Hardness Estimation of Minerals Rocks and Ceramic Materials

Hardness Estimation of Minerals Rocks and Ceramic Materials - Andrzej Szymański

A knowledge of minerals and the processes involved in their formation is of fundamental interest. However, such knowledge is increasingly needed for understanding the technological processing of raw materials. Almost all inorganic materials turned out by present day industry result from mechanical, chemical, thermal or pressure treatment of minerals. Hardness is one of the key identifying characteristics in mineralogy. It is also an important parameter in determining the working and other technical possibilities of natural rocks used as lining materials. Hardness determination methods are widely used in basic research on the mechanical properties of minerals. In the face of the rapid development of industrial uses of natural minerals, as well as manmade ones (in monocrystal or grain form or as polymineral materials), there is a definite need for more comprehensive crystallographic-mechanical investigations. Hardness studies also furnish valuable information on the origin of minerals. A comprehensive survey of the mechanical properties of all minerals with attention paid to their crystallographic characterization, investigation of anisotropy and of relationships between structure and composition would be useful from many points of view. By determining the typomorphism of the mechanical parameters of minerals and its involvement in the condition of their formation, and also by investigating occurrence of deformations in minerals under natural conditions and of the deformative mechanism, it should be possible to develop a general theory of the mechanical properties of crystals. It is expected that the present book will prove helpful in the study of mechanical properties of various materials, and will contribute to broadening the area of hardness research, and in consequence to a better understanding of raw materials and their products.