indentation of the metal proceeds the
contact pressure increases until it reaches a value plr of about 2.8 Y M , If at this stage the
pressure exceeds 1.1 YB, the ball indenter itself will begin to deform plastically. Conse-
quently the ball will be permanently flattened if
pni=2.8Y>r> 1.1 YB
i.e. if
 The hardness of solids 155
o r if
1
P.\I 5>. 2 PB

where p~ is the yield pressure or hardness of the ball in the condition of full plasticity.
This means that if the ball has a Vickers hardness of about 900 kg mm-2 (a reasonable value
for ball bearing steel) it should not be used to indent metals of hardness greater than about
400 kg mm-2.

2.1 1. Brinell hardness of materials ,i.hich work-harden

I n a later section we shall consider the growth of the plastic zone in greater detail. In
what follows we shall assume that we are always operating in the rCgime of full plasticity.
If we indent a metal which work-hardens using a spherical indenter we find that the hardness
increases with load. Unlike the pyramidal indenter used in the Vickers test the hardness
is not independent of the size of the indentation. This is because indentations of various
sizes formed with a given spherical indenter are not geometrically similar. In contrast to
the pyramidal o r conical indentations, a large indentation produced by a given sphere
involves greater plastic strains than a small one, a corresponding increase in the effective
flow stress, and hence a n appreciable increase in the observed hardness. Thus the hardness
is larger the bigger the indentation. Although this means that the Brinell hardness is not
a single-valued quantity, its variation with load provides additional information about the
properties of the metal.
Let us assume that the mean pressure p over the indentation is related to some representa-
tive value of the flow stress Y , by a relation of the type p = c Yr, where c again has a value of
about 3. If d is the chordal diameter of the indentation and D the diameter of the indenter,
the shape of the indentation is determined by the dimensionless parameters d / D . Thus the
strains must be determined by this parameter. These will vary from point to point but we
may again assume that there exists a representative strain cy corresponding to Yr. A
detailed study shows that to a first approximation E r is a linear function of d/ D. As a first
approximation it may be written as

-
N
1
E
E
0-
Y
U

Q
-

50-
1; 20
N

Equivalent strain ('/a)

5 10 15
I I
I I
I
I
I I
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
0'1 D
Figure 6. Indentation hardness p of annealed copper as function of size parameter of indentation
( d / D ) . The experimental hardness values are shown as circles and crosses. This may be converted
into the stress-strain curve by putting the effective strain equal to 20(d/D)% and the flow stressequal
to p/2.8. The full line is the true stress-strain curve obtained from 'frictionless' compression
experiments.
156 D. Tabor
The indentation pressure will be a numerical factor (of the order of 3) times the flow stress Yr
corresponding to the indentation giving a representative plastic strain Er. If, therefore,
we carry out a series of indentations at increasing loads and plot p against d / D we may
reconstruct the true stress-strain curve of the metal. We convert the d / D values into the
effective strain using equation (IO) and the contact pressure p into flow stress by dividing
by 2.8. A typical result is shown in figure 6. This is a rough but practical way of determi-
ning (over the first 20 of strain) the stress-strain curve of small specimens which cannot
be machined into tensile test-pieces.
This may be taken one stage further. If we assume that the stress-strain curve is given
by equation (5) we may write
Yr=b
Hence
p=po (g
where p is the mean contact pressure and PO a suitable constant. Since, for an applied
load W , p =4 W / r d z , it follows from equation (1 I ) that

or in the form that this was first derived experimentally by Meyer

where A is a constant and n is a constant known as the Meyer index (Meyer 1908). It
follows, as Meyer showed. that if the load W is plotted against the diameter d of the indenta-
tion on log-log coordinates we should obtain a straight line of slope n. This is in fact so
over a very wide range of experimental conditions and materials. The Meyer analysis
yields values of n which lie between 2 for fully work-hardened metals and about 2.6 for fully
annealed metals. The above treatment shows why this is so and connects it with the
work-hardening index of the metal. Of course this analysis assumes the validity of the
power-law relation betueen stress and strain. It is therefore of limited applicability;
nevertheless it provides a reasonably reliable means of assessing the work-hardening
characteristics of a metal.

2.12. The hardness of iiietals showing arz upper j,ield point

With metals which show a marked upper yield stress the hardness will depend on the
flow properties of the material after it has been subjected to several per cent strain. Conse-
quently the hardness will not correlate with the upper yield stress but with the lower yield
stress (flow stress) at some appropriate value of strain (Dugdale 1958).

2,13. Piling-up and sinking-in

The simple theory of plastic indentation leads to two general predictions. The first is the
relation between the indentation pressure and the flow stress : this has been discussed fully
in the preceding sections. The second is the pattern of plastic flow around the indenter.
For an ideal rigid-plastic solid, hvhere elastic deformations are negligible and the yield
stress is constant, the displaced material flows up around the indenter and forms a raised
portion close to the indenter surface. This behaviour is, in fact, observed in the indentation
of work-hardened metals: there is a ‘pile-up’ of metal around the edge of the indenter.
With a spherical indenter the pile-up is symmetrical (see figure 7(a)). With a pyramidal
indenter the metal is freer to move up the centre of the pyramidal faces and is more con-
strained at the edges : as a result it moves up further at the centre of the faces and so produces
 The hardness of solids 157

PlOStlC flow

(0) (b)
Figure 7. Deformation and flow of metal around an indenter for a work-hardened specimen.
(a) For a spherical indenter there is a raised ridge or pile-up of material near the edge of the indenta-
tion, (6) for a pyramidal indenter the upward flow is easier along the centre of the pyramidal faces:
this gives a barrel-shaped indentation.

PlOStlC flow

PlOStlC flow
(a1 (6) ( C ) (d)
Figure 8. Deformation and flow of metal around an indenter for an annealed specimen. (a), (6)
and (cj for a spherical indenter sinking-in occurs near the edge of the indentation, (dj for a pyramidal
indentation the impression acquires a pincushion shape.

a barrel-shaped, instead of a square, indentation (see figure 7(b)). Clearly a small correction
must be applied in calculating the Vickers hardness from the length of the diagonal.
With highly annealed metals the behaviour is strikingly different. When the indenter
first begins t o sink into the metal the material adjacent t o the indenter becomes markedly
work-hardened relative t o the undeformed metal farther away (figure 8(a)). As a result,
when the indenter sinks in farther, it carries with it the surrounding metal which acts as a
sort of enlarged indenter and deforms the metal adjacent t o it (figure 8(b)). The result is

t
Pile up Pile up
A

P i l e up
Pile up

t 1
(U) (6)
Figure 9. Schematic diagram showing indentation of rock salt with a pyramidal indenter; arrows
represent directions of easy flow. This leads to a pincushion-shaped indentation in (a) and a
barrel-shaped indentation in (bj. Piling-up occurs in the same region in both cases.
158 D.Tabor
that the displaced metal always appears t o be moving out farther and farther away from the
indenter itself. This leads to a depression of the metal immediately adjacent to the indenter
and a slight piling-up some distance away (figure 8(c)). The same effect occurs with the
Vickers indenter, but again the sinking-in is more marked at the centre of the pyramid faces ;
this leads to the characteristic pincushion type of indentation (figure 8(d)). This type of
indentation is commonly observed with polymers. Here again a correction must be applied
in calculating the Vickers hardness from the length of the diagonal.
With single crystals the behaviour is greatly complicated by the fact that plastic flow
occurs only on a limited number of slip planes and that the critical resolved shear stress
may differ greatly from one slip system to another, that is, there is a marked anisotropy in
plastic properties. A typical example obtained on the (100) face of rock salt using a
pyramidal indenter is shown schematically in figure 9. A pincushion impression is formed
for one orientation of the indenter, a barrel-shaped impression if the pyramidal edges are
rotated through 45". The rock salt flows more easily along the directions marked with
arrows and produces piling up in this direction whatever the orientation of the indenter.
Similar results are generally observed with crystals of metals (Buckle 1959, Dyer 1961,
Courtel 1961), and minerals (Bergsmann 1944). As we shall see below anisotropy of flow
is of general occurrence in single crystals.

