What are tough materials and where are they used?

Different materials have a very different behaviour when they are exposed to external influences. They differ, for example, in their fracture behaviour. Accordingly, the materials used to produce work pieces or tools and the material quality have an inevitable influence on their properties. Owing to their mechanical properties, tough materials are particularly suitable for special applications and tools. Thus, tough materials such as special steels or particular metals can withstand considerable changes in shape without breaking. In this respect, tough materials differ considerably from brittle materials such as glass or ceramic: they do not allow changes in shape or allow only minimal changes in shape and break rapidly when a load is applied. Tough materials may also break under load. However, if this is the case, their site of breakage differs from the one of brittle materials. Sites of breakage of brittle materials are characterized by sharp edges and do not deform before breaking, while tough materials deform considerably before they break. Tough materials play an important role in a number of sectors, such as in the industry and in the field of construction. Accordingly, they are often subject to comprehensive testing and verification procedures.

Successfully and economically cutting tough materials

A wide variety of work pieces contains tough materials. In order to safely use tough materials, their properties need to be absolutely precisely analyzed. Depending on the field of application and the associated applied forces, tough materials are thus subject to a variety of extensive test procedures. Tough materials have a different behaviour than brittle materials when they are impacted by the materialographic preparation process. During preparation – from the cutting process to the final polish – attention should be paid to maximally maintain the original properties of the sample material for materialographic analysis. Cutting tough materials in materialographic practice requires special cut-off wheels. SCAN-DIA Cut-Off wheels for tough materials provide a precise and economical cut through tough material samples. The company analyzes the sample volumes together with the customer and gives comprehensive advice on which cut-off wheels for tough materials will provide optimal results.