Advertisement
You wouldn't think there's much of a contest between soft hair or a little bit of beard stubble and a sharp steel razor – and yet, most of us know razors quickly lose their sharpness no matter how carefully you shave.
Now scientists have a much better idea why this is happening at the smallest scale.
By analysing blades at a microscopic level, a new study shows that even a single strand of hair – 50 times softer than steel – can cause a blade to chip under certain conditions. Once that chip appears, the metal is susceptible to further chipping, especially if the microstructure of the steel isn't uniform.
"Our main goal was to understand a problem that more or less everyone is aware of: why blades become useless when they interact with much softer material," says metallurgist Cem Tasan, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
"We found the main ingredients of failure, which enabled us to determine a new processing path to make blades that can last longer."
Advertisement
Tasan and his colleagues ran a series of tests under the watchful eye of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), involving both normal facial shaving and lab experiments where the angles and cutting depths could be carefully controlled.
While very little wear was noticeable at the edges of the razors, the high-resolution imagery showed chips forming along certain parts of the razors. This happened irrespective of the thickness of the hairs being cut.
"This created another mystery: we saw chipping, but didn't see chipping everywhere, only in certain locations," says Tasan.
Advertisement
- Previous article
- What are the Odds That Teenagers Contract COVID-19?
- Next article
- The Brightest Fluorescent Materials Ever Made
Advertisement
OTHER NEWS
Genetic factors have significant impacts on the risk of sex crimes
BY Paula
Adele’s First Appearance After Weight Loss
BY Alan
What is the ultimate speed of sound transmission?
BY Christine,Einstein
What Benefits Does Sleeping Have for the Brain
BY Annie
Georgina is wearing Dior and slippers
BY Cheryl
Pi star: A planet with a 3.14 Day Orbit
BY Anne
RECENT NEWS
-
PUBG Mobile Esports Generated 200 Million Hours of Viewing in 2020
-
Mario Kart Tour Races to $200M revenue and 200M Downloads
-
Game Acquisitions Expand Globally in Q1 2021 with 280 Deals Worth $39 Billion Surpassing That in 2020
-
Free Fire Shows