3. Size effects in the hardness of metals: anisotropy of single crystals

In this section we shall discuss three main size effects : first the influence of grain size on
hardness ; secondly the behaviour of single crystals and their anisotropic hardness properties ;
thirdly the effect of reducing the size of the indentation by working at very small loads, i.e.
microhardness measurements.

3.1. Grain size

In the course of a study of the stress-strain properties of mild steels of various grain
sizes Hall (1951) observed that the critical shear stress o in the lower-yield rCgime depended
on grain size in a relatively simple way. If I is the diameter of the grain
U = U0 + cy1 /-I12 (14)
when uo is the yield stress of a large single crystal.+ This increase is due to the resistance
exerted by the grain boundary to the passage of slip from one grain to the next. It may be
explained in terms of the stresses exerted by a pile-up of dislocations at the boundary.
In a more recent paper Jindall and Armstrong (1967) confirmed this result and in addition
showed that the factors influencing the magnitude of the effect are the number of slip
systems, the shear modulus and dislocation locking within the individual grains. With
70: 30 brass cy1 remains constant with strain, but with pure metals a1 tends to decrease
with increasing strain.
If hardness is a measure of the yield stress we should expect (as suggested by Hall (1954))
that the hardness would follow a similar law
p =po + a t / - 1 2. (15)
Some typical indentation hardness results by Bassett and Davis (1919) and Babyak and
Rhines (1960) where the indentation covered a large number of grains are reproduced in
figure 10; they show that this relation is well obeyed. Jindall and Armstrong (1969) have
studied this in greater detail and confirm the general validity of equation (15). However,
there is not an exact correlation between equation (14) for U and equation (15) f o r p . This
is not surprising since the strains produced by the indentation process will have a disparate
influence on 00 and 31.
It appears that the increase in hardness with decreasing grain size is a genuine effect which
may be described by a relation of the type given above. However, some materials such as

f Petch (1953) observed a similar dependence of fracture strength on crystal size.

 The hardness of solids 159
I (cml
0 I 005 002 001 0005 0 002

b '1/

i
5 IO 15 20
I-'' (cm- 2 )

Figure 10. Brinell hardness plotted against I for polycrystalline brass where 1 is the mean
diameter of the crystallites. Results 0 Bassett and Davis (1919), C Babyak and Rhines (1960).

a-uranium behave in a far more complicated way. Taplin (1966) suggests that this is
because this material twins very readily under deformation and the twin composition planes
themselves provide barriers of a type similar to those provided by grain boundaries.

3.2. Hardness of single crystals : anisotropic behaciour

As we saw in earlier sections, a fully work-hardened polycrystalline specimen of a pure
metal behaves like a classical isotropic plastic solid : its hardness is approximately three
times the uniaxial yield stress. A single crystal of such a material has a n extremely low
yield stress, yet the indentation hardness is not markedly less than that of the fully worked
material. For example with aluminium the indentation hardness is of order 20 kg mm-2
(yield stress about 1 kg mm-2) whereas for a work-hardened polycrystalline specimen it is
about 50 kg mm-'2 (yield stress about 16 kg "-2). Indeed Westbrook (1958) has suggested
that for single crystals of the rock salt structure
p230Y. (16)
This may be due partly to a very rapid work-hardening rate in the single crystal. An
additional factor appears to be the complex nature of the deformation around an indenter
and the limited number of slip planes along which plastic flow can occur. The material
is forced to deform in certain directions by the shape of the indenter and this reveals the
constraints imposed by the slip system on the yielding of the crystal.
Anisotropy in hardness is very conveniently studied using a Knoop diamond indenter
since it produces indentations which are seven times as long as they are wide (see
figure 11). Earlier work by Daniels and Dunn (1949), Partridge and Roberts (1963) and
Garfinkle and Garlick (1968) showed very clearly that anisotropy in hardness is determined
by crystal structure and the primary slip systems. Figure 12 for example shows similar
results more recently obtained by Brookes et al. on the (001) plane of MgO. The direction
of the long axis of the indenter was first oriented parallel to a [loo] direction and the hardness
measured. It was then rotated through various angles and the hardness (on fresh portions
of the crystal surface) determined. The results show that in the [l IO] direction the hardness
is very much greater than in the [loo] direction. Similar results (though not so marked)
are observed on LiF which has the same structure and slip system. However, on the (100)
face of a single crystal of C a F 2 (fluorspar structure) the maximum hardness is in the [loo]
direction, the minimum in the [ 1 IO] direction the values differing by about 20 %.
The anisotropy must clearly depend on the way in which the various slip systems in the
bulk of the crystals respond to the applied load. If a tensile load F a c t s along the axis of a
cylindrical monocrystalline specimen of area A , rotation of the slip planes will generally
160 D.Tabor

Figure 11. (a) Knoop indenter, (b) type of indentation produced. The indentation is in the form
of an elongated pyramidal impression, its length being seven times its width. The Knoop indenter
is particularly suited for studying anisotropy in hardness. It also generally gives more satisfactory
indentations in brittle solids than the Vickers indenter.

- I CIOOI CIIOI coioi Lilo1 CToo3

I
E 800
I
I
I
I I I

400
Y
I I I I I

0 60 I20 I80
Orientation ( d e g )
Figure 12. Knoop hardness values obtained on the (001) face of a single crystal of MgO, as a
function of the orientation of the long diagonal of the indenter. The hardness in the (110)
direction is far larger than in the (100) direction.
occur. If h is the angle between the stress axis and the slip direction and +
the angle
between the stress axis and the normal to the slip plane, the critical resolved shear stress
producing slip on the plane is given by the well-known Schmid and Boas relation
F
r = - cos h cos +. (17)
A
Daniels and Dunn (1949) suggested that the main factor involved in indentation was the
stretching of the crystal as the indenter penetrated the surface. They therefore considered
the crystal to be made of a whole series of cylinders lying parallel to the steepest slope of the
indenter faces and subjected to tension. The constraint opposing rotation during indenta-
tion depends on the angle x between the face of an adjacent indenter-face and the axis of
rotation of the slip system. They suggest that the effective resolved stress capable of
producing plastic yielding is given by

On this view the higher the value of re the more readily slip will occur, i.e. the softer the
material will appear to be. This relation explains some but not all of their data. In a
later paper Feng and Elbaum (1958) and Garfinkle and Garlick (1968) assumed that the
effective deformation stress was a compressive stress normal to the indenter faces. This
again could not explain all the observed phenomena for crystals of different structures.
 The hardness of solids 161
Recently Brookes et al. have re-examined the analysis of Daniels and Dunn and have
shown that the effective resolved stress is determined not only by x but by another angle y
which represents the angle between the slip direction and a horizontal axis lying parallel
to the indenter-face. They deduce that the effective resolved shear stress is
F
T~ = A cos h cos +(cos x + sin y). (19)
All these angles are determined by the geometry of the indenter and the slip systems in the
crystals. Figure 13 shows the calculated values of 7 8 obtained for the (100) face of a crystal
with a rock salt structure where the slip system is {loo) (ITO). In this figure 7 8 is the

