Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T08:11:12.627Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The contributions of David Tabor to the science of indentation hardness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Ian M. Hutchings
Ian M. Hutchings*
Affiliation:
Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1RX, United Kingdom
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected] This author was an editor of this focus issue during the review and decision stage. For the JMR policy on review and publication of manuscripts authored by editors, please refer to http://www.mrs.org/jmr_policy
Get access

Abstract

Tabor’s book The Hardness of Metals, published in 1951, has had a major influence on the subject of indentation hardness and is by far the most widely cited source in this area. Although hardness testing was widely used for practical purposes in the first half of the 20th century, its use was generally based on little scientific understanding. The history of indentation hardness testing up to that point is reviewed, and Tabor’s contribution is appraised in this context.

Keywords

HardnessNanoindentation
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , March 2009 , pp. 581 - 589
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Hutchings, I.M. and Briscoe, B.J.: Obituary-David Tabor 1913–2005. Wear 260, 1151 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Field, J.E.: David Tabor. Biog. Memoirs Fellows of the Royal Society 54, 425 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Bowden, F.P. and Tabor, D.: The area of contact between stationary and between moving surfaces. Proc. R. Soc. London, Sect. A 169, 391 (1939).Google Scholar
4.Greenwood, N.N. and Spink, J.A.: An antipodean laboratory of remarkable distinction. Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 57, 85 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Calvert, F.C. and Johnson, R.: On the hardness of metals and alloys. Philos. Mag. 4th series 17, 114 (1859).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6.Brinell, J.A.: Way of determining the hardness of bodies and some applications of the same. Teknisk Tidskrift. 5, 69 (1900).Google Scholar
7.Wahlberg, A.: Brinell's method of determining hardness and other properties of iron and steel. J. Iron. Steel Inst. 59, 243 (1901).Google Scholar
8.Meyer, E.: Investigations of hardness testing and hardness. Phys. Z. 9, 66 (1908).Google Scholar
9.Smith, R. and Sandland, G.: An accurate method of determining the hardness of metals, with particular reference to those of a high degree of hardness. Proc. Instn. Mech. Engrs. 1, 623 (1922).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Rockwell, S.P.: The testing of metals for hardness. Transactions of the American Society for Steel Treating 2, 1013 (1922).Google Scholar
11.Rockwell, H.M. and Rockwell, S.P.: Hardness-tester. U.S. Patent No. 1294171 (1914).Google Scholar
12.O'Neill, H.: The Hardness of Metals and Its Measurement (Chapman and Hall, Ltd., London, England, 1934).Google Scholar
13.Lea, F.C.: Hardness of Metals (C. Griffin, London, England, 1936).Google Scholar
14.Späth, W.: Physics and Technology of Hardness and Softness. (Springer, Berlin, 1940).Google Scholar
15.Williams, S.R.: Hardness and Hardness Measurements (The American Society of Metals, Cleveland, OH, 1942).Google Scholar
16.Lysaght, V.E.: Indentation Hardness Testing (Reinhold Publishing Corporation, NY, 1949).Google Scholar
17.Tuckerman, L.B.: Hardness and hardness testing. Mech. Eng. 47, 53 (1925).Google Scholar
18.O'Neill, H.: The significance of tensile and other mechanical test properties of metals. Proc. Inst. Mech. Engrs. 151, 116 (1944).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Tabor, D.: A simple theory of static and dynamic hardness. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 192, 247 (1948).Google Scholar
20.Timoshenko, S.P.: History of Strength of Materials (McGraw-Hill, NY, 1953).Google Scholar
21.Bishop, R.F., Hill, R., and Mott, N.F.: The theory of indentation and hardness tests. Proc. Phys. Soc. London 57, 147 (1945).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Hill, R., Lee, E.H., and Tupper, S.J.: The theory of wedge indentation of ductile materials. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 188, 273 (1947).Google Scholar
23.Hill, R.: The Mathematical Theory of Plasticity (Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK, 1950).Google Scholar
24.Ishlinsky, A.J.: The axial-symmetrical problem in plasticity and the Brinell hardness. J. Appl. Math. Mech. (USSR) 8, 233 (1944).Google Scholar
25.Nadai, A.: Plasticity (McGraw-Hill, NY, 1931).Google Scholar
26.Chaudhri, M.M.: Subsurface plastic strain distribution around spherical indentations in metals. Philos. Mag. A 74, 1213 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Hill, R., Storakers, B., and Zdunek, A.B.: A theoretical study of the Brinell hardness test. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 423, 301 (1989).Google Scholar
28.Biwa, S. and Storakers, B.: An analysis of fully plastic Brinell indentation. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 43, 1303 (1995).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Cheng, Y-T. and Li, Z.: Hardness obtained from conical indentations with various cone angles. J. Mater. Res. 15, 2830 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30.Tabor, D.: The Hardness of Metals (Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK, 1951).Google Scholar
31.von Weingraber, H.: Technical Hardness Measurement (Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, 1952).Google Scholar
32.Mott, B.W.: Micro-indentation Hardness Testing (Butterworths, London, UK, 1956).Google Scholar
33.O'Neill, H.: Hardness Measurement of Metals and Alloys (Chapman and Hall, London, UK, 1967).Google Scholar
34.Westbrook, J.H. and Conrad, H.: The Science of Hardness Testing and Its Research Applications (American Society for Metals, Metals Park, OH, 1973).Google Scholar
