Defining Material Properties

Hardness can be defined as:

• The ability for a metal to be drawn into a wire.

• The ability of a material to resist scratching and indentation.

• The ability to withstand impact.

• The ability to not be moulded into a shape.

Malleability is where:

• The material can be joined without cracking.

• A material can be cut into shape.

• A material can be moulded or pressed into shape without fracture.

• The material can be drawn into a wire through a series of dies.

Hardenability is:

• The depth to which a material can be successfully hardened upon quenching.

• The ability of a material to resist scratching and indentation.

• The resistance to shaping a material due to its elastic properties.

• Where the material cannot be welded to another material.

Toughness can be defined as:

• The ability for the material to be drawn into a wire without fracture.

• The ability of a material to be shaped without fracture.

• The ability to withstand scratching and indentation.

• The ability to withstand impact and shock loading without fracture.

Tensile strength:

• Is the materials ability to resit a tensile load without fracture.

• Is the materials ability to resit a shear load without fracture.

• Is the materials ability to resit compression without fracture.

• The materials ability to resist a torsional load without fracture.

Torsional strength:

• Is the materials ability to resit a tensile load without fracture.

• Is the materials ability to resit twisting without fracture.

• Is the materials ability to resit compression without fracture.

• Is the materials ability to resit a shear load without fracture.

Conductivity is:

• The measure to which a material will allow stress to pass through its atoms.

• The measure to which a material will resist stress to pass through its atoms.

• The measure to which a material will allow heat to pass through its atoms.

• The measure to which a material will resist heat to pass through its atoms.

Elasticity:

• Is the materials ability to be bent without fracture.

• Is the materials ability to be stretched without fracture when the load is removed.

• Is the materials ability to be deformed and return to its original shape when the load is removed.

• Is the materials ability to resist a load before deforming.