:-
01
0 40 80 120 160
Azimuthal angle (deg)
Figure 13. Calculated value of the effective resolved shear stress T e around a Knoop indenter
pressed into a crystal with the rock salt structure. The greatest value is in the (100) direction so
that this should be the softest direction (compare with figure 12).
average for all the slip planes in the crystal. It is seen that the greatest value is in the [loo]
direction so that this would be the softest direction; the lowest value is in the [110] direction
so that this would be the hard direction. The results agree well with figure 11 though it
should be remarked that the absolute values are not always in close agreement. For
example the hard directions in MgO are twice as hard as the soft ; in LiF only 20 % as hard.
Nevertheless the broad pattern is well substantiated. Similar agreement is obtained for the
fluorspar structure and for hcp crystals. In the latter case the authors show that for those
materials for which the slip system is { ITOO) (1 120: (e.g. Ti, Zr) the hardest direction on the
(1700) face is the (11?0), whereas if the slip system is {OOOlj (1 120) (e.g. Mg, Zn, CO) this
is the softest direction, the hardest direction being the (0001).
The analysis of Brookes et al. is based on a number of assumptions concerning the
factors which produce slip. They emphasize the tension on subsurface material whereas
most indentation studies stress the role of compressive forces normal to the indenter faces.
It is true that the maximum resolved shear stress for a tensile axis parallel t o the steeper
slope of the indenter face varies in almost the same way as the compressive stress normal to
the indenter face: but the agreement is not exact. Brookes er al. have found that the
observed anisotropy appears to agree better with the calculated tensile rather than the
compressive stress and since this is at variance with current views it merits further examina-
tion. In addition, they use a direct averaging to find Te, whereas one might expect the
unfavourable orientations to be more heavily weighted. Nevertheless the general agree-
ment with observation is very satisfactory and emphasizes the relation of the indenter-
geometry to the slip-systems in the crystal.
3 . 3 . Microhardness indentation hardness at very small loads
Microhardness measurements are usually carried out with loads below about 50 g.
I n order to avoid the problems of ‘full plasticity’, it is usual to use a Vickers pyramid
3*
162 D.Tabor
indenter with a very carefully profiled tip. This has two further advantages : first it gives
far more clearly defined boundaries than a spherical indenter ; secondly it gives geometrically
similar indentations so that if the material is of uniform hardness the hardness should be
constant however small the load. In the load range used the indentation diameter is of
order 1-10 micrometres. In some cases it is found that the hardness diminishes a t very
small loads but this is probably due to vibration which becomes increasingly important as
the load is reduced. More generally there is an increase in hardness a t small loads. This
may be due to the method of preparing the specimen since the surface layers may be
hardened by the polishing process (Bowden and Tabor 1964). Again some workers have
suggested that there is elastic recovery of the indentation diameter when the load is removed
but on grounds of geometric similarity this should not depend on the size of the indentation.
Careful experiments described by Buckle (1959, 1960) and by Mott (1957) suggest that a n
increase in hardness at small loads is genuine and they attribute this, in somewhat different
terms, to the limited number of dislocations in the small volumes being deformed.
If indentations could be made in a volume so small that it contained no dislocations we
should expect the hardness to approach the theoretical value of a perfect crystal. If the
shear modulus is p this should correspond to a critical shear stress of the order & p whereas
for a pure crystal containing dislocations it is 10 or 100 times smaller. This would imply
that a dislocation-free crystal should have a hardness 10 to 100 times greater than one
containing dislocations. However, as pointed out above, the hardness of single crystals
is greatly affected by the constraints imposed by the limited number of slip planes. All
that one can say is that a very large difference in hardness should be observed. One might
in fact expect the perfect crystal to have a hardness comparable with that of a fully work-
hardened specimen where dislocation entanglement is so marked that the yield properties
resemble those of a material which contains no dislocations.
A study along these lines has recently been carried out by Gane (1970). In most of his
experiments, in order to avoid the complications due to oxide films, he used single crystals
of gold. They were electropolished and then annealed. The indenter consisted of a fine
conical tip of tungsten such as those used in field-ion microscopy and had a tip radius of the
order of lOOOA. The indenter was supported on a delicate galvanometer movement so
that, simply by varying the current, loads ranging from 1 g down to 1 mg could be applied.
These loads would be expected to give indentations 10 to 100 times smaller than those
obtained in conventional microhardness measurements. The whole system was mounted
in a scanning electron microscope so that the indentation could be viewed as it occurred.
The results fall into two classes. In one it was found that below a certain load n o
indentation o r noticeable surface distortion occurred : above this load the indenter suddenly
penetrated the gold surface. The local yield pressure p when indentation commenced was
of order 450 kg mm-2 (see figure 14). Beyond this point the hardness fell rapidly with
increasing penetration. At this stage the indentation had a diameter of about 1 micrometre.
From the geometry of the indentation the representative strain could be deduced and the
results are plotted in figure 15. It is seen that for a strain of about 20 % t h e hardness is of the
order of 80 kg mm-2 which is perhaps twice the macroscopic hardness of a gold single crystal.
The behaviour resembles that of a material possessing an upper yield stress followed by a
relatively small lower yield stress. If the hardness is assumed to be about 57 where T is the
critical resolved shear stress, this gives for the maximum hardness a value of 72: 90 kg mm-2
which is about Gap.
The second class of behaviour was one in which no upper yield was observed. The
hardness was almost constant at about 80 kg mm-2 (broken curve in figure IS).
Similar results were obtained if a fine gold tip was pressed on to a hard flat anvil. In
some cases a n upper yield was observed ( p 2 450 kg "-2) followed by a rapid drop ; in
other cases a low hardness value was observed even a t the smallest loads.
Detailed studies show that the two classes depend on the presence o r absence of a thin
surface film formed by polymerization of the vapours present in the microscope. If the
film is present the high hardness is observed : if absent no upper yield occurs. This is not
 The hardness of solids 163

Figure 14. Scanning microscope studies of microindentations in a single crystal of gold using a
fine tungsten tip as indenter. (a) Indenter resting in an indentation already formed with a Vickers
pyramidal diamond at a load of 10 g. (b) Indenter pressing on surface at a load just insufficient to
cause indentation. Contact pressure is about 450 kg mm-2. (c) Indenter at slightly higher load
suddenly penetrates. Contact pressure is about 80 kg mm-2. Shape of indentation corresponds
to an effective strain of about 20% (see figure 15).