35.Davies, R.M.: The determination of static and dynamic yield stresses using a steel ball. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 197, 416 (1949).Google Scholar
36.Tabor, D.: The hardness and strength of metals. J. Inst. Metals 79, 1 (1951).Google Scholar
37.King, R.F. and Tabor, D.: The effect of temperature on the mechanical properties and the friction of plastics. Proc. Phys. Soc. London, Sect. B 66. 728 (1953).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38.Pascoe, M.W. and Tabor, D.: The friction and deformation of polymers. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 235, 210 (1956).Google Scholar
39.King, R.F. and Tabor, D.: The strength properties and frictional behaviour of brittle solids. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 223, 225 (1954).Google Scholar
40.Tabor, D.: Mohs's hardness scale-A physical interpretation. Proc. Phys. Soc. London Sect. 67, 249 (1954).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
41.Tabor, D.: The physical meaning of indentation and scratch hardness. Br. J. Appl. Phys. 7, 159 (1956).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42.Stilwell, N.A. and Tabor, D.: Elastic recovery of conical indentations. Proc. Phys. Soc. London 78, 169 (1961).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
43.Atkins, A.G. and Tabor, D.: Plastic indentation in metals with cones. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 13, 149 (1965).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
44.Atkins, A.G. and Tabor, D.: On ‘indenting with pyramids’. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 7, 647 (1965).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45.Atkins, A.G. and Tabor, D.: Mutual indentation hardness apparatus for use at very high temperatures. Br. J. Appl. Phys. 16, 1015 (1965).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
46.Mulhearn, T.O. and Tabor, D.: Creep and hardness of metals: A physical study. J. Inst. Metals 89, 7 (1960).Google Scholar
47.Atkins, A.G., Silvério, A., and Tabor, D.: Indentation hardness and the creep of solids. J. Inst. Metals 94, 369 (1966).Google Scholar
48.Atkins, A.G. and Tabor, D.: The plastic deformation of crossed cylinders and wedges. J. Inst. Metals 94, 107 (1966).Google Scholar
49.Atkins, A.G. and Tabor, D.: Mutual indentation hardness of single-crystal magnesium oxide at high temperatures. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 50, 195 (1967).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
50.Tabor, D.: The hardness of solids. Rev. Phys. Technol. 1, 145 (1970).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
51.Johnson, K.L.: The correlation of indentation experiments. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 18, 115 (1970).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
52.Gane, N.: The direct measurement of the strength of metals on a sub-micrometre scale. Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 317, 367 (1970).Google Scholar
53.Gane, N. and Bowden, F.P.: Microdeformation of solids. J. Appl. Phys. 39, 1432 (1968).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
54.Pethica, J.B. and Tabor, D.: Contact of characterised metal surfaces at very low loads: Deformation and adhesion. Surf. Sci. 89, 182 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
55.Pashley, M.D. and Tabor, D.: Adhesion and deformation properties of clean and characterized metal microcontacts. Vacuum 31, 619 (1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
56.Pethica, J.B. and Tabor, D.: Characterized metal microcontacts. J. Adhes. 13, 215 (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
57.Pashley, M.D., Pethica, J.B., and Tabor, D.: Adhesion and micro-mechanical properties of metal surfaces. Wear 100, 7 (1984).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
58.Tabor, D.: Indentation hardness and its measurement: Some cautionary comments, in Microindentation Techniques in Materials Science and Engineering (ASTM STP 889), edited by Blau, P.J. and Lawn, B.R. (American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, 1986), pp. 129–159.Google Scholar
59.Swain, M.V. and Hagan, J.T.: Indentation plasticity and the ensuing fracture of glass. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 9, 2201 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
60.Knight, C.G., Swain, M.V., and Chaudhri, M.M.: Impact of small steel spheres on glass surfaces. J. Mater. Sci. 12, 1573 (1977).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
61.Powell, B.D. and Tabor, D.: The fracture of titanium carbide under static and sliding contact. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 3, 783 (1970).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
62.Gerk, A.P. and Tabor, D.: Indentation hardness and semiconductor-metal transition of germanium and silicon. Nature 271, 732 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
63.Tabor, D.: Phase changes and indentation hardness of germanium and diamond. Nature 273, 406 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
64.Tabor, D.: Indentation hardness and yield properties of solids, in Physics of Materials: Festschrift for Walter Boas, edited by Borland, D.W. (Melbourne, Australia, CSIRO, 1979), pp. 271–282.Google Scholar
65.Tabor, D.: Indentation hardness and materials properties, in Solid-Solid Interactions, edited by Adams, M.J., Biswas, S.K., and Briscoe, B.J. (Imperial College Press, London, UK, 1996), pp. 6–15.Google Scholar
66.Tabor, D.: Indentation hardness: Fifty years on-A personal view. Philos. Mag. A 74, 1207 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
67.Tabor, D.: The physical meaning of indentation hardness. Sheet Metal Indust. 31, 749 (1954).Google Scholar
68.Tabor, D.: The contribution of the physicist to tribology. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. 181, 236 (1966).Google Scholar