Shear anisotropy: Tuning high temperature metal hexaborides from soft to extremely hard

Easy machining into sharp lending edge, nose tip and complex shape components plays a pivotal role in the application of ultrahigh temperature ceramics in hypersonic vehicles, wherein low and controllable hardness is a necessary parameter to ensure the easy machinability. However, the mechanism that driving the hardness of metal hexaborides is not clear. Here, using a combination of the empirical hardness model for polycrystalline materials and density functional theory investigation, the hardness dependence on shear anisotropic factors of high temperature metal hexaborides has been established. It has come to light that through controlling the shear anisotropic factors the hardness of polycrystalline metal hexaborides can be tailored from soft and ductile to extremely hard and brittle, which is underpinned by the degree of chemical bonding anisotropy, i.e., the difference of B-B bond within the B6 octahedron and that connecting the B6 octahedra.