due to the strengthening effect of the film but to its lubricating action. At the edges of the
contact region very high stress-concentrations occur. If these cannot be relieved they will
generate dislocations and plastic flow will take place without difficulty. The material will
behave as though it contained dislocations and the hardness is of the same order as, though
somewhat greater than, the ‘ordinary’ bulk hardness. This is the situation when the surfaces
are clean. In the presence of a lubricating film these stresses are relieved and the metal is
able to withstand very much higher stresses before flow occurs.
In another series of experiments Gane constructed a miniature form of the apparatus so
that it could operate in the field of a transmission electron microscope. In most of these
experiments a fine metal tip was pressed against a hard platten. Similar results were
obtained. If the tip was fine enough the electron beam could penetrate the metal and show
the generation of dislocations in the tip as ‘blunting’ proceeded.
In conventional microhardness measurements where a fine pointed indenter is used it is
probable that the initial contact stresses before yielding occurs (in theory they would be
infinite if the tip were perfectly sharp) are able to generate dislocations even in perfect
portions of the crystal. Consequently the hardness will be comparable with that of the
bulk material. It may be somewhat higher but not more than a factor of two or so. With
164 D.Tabor
500-
4/20

400-
E
E
0.
\
Y
v

300- 4/30
v1
M
E
c
c 200-
.-
-d
d50
0
.
I
c

=
W
100- 4/100

I I
0-
20 40
Effective strain (O/o)

Figure 15. Indentation hardness of a single crystal of annealed gold as a function of strain intro-
duced by the indentation process itself. Full line, when a surface film is present; broken line, in the
absence of a surface film. The maximum hardness has a value of about 450 kg mm-2 and resembles
an upper-yield point: the bulk hardness in air is of order 30-40 kg mm-2.

a rounded tip and a surface film which can relieve stress concentrations in the contact zone
hardness values approaching the theoretical value for a perfect crystal may be observed.

4. Indentation hardness of elasto-plastic solids

4.1. The basic concepts
All the previous sections have ignored elastic effects in the indentation process. We now
consider their role. In 1957 Samuels and Mulhearn observed that in some cases the
deformation below a Vickers indenter did not show the outward flow of metal predicted by
plasticity theory but resembled the deformation that would be expected if there was radial
flow of the metal away from the indenter. In 1964 Marsh followed this up by suggesting
that this was due to elastic yielding of the hinterland, the deformation resembling the
expansion of a spherical cavity into a plastic-elastic solid by an internal (hydrostatic)
pressure. If the indentation has a chordal diameter d he assumed that there is a spherical
core of diameter d (radius a = $ d ) over which the indentation pressure p acts. The plastic
strains from this zone gradually diminish as one moves into the bulk of the specimen until
they match the elastic strains in the hinterland at some radius c. This problem has already
been analysed by Hill (1950) who showed that the pressure p at which the cavity expands
depends on the ratio of Y to the elastic modulus. If E is Young's modulus and v Poisson's
ratio he gives

Assuming for simplicity that v = 4 this leads to

Y-
- 0.40 + 23 In
-
E
Y'
In a series of careful experiments with a variety of materials Marsh found that his hardness
results followed a pattern very close to that of equation (21) but the constants were a little
different, This may be because the deformation in hardness experiments is not exactly
identical with the expansion of a hemispherical core but the better theory in 54.2 provides
 The liardtiess of solids 165
Mean c o n t a c t pressure toad
I

l-d-,l f l l 31
1 v

2L ,//'
L
Onset of
a 1 plasticity
.- ...
, 1-
...

'.. Plastic /

--___-
/
,,
Elastic-plastic boundary I -

1 10 100 1000
Elastic hinterland EIY
(a> (b)
Figure 16. (a)The indentation process in an ideal elastic-plastic solid regarded as the expansion
of a hemispherical core, (b) the variation of indentation pressure p with the ratio E/ Y where E is
Young's modulus and Y the yield stress. Results deduced by Marsh (1964) for a Vickers indenter.
The horizontal broken lines also represent approximate limits for a spherical indenter.
a different explanation. For a Vickers indenter Marsh's results fitted the relation
E
Y-
-0.07 $0.6 111 r. (22)
The variation of p / Y with the ratio E/ Y given by equation (22)is shown in figure 16(b). It is
seen that when EIY is small. say 10. p is only 1.5Y. This corresponds to a very 'elastic'
material which is able to accommodate the plastic strains and so reduces the constraint on
flow. This represents the behaviour of many plastics. For E/ Y-20, p = 1.7 to 2 Y : this
corresponds to the behaviour of glasses. For E/ Y greater than about 150 the ratio p / Y
is greater than 3 .
4 . 2 . The effect of indenter sliupe
This analysis shows that for conical and pyramidal indenters of large apical angle the
plastic yield pressure depends on the ratio € / Y . The behaviour resembles the radial
expansion of a hemispherical core. If, however, the semi-angle of the cone or pyramid is
less than about 50" the mode of deformation is different and is much closer to that of a
plastic-rigid metal. The metal is 'cut' by the indenter and the displaced material is pushed
up the sides of the indenter. For a spherical indenter the behaviour, as mentioned earlier,
is different. The onset of permanent deformation occurs when p z 1.1 Y. As the load is
increased the size of the plastic indentation increases, the plastic zone grows until finally
the whole of the material around the indentation is plastic.
A similar treatment to that given by Marsh has been described by Hirst and Howse (1969)
for a wedge-shaped indenter. They treat the flow process as the radial expansion of a
cylindrical core and obtain results resembling those of figure 16. The best analysis of the
whole problem is due to Johnson (1970). He points out that the radial displacement of
particles lying on the elastic-plastic boundary during a n increment of penetration must
accommodate the volume of material displaced by the indenter during this incremental
movement. In this way he shows that the indentation process may be described in terms
of the semi-angle Q of the indenter (or by the ratio u / R for a spherical indenter). The
parameters now plotted are p i Y against E cot 0:' Y or E ( a / R ) /Y and the results for pyramidal,
conical and spherical indenters all lie on a single curve. For a conical or pyramidal
indenter. equation (20) becomes

This is plotted in figure 17 and is probably the most useful indentation curve that has, as
yet, been derived. It is interesting to note that this may also be used to describe the
166 D.Tabor

3t Punch 8-90'

Lower limit o f validity

I 10 100 1000
E/Y tan 0
Figure 17. Variation of indentation pressure p with the E/ Y tan 0 for a conical indenter where B
is the semi-apical angle of the cone. Full line, theoretical curve due to Johnson (1970); dotted
line, experimental results due to Marsh appropriately displaced (see figure 16(6)) on the assumption
that a Vickers pyramid is roughly equivalent to a cone of O = 70 .

behaviour of a spherical indenter, if cot 0 is replaced by a / R . For example it is seen that

full plasticity ( p z 3 Y ) is reached for a value of the horizontal ordinate about 10 times
greater than that at which the onset of plasticity occurs ( p z 1.1 Y ) . For a given material
( E l y is a constant) and for an indenter of fixed radius R this corresponds to a IO-fold
increase in a, the radius of the indentation. This result agrees very well with the results
already described in figure 5(b).
It is interesting to consider the limits of any hardness theory based on the idea of an
expanding hemispherical core. If we go back to Hill's original analysis we find that the
pressure in the core. when the plastic-elastic boundary is at distance c. is given by

This implies that the elastic-plastic boundary coincides with the boundary of the plastic
core (c = a) at p = $ Y and below this contact-pressure the analysis is no longer valid. In the
region where p 2 3 Y , c 2 3 . 2 and
~ the elastic yielding of the hinterland apparently no longer
influences the plastic flow of the material. The contact pressure now corresponds to the
classical theory for a rigid-plastic solid.

