Temperature dependence of ceramics hardness

While the hardness of ceramics is well known to be a function of temperatur e, the present study will investigate the dependence of hot hardness on cer amics density. Ceramics with different composition, bonding and structure s how similar hardness behavior in terms of energy density characteristic. De gradation in hardness with increasing temperature correlates well with ther mal expansion behavior, so that materials with larger thermal expansion coe fficients are expected to soften as their temperature rises. (C) 1999 Elsev ier Science Limited and Techna S.r.l. All rights reserved.