Hardness of dislocations, a particular metal's hardness can be controlled. Although seemingly counter-intuitive, as the density of dislocations increases, there are more intersections created and consequently more anchor points. Similarly, as more interstitial atoms are added, more pinning points that impede the movements of dislocations are formed. As a result, the more anchor points added, the harder the material will become. Hardness Hardness is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation induced by either mechanical indentation or abrasion. Some materials (e.g. metals) are harder than others (e.g. plastics, wood). Macroscopic hardness is generally characterized by strong intermolecular bonds, but
Knoop hardness test 130 degrees for the short edge. The depth of the indentation can be approximated as 1/30 of the long dimension. The Knoop hardness "HK" or "KHN" is then given by the formula: where: HK values are typically in the range from 100 to 1000, when specified in the conventional units of kg·mm. The SI unit, pascals, are sometimes used instead: 1 kg·mm = 9.80665 MPa. The test was developed by Frederick Knoop and colleagues at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) of the United States in 1939, and is defined by the ASTM E384 standard. The advantages of the