5. Indentation hardness and creep of metals. Hot hardness

5 . 1 . Experimental procedure
I n industry it is often desirable to determine the strength properties of a new alloy o r
composite at elevated temperatures. The proper procedure is to prepare a tensile specimen
and carry out a stress-strain experiment at a specified strain rate at a series of temperatures.
Such procedures are time-consuming, involve complex apparatus and demand the fabrica-
tion of a relatively large specially shaped specimen. It is much easier to carry out a hardness
measurement which demands simple apparatus and a small specimen with a flat polished
surface. The hardness may be determined in a static experiment by loading the indenter
and measuring the size of the indentation after the experiment is completed (Westbrook
1958). Alternatively (Fitzgerald 1963) a dynamic method may be used (see below): a hard
sphere is dropped on to the specimen and its height of rebound determined.
Such measurements show that the hardness depends on the temperature : it also depends
on the time of loading. Some results obtained under static loading conditions at a constant
loading time are shown i n figure 18 and it is seen that they fall into a simple pattern. A t
 The hardtiess of solids 167
h 100-

50-
m
5
E 20-
0)

-0
’j 10-
c

.-6
5-
Y
0
c)

-0
2-
c
- ,
I1 ’ I I 1 1 I I ’ I I

Figure 18. Indentation hardness p as a function of homologous temperature TITm for copper,
aluminium and zinc. T,, melting point; T, temperature of experiment on absolute scale.
Constant time of loading. (From data by Westbrook 1959.)
temperatures below about 0’5Tm (where Tm is the absolute melting point) the hardness falls
slightly with increasing temperature : above 0.5 Tm there is a much more rapid softening of
the material. This is because self diffusion becomes much more important and the material
shows relatively marked creep.
The static method is clearly more informative since the hardness diminishes with loading-
time and this provides additional insight into the softening process. Atkins et a/. (1966)
have studied this in some detail. Indentation was carried out between crossed wedges o r
crossed cylinders of the material since this eliminated the problem of choosing a n indenter
hard enough and sufficiently stable chemically to withstand the very high temperatures used
(up to 2000°C). The apparatus was maintained in a vacuum of about IO-5 torr to reduce
oxidation but an argon atmosphere vYould have been equally satisfactory.

IO 1500 O C (0.58 Tm)

1
700 1100 1500 1900
Temperature (‘Cl
Figure 19. (a) Mutual indentation hardness of crossed wedges of single crystals of MgO as a
function of temperature (constant loading time). Ductile behaviour is observed above about
l O O o T . ( b ) Mutual indentation hardness of single crystals of MgO in the ductile temperature
range as a function of loading time t.

Some typical results are shown in figure 19 for single crysta!s of MgO. Below 900°C
the material behaved in a brittle manner; above 1000 ’C it showed no cracking and indented
in a ductile manner. Similar results were observed for polycrystalline SiSNa. In general
single crystals of a given material behabed like polycrystalline specimens even if they
contained some porosity; this is because. at higher temperatures. after compaction of the
168 D.Tabor
porous material has occurred around the indentation self-diffusion dominates the flow
properties (Atkins and Tabor, 1966).

5 . 2 . Hardness and creep aboi’e 0.5 T ,

I n this temperature range, if tensile-creep experiments are carried out at constant stress s,
the steady-state or viscous creep may be expressed by a relation of the form

i s= ~ l s exp
m (25)

where m is of order 5 (Weertman 1955) and Q is a n appropriate activation energy.

The transient creep (Andrade 1910) which precedes this can be expressed by a relation
derived by Mott of the form
i t , =A z a s 1 / 3 t - 2 / 3 . (26)
Combining this with equation (25) we obtain

or in terms of the shear strain y and the shear stress T

All these creep equations have been derived from experiments where the stress is substanti-
ally constant, and not too large, and where every part of the specimen is undergoing
homogeneous deformation. The situation is very different in a hardness indentation where
stresses and strains are non-homogeneous and the driving pressure itself changes throughout
the experiment. Nevertheless it may be shown that to a close approximation the transient
creep equation may be applied to explain the indentation behaviour.
Or
c
o, 1500 O C

I’6 t
L /”
/

1260 O C

Mean contact pressure /

P 1060 O C
l l l i i
L
2 or
\
I
d
\ I
\ I 361
L

U
J
- -___---
core ,/

(a) (b)
Figure 20. (a) Indentation process under conditions of creep a hemispherical core under the
indenter is assumed to be under hydrostatic pressure equal to the indentation pressure. The growth
of the indentation with time is assumed to be limited by the onset of transient creep at the outer
boundary. (6) Plot of P - ~ ~ ~ - - P Oagainst
- ~ / ~ t - l / 3 - t 0 c 1 I 3 on log-log ordinates for MgO (results
taken from figure 19(b)). The theory predicts a slope of unity which is very close to the experimental
results.
 The hardness of solids 169
Following a suggestion by R. Hill, the indentation process is assumed to correspond to
the plastic movement of a series of shells, concentric with the hemispherical core surrounding
the indentation, into the bulk of the specimen (figure 20(a)). Unlike the Marsh treatment
the elastic properties of the hinterland are ignored. Instead it is assumed that at some
distance r from the centre of the core the rate of flow of the material is determined by the
transient creep of the material at this point. For an incompressible material it is easy
to show that, if the radius of the indentation (this equals the radius of the core) is a, the
shear strain rate at a distance r is
. 3a2.
y=--a.
2 r3
If this is substituted into equation (28) it gives

Now the plasticity equilibrium condition shows that at a distance r the radial stress U is
related to 7 by the equation
d- =
o - - 47
dr r
From equation (30) we thus have an expression for da/dr in terms of the size of the indenta-
tion a, d and the radius r. This may be integrated from r =a, at which region o equals the
indentation pressure p , to r = m at which region o = 0. We obtain

Finally we note that p is proportional to W/a2 so that

aK Wl/zp -112
w1/2p-3/2p.
Consequently
Lip
-E-. (33)
a P
Substituting in equation (32) and integrating for p we obtain

-mi3 -p0-m/3 =A 4 exp ( -gT) -( t U3 (34)

where p is the hardness at time t and p o the hardness at to immediately after attaining the
full load W.
For small values of stress (s < 10-4 x elastic modulus) the value of m is near 5 . For the
stresses involved in hardness measurements (s > 10-3 x elastic modulus) m appears to be
nearer 10. For simplicity we take a value m = 9 and so write equation (34) as

p-1i3-p0-1/3=A4 (
3%) (t1/3-t01/3),
exp -__ (35)f

If the results for MgO are replotted in this way we obtain a series of straight lines of constant
slope equal to unity (figure 20(6)). The separation between the lines is a measure of Q ;
the value is 110 kcal mol-1. Similar data obtained for other materials (Atkins et al. 1966)
are shown in table 3. (For a more recent hardness-temperature study of Tic, see Sam-
sonov et al. (1970): they use a rather unusual creep relation.)

