Intrinsic Correlation between Hardness and Elasticity in Polycrystalline Materials and Bulk Metallic Glasses

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model linking hardness and elasticity in various materials, including metallic glasses, providing a more reliable correlation than previous empirical methods and supporting Teter's empirical correlation.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new theoretical model that unifies the correlation between hardness and elastic properties across different materials, including bulk metallic glasses.

Findings

Model shows strong agreement with experimental data.

Provides theoretical support for Teter's empirical correlation.

Applicable to a wide range of polycrystalline materials and metallic glasses.

Abstract

Though extensively studied, hardness, defined as the resistance of a material to deformation, still remains a challenging issue for a formal theoretical description due to its inherent mechanical complexity. The widely applied Teter's empirical correlation between hardness and shear modulus has been considered to be not always valid for a large variety of materials. Here, inspired by the classical work on Pugh's modulus ratio, we develop a theoretical model which establishes a robust correlation between hardness and elasticity for a wide class of materials, including bulk metallic glasses, with results in very good agreement with experiment. The simplified form of our model also provides an unambiguous theoretical evidence for Teter's empirical correlation.