Strong knife properties

[rayback]

What properties contribute to a strong knife? (steel properties)
When I talk about properties, I'm meaning to grain size, high carbon, hardness etc.
When I talk about a strong knife, I'm meaning to very hard to brake.
Resistance to impact doesn't matter. (toughness)
How does ductility come into play with this category of knives? Is a very strong knife usually ductile or not?

Which knives match this category?

Thanks
Ray

 

[UFMetalEng]

Generally the smaller the grain the greater the strength and greater ductility. This is called the Hall Petch relationship. Adding more carbon to the steel gives you better edge retention but can make the steel more brittle. For example add enough carbon and you get cast iron. As far as being hard to break, the more ductile (% elongation) the steel the more strain the knife can take. You dont want an extremely ductile knife otherwise you would be giving up strength for ductility (in most cases), however you do want some ductility in the steel, it makes it more forgiving, more able to resist day to day misuse and still come back for more

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Is a very strong knife usually ductile or not?

Ductility and strength have a fairly straightforward relationship, in general to increase ductility you have to give up strength. There is a bit of a complication to this in that the low alloy steels have a bit of a peaked behavior at low tempers, around 350F, in which the strength and ductility both increase together this is at the point close to maximum hardness. If you are looking for very strong knives then look essentially for a high hardness with quality heat treatment.

-Cliff

 

[sog]

manganese is what I read that adds strength to steel