t It is interesting to note that if creep is primarily viscous (as it may well be at T >fTm)so that
equation (25) is used in the analysis, the final result is identical with equation (35).
4*
170 D.Tabor
Table 3. Activation energies Q derived from hardness and self diffusion
Material Homologous Q Q for
temperature (kcal mol-l) self diffusion
range (kcal mol-l)
MgO 0.3-03 30 -
0.5-0.7 110 105&
Si3N4 0.5 30-40 -
Tic 0.3-0.5 30 -
0.5-0.7 - 150b
Sic 0.5 45 -
wc 0.3-0.5 20-40 -
0.5-0.7 110 -
a Groves and Kelly (1 963) b Hollox and Smallman (1964)
Recently K. L. Johnson (unpublished) has provided a more rigorous analysis which
enables him to include in the final relation a factor to describe the shape of the indenter.
It turns out that for a pyramidal or conical indenter of semi-angle 0 the contact pressure
is only changed by a factor (cot 0 ) 1 / 9 . This is consistent with experiments which show
that the hardness and creep behaviour depend little on the indenter shape.
It is evident from the analysis and from the experimental results that indentation hardness
measurements may be used to study the yield and creep properties of solids particularly at
elevated temperatures. One set of experiments of particular interest is that showing the
variation in hardness with temperature of WC and TIC. There is a catastrophic fall in
hardness at temperatures well below 0.5 T, ; at 1200 'C (about 0.5Tm) the hardness has
fallen from its room temperature value of over 2500 kg mm-2 to less than 100 kg mm-?
(figure 21). Since these materials are often used as cutting tools in the (unlubricated)
2500i
'I

L
0
c

5 600r '.
7 400.
- 200-
2-W6-00
\ --1000 1400 1800
Temperature ( "2) Temperature ( " C )
(4 (6)
Figure 21. Variation of hardness with temperature of WC and Tic.
machining of hard metals where very high surface temperatures are developed it would be
interesting to know if indeed such softening occurs. It may be remarked that Hollox
(1968) has found that the high-temperature softening of Tic is greatly diminished if it is
converted into a mixed carbide containing VC.
6. Elastic recovery of hardness indentations: rebound hardness
6.1. Recouery of indentations formed by spherical indenters: 'shallowing'
When a spherical indenter is pressed into a metal surface and then removed, there is some
elastic recovery of the indentation. Careful measurements show that there is little change
 The hardness of solids 171
in the chordal diameter do of the indentation but a marked increase in its curvature. The
indentation is shallower than if it were of the same curvature as the indenter. To a close
approximation the recovered indentation is spherical in shape. Consequently we may
calculate its radius of curvature r 2 in terms of the radius of the indenter r1 and the elastic
properties of the solids (figure 22). For if we were to reapply the original load W the
surfaces would deform elastically. according to Hertz’s equation for the deformation of
contacting spherical surfaces, until contact just occurred over the diameter do = 2ao.
According to Hertz the relation is
1 1- -- 3 w g 1
~

r1 rz 4a03 E’
where

where El, E2 are Young’s modulus and 1’1, U P Poisson’s ratio of the indenter and metal
respectively.

I I I I
L - 0 +do ___L(
(U) (b)
Figure 22. (a) Indentation produced by a spherical indenter in a plastic-elastic solid, (b) shape of
recovered indentation after indenter is removed.
Of course there are residual elastic stresses left in the material surrounding the indentation.
Further, the recovered shape is not exactly spherical so that the Hertzian equation cannot
be applied rigorously. Nevertheless experiments with a wide range of metals show that
shallowing of spherical indentations follows equation (36) rather well.

6.2. Rebound hardness f o r spherical indenters

If a spherical indenter of mass m, radius r1 is dropped from a height hl on to a massive
metal specimen it produces a plastic indentation of diameter do (=2ao) and rebounds to a
height hz. If it be assumed that a mean dynamic indentation pressurep exists during inden-
tation the plastic work involved is p c where L‘ is the volume of the plastic dent, that is, of the
recovered indentation. It is reasonable to assume that the energy of rebound arises from
elastic recovery of the indentation (and the indenter) after plastic deformation has come to
an end. This may be estimated by considering the reverse process. that is the elastic work
done when the indenter is replaced in the recovered indentation and a force applied for a
short time sufficient to deform the surfaces until the indenter just touches over the circle of
contact of radius ao. Supposing at any stage of this process the force is F when the circle
of contact is a (a < ao). According to equation (36) we may write

At this stage the surfaces will have sunk together by a distance x given according to Hertz by
172 D.Tabor
So that

The work done by F in moving dx is F dx. By integration and rearranging the result we
find that the work done in increasing F from zero to its final value FO when a=ao is
i~(i(Fo2/iao) (l/E') or 8 (1,'rl- l/rz) Foao2.
This may be equated to the energy of rebound so that
3 Fo2 1
ingha=- -~7 ,
10 uo E
The volume U of the recovered indentation is approximately .irao4/4r2whilst the volume the
indentation would have if it possessed the same curvature as the indenter is V=rrao4/4r1.
Combining equations (38) and (41) and rearranging and noting that at the end of the process
Fo=prrra02 we get
2 1
mghs=-
5 rl
(- --)rz1 pnao4=$ ( p v - p ~ )

or
imghz =pV-pv. (43)
The energy expended in forming the indentation is
pU=mghl-mghn. (44)
Combining this with equation (43) we obtain
hl- 4h2
p=mg . (45)
V
The recovered indentation radius is thus eliminated and we have a simple expression for
p in terms of the indenter radius and the height of impact and rebound. In general p
calculated in this way is a little bigger than the static value. But for soft metals the difference
can be very marked. The reason, of course, is the short time of loading. To a good
approximation the duration of the plastic indentation is independent of the velocity of
impact and is given by

so that for typical experiments t is of the order 10-4 to 10-5 s. For lead a t room temperature
this short-time loading increases the yield pressure by about 50 %. But at a temperature of
100 "C or more (this is above 0.5 Tm)the creep rate is much more rapid. As equation (32)
indicates if the loading time is changed from say 100-10-5 s (i.e. a factor of 10-7) the yield
pressure will change by a factor of 5 to 10. Experimentally one finds a factor of 9 : 1 for
the ratio of the dynamic to the static hardness of lead at 100°C.
Finally the equation (45) may be combined with equation (41) to eliminate the volume V
of the indentation : p is then expressed solely in terms of the elastic properties.

We note that if hl=hz=h we obtain

 The hardness of solids 173
This is precisely the value given by Hertz for the mean pressure achieved in a purely elastic
collision. Equation (47) thus covers the whole range of collision conditions. It explains
the calibration characteristics of the Shore Rebound Scleroscope.

6.3. Rebound f o r conical indenters

WT
A similar study has been described for conical indenters (semi-apical angle 0) by Stilwell
and Tabor (1961). It shows that to a first approximation a conical indentation recovers
elastically to give a cone of uider angle than that of the indenter (figure 23(a)). Analysis
4 20
-- - - _

--i-
y=+v
4 1
(0) Ib )
Figure 23. Indentation produced (a) in an elastic-plastic solid by a rigid conical indenter. When
the indenter is withdrawn the indentation recovers elastically to give a shallower conical impression
( y l < y ) . (6) In an elastic solid the total depth of penetration Y= (57/2)y.

shows that this may be described in terms of standard elastic equations and the pressure
during indentation may be calculated to give
mg(h1- (1 - 2/77) he)
P=-- V
or, eliminating the volume of the indentation

One should note once again that the recovery is complicated by residual stresses so that the
analysis carries some limitations. A study of the shallowing of wedge-shaped indentations
has recently been published by Hirst and Howse (1969).

