On the yield strength of diamond

Abstract

This paper describes how the yield stress of strong single crystals can be estimated from the Hugoniot elastic limit and the second‐ and third‐order elastic constants. Data on germanium and silicon are analyzed. The dynamic yield stresses obtained are compared with a directly measured static value for silicon and for values obtained from Knoop hardness tests. The dynamic results for silicon and germanium are used along with a scaling law to estimate the yield stress for diamonds. This, in turn, is found to compare favorably with the values deduced from Knoop hardness tests and a directly measured static yield stress. The yield stress of diamond is approximately 35 GPa.