7. Indentation hardness of polymers and rubbers

7.1. Polymers
Thermoplastics such as nylon, perspex, polythene have very complex deformation
properties. For small strains they deform elastically, for larger strains they flow irreversibly.
Both the elastic modulus and the yield stress depend on the rate of deformation so that
they are generally described as visco-elastic solids. Nevertheless to a first approximation
they behave like metals and can be characterized by an elastic modulus E and a yield
stress Y . In addition under conditions of complex stress they appear to follow a Tresca
or von Mises yield criterion. We should therefore expect their indentation behaviour to
resemble that of metals. However, for most thermoplastic polymers the ratio E / Y is of
order 10 compared with a value of 100-1000 for metals. Consequently, as described in a
previous section, elastic yielding of the hinterland is more important, there is less constraint
on plastic flow and the hardness is appreciably less than 3 Y . The behaviour will also
depend on the shape of the indenter. For the Vickers indenter the indentation pressure
turns out to be of order 1.5 Y so that
DPH 2: 1.4 Y.
Vickers indentations in polymers usually show a marked pincushion appearance. Conse-
quently an accurate measurement of the true indentation area from the diagonals is not
generally possible. Further, there is elastic recovery when the indenter is removed and,
with time, as a result of relaxation the indentation may actually disappear. Hirst and
174 D.Tabor
Howse (1969) have discussed in detail the indentation and elastic recovery of polymers
indented by two-dimensional wedges. They have not, however, considered their visco-
elastic properties. This has been done in a very elegant way both for wedges and for axially
symmetric indenters by K. L. Johnson (unpublished).

7 . 2 . Rubbers
The hardness of rubbers is usually measured by a penetrometer. A conical indenter is
pressed into the surface of the rubber specimen and the depth of penetration recorded on
an appropriate scale. In this it resembles the Rockwell hardness test. The penetration is
determined mainly by the elastic modulus of the rubber. For a cone of semi-apical angle 6
the average indentation pressure is
E cot 6
p = 2(1--vsj

where v is Poisson‘s ratio. For most rubbers this is about 3.so that
p z + E c o t 6. (52)
It may be noted (figure 23(b)) that if the conical indentation has height y , the total depth of
penetration of the indenter is +y.

8. Scratch hardness of solids

8 . 1 . The Mohs scale
It has long been the tradition amongst mineralogists and lapidaries to assess the hardness
of stones or minerals by some type of scratch test. It was first put on a quantitative basis
by the Austrian mineralogist Mohs (1824). He proposed a scale of ten minerals such that
each mineral will scratch the one on the scale below it, but will not scratch the one above it.
Mohs was fully aware of the difficulty of constructing such a scale and in selecting his
standard minerals he emphasizes that: ‘The intervals between every two members of the
scale be not so disproportionate as either to render its employment more difficult or to
hinder it altogether.’ With these precautions in mind Mohs finally proposed as his ten
basic minerals :
1. talc 2. gypsum 3. calcite 4. fluorite 5. apatite
6. orthoclase 7. quartz 8. topaz 9. corundum 10. diamond
He realized that the gap between corundum and diamond was larger than it should have
been but seemed satisfied with the remainder of the scale. However, Mohs nowhere
explains his criterion of equality of intervals and at first sight it would seem that such a
scale might be so arbitrary as to have no basic physical significance. As we shall see, there
is a sound physical basis on which equal intervals can be constructed and the Mohs scale
follows it surprisingly well (Tabor 1954).

8 . 2 . Indentation hardness of minerals

In discussing the scratch-hardness of minerals it might seem that we are concerned
primarily with the behaviour and physical properties of relatively brittle materials. This,
however, is not so. The work of Bridgman and others has shown that under sufficiently
high hydrostatic pressures brittle materials may be prevented from fracturing, so that any
deformation which they undergo under these conditions is essentially plastic. As we saw
earlier, the stresses around an indenter are equivalent to a hydrostatic pressure on which is
superposed a shear stress. With many materials. these hydrostatic pressures are sufficient
to inhibit brittle fracture, and very satisfactory plastic indentations may be obtained even
though some cracking may occur. Further, in the scratch process itself, the conditions at
the contact region are similar to those around a static indenter. Here again a detailed
examination shows that, although some fragmentation may occur, the deformation is
 The hardness of solids 175
dominated by the plastic flow of the material. Since, therefore, both the scratching process
and the static indentation process are determined primarily by the plastic properties of the
material, we may expect to find some correlation between the Mohs hardness and the
indentation hardness. This correlation does in fact occur, as is shown in figure 24, the
data being based on indentation hardness measurements made with the standard Vickers
indenter and also with the Knoop type of indenter which appears t o give somewhat less
cracking of brittle materials. The general trend is clear. The indentation hardness rises
monotonically with increasing steps for each increment of the Mohs scale.

8 . 3 . The scratch-hardness of metals

Since scratch-hardness involves, primarily, the plastic properties of minerals, its investi-
gation is greatly simplified by using metals instead of minerals. A simple experiment along
the following lines at once reveals the basic characteristic of a scratch-hardness scale. By
suitable heat treatment, a strip of metal is rendered soft at one end and hard at the other,
with a fairly uniform increase in indentation hardness along its length. Another metal
specimen of uniform intermediate hardness is prepared with a sharp point a t one end, and
the point is dragged over the strip from the soft to the hard end. If the surfaces are lubri-
cated it is then found that. over the soft portion of the strip, the friction is high and the
motion intermittent. and a fine chip o r shaving is produced. The behaviour remains much
the same as the point approaches the harder end, until at a critical hardness of the surface
the friction suddenly drops to a low value and the surface damage becomes negligible.
Scratching has ceased. Applying this experimental procedure as a general criterion of
scratching, it is found that a point of indentation hardness H p will scratch a surface of
indentation hardness Hs only if HP3 1 .2Hs. The reason for this is not clear. for it does not
appear to depend very critically on the shape of the point. Assuming, however, that
scratching just occurs when H I ,= 1 .2Hs, we may construct a hardness scale in which every
unit is 1.2 times as hard as the preceding one. The scratch-hardness number M is then
related to the indentation hardness H by a relation of the form
H = k( 1.2)~’~.
Taking logarithms of both sides we have
log H = M In 1.2 +constant. (53)
Thus a plot of In H against M should give a straight line of slope 1.2. In practice we may
wish to avoid the chance of an overlapping of the units by increasing the ratio to something
greater than 1.2. Provided this new ratio is kept constant the general characteristic will
still be a linear relation between In H and M .

8 . 4 . Mohs hardness and indentatioti hardtiess of minerals

The results obtained by Winchell and by Krushchov and by Taylor, shown in figure 24,
have been replotted in figure 25 as In H against M . It is seen that, if diamond be excluded,
the relation In H = k M is surprisingly well obeyed, the value of k being roughly In 1.6
instead of In 1.2.t This suggests that each interval on the Mohs scratch-hardness scale
could be subdivided into two o r three finer steps: but a finer subdivision would not be
possible since it would involve steps in which the hardness difference ( H , < 1.2Hs) would
not be sufficient to produce well-defined scratching.
The value of k on the Mohs hardness scale corresponds to a ratio of indentation hardness
for each Mohs unit of about 1.6. Thus the Mohs hardness scale gives scratch-hardness
values which correspond to fairly well-defined indentation-hardness values, each increment
on the Mohs scale corresponding roughly to a 60 % increase in indentation hardness. It is

t An alternative relation M = k H 1 has been suggested by Kruslichov (1949). Although this

fits the data satisfactorily its physical significance is obscure.
176 D.Tabor

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 . 0
Mohi's n u m b e r
Figure 24. Relation between indentation hardness values and Mohs hardness numbers. Vickers
indenter 00 ; Knoop indenter 1,

h
Y
E
E

<
.c
10030

1000
500
7-
Taylor
Winchell
Knoop et o/.

c
L-
dI
I I I I I I I I I I

I 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 9 1 0
Mohs's n u m b -
Figure 25. Relation between Mohs' hardness number M and the logarithm of the indentation
hardness H. Excluding diamond it is seen that M is roughly proportional to In H . Each Mohs
interval corresponds to an increase in hardness value by a factor of about 1.6 (Tabor 1954).
clear that Mohs did not simply choose ten common minerals arranged in order of increasing
hardness. It would seem that he experimented with a much larger number until he had
satisfied himself that he had indeed obtained 'equality of the intervals'.

8.5. Efect of adsorbedjlms on the hardness of minerals

Adsorbed films of water and other surface active materials have little effect on the hardness
of metals. They may have a very large influence on the hardness of minerals. Westbrook
and his colleagues have studied this in some detail, in particular the effect of water vapour
on materials such as GaSb, CdS, ZnO, Sic, diamond, LiF, quartz and glass.
 The hardness of solids 177
The surfaces are first heated in argon at 250 "C to 300 "C, cooled and then immersed in
toluene. Microhardness measurements carried out under toluene correspond to 'dry'
conditions. If the surfaces are then exposed to water vapour or immersed in water the
indentation hardness falls by between 10 and 20% depending on the material. With
crystalline solids such as LiF the surface may be etched to show a rosette of dislocations
around the indentation. These are found to be appreciably larger relative to the size of the
indentation on wet surfaces. It is suggested that the effect is due to interaction between
the adsorbate and point defects. On this view (Westwood et al. 1967) dislocation motion
in non-metals is affected by electronic and strain interactions more significantly than by the
Peierls resistance. Non-polar materials have little effect on the hardness but dimethyl
sulphoxide (DMSO) actually increases the hardness in some cases. Crystals with non-
centrosymmetric structures such as GaSb, CdS exhibit different behaviour on the opposite
polar faces of the crystal. When dry both faces have the same hardness; when wet the
B face shows a larger drop in haidness than the A face probably because adsorption of
water occurs more readily on this face.
With amorphous materials the dislocation-adsorbate interaction is hardly applicable.
Westbrook suggests that there may be some bond-strength weakening at the surface, or
that the liquid film reduces the friction between the indenter and solid so reducing the
hardness. The most plausible explanation (in the reviewer's opinion) is the formation of
a softer silicacious layer.
The drop in hardness in all cases is limited to a very thin surface layer. Most of the
measurements were carried out at loads which gave indentation depths below 3 micro-
metres. If the load was increased to give a greater depth of penetration the hardness
increased. For example with InSb the low 'wet' hardness (about 100 kg "-2) was
observed for a depth of 1 micrometre. For a depth of 5 micrometres the hardness was the
same as for a 'dry' surface (about 170 kg
These results emphasize the care that must be taken to control the nature of adsorbed
films when microhardness measurements are made on non-metallic solids.
9. Conclusion
It is evident from this review that the indentation hardness or yield pressure p of metals is
essentially a measure of their plastic properties. For a wide range of metals p 2: 3 Y where
Y is the uniaxial flow stress of the metal. With pyramidal or conical indenters for indenta-
tions above some small critical size the hardness, because of geometric similarity, is inde-
pendent of the size of the indentation and hence independent of the load. With spherical
indenters this is not so, the hardness increasing with size of indentation. From the increase
in hardness with load a semi-quantitative estimate may be made of the work-hardening
characteristics of the metal. Similarly, from the variation of hardness with temperature
and time of loading, information concerning the creep properties of the metal may be
obtained.
If the material shows appreciable elasticity (E/ Y small) the yielding of the elastic hinter-
land may impose less constraint on plastic flow and the factor of proportionality between
p and Y will be less than 3. This is just detectable with very hard metals. It is much more
marked for thermo-plastic polymers ( P E 1.5 Y ) and for glasses (p'2 Y ) . In the limiting
case where rubber-like materials are involved the deformation is elastic and the indentation
is primarily a measure of the elastic modulus.
In the indentation and scratching of brittle solids such as minerals the high hydrostatic
pressures developed around the deformed region are often sufficient to inhibit brittle
fracture. Under these conditions the deformation is primarily plastic. For this reason
there is fairly good correlation between indentation and scratch hardness since both are
essentially a measure of the plastic and not the brittle properties of the solid. This provides
a simple physical basis for the Mohs scratch-hardness scale.
Finally we may make a few comments on the relation between hardness and molecular
structure. For metals the structural factors affecting hardness are the same as those
178 D.Tabor
affecting the ease or difficulty of producing plastic flow. Strongly bonded metals (those
with high melting points) will generally be harder than low melting metals. For example
the hardness of Titanium is 200 times that of Indium. Dislocation entanglements such as
those which occur when the metal is deformed restrict the ease of dislocation movement and
the hardness may increase several fold (work-hardening). The greatest effect is produced
by alloying which pins dislocations and can give very high hardness values (beryllium-
copper 360 kg mm-2 compared with 40 for copper ; ball race steel 900 kg mm-2 compared
with 70 for iron). With single crystals the indentation hardness is influenced by the distri-
bution of significant shear stresses on a limited number of slip planes and this accounts for
anisotropic hardness behaviour. On the other hand, if indentations are carried out at
extremely small loads, the volume deformed may contain no dislocations and the hardness
may approach that of the perfect crystal.
With polymers and rubber-like materials the elastic and plastic properties depend on the
chain length, the degree of cross-linking and the crystallinity of the material. Short chains
are associated with low modulus and low hardness: long chains with increased modulus
and hardness. The greatest hardness is observed with heavily cross linked molecules, as
in ebonite.
The hardness of minerals depends very markedly on the type of bonding. Minerals in
which the molecular chains or molecular sheets are attracted to their neighbours by van der
Waals force are relatively weak and soft. Typical examples are talc and gypsum which
have a Mohs hardness of 1 and 2 respectively. With ionic crystals the bonding is stronger
but the bonding forces are electrostatic and are not directional. Such solids tend t o
acquire a crystal structure determined largely by geometric considerations of packing
consistent with electric neutrality. Deformation is not particularly difficult ; typical Mohs'
hardness values being about 2 for NaCI, 4 for CaF? (fluorite), and 5 for Calo(Po4)sFe
(fluorapatite). The equivalent indentation hardness values are approximately 30, 180,
400 kg "-2. As the degree of covalent bonding increases the bonding strength increases
and in addition becomes strongly directional. For such materials it may become difficult
to start the movement of dislocations (Peierls-Nabarro force) and the resistance to plastic
flow is very high. The most marked examples are diamond and boron nitride which are
the hardest known solids possessing a Mohs hardness 10. this is equivalent to an inden-
tation hardness greater than 10 000 kg "-2.
Acknowledgments
I wish to express my thanks to Dr N. Gane, Dr M. J . Murray, Dr C. A. Brookes,
Dr D. L. Kohlstedt, M r R. H. J. Hannink and Mr P. Pfaelzer for helpful criticisms of the
text I am particularly grateful to D r K. L. Johnson for showing me unpublished chapters
of a book on contact stresses which he is currently preparing for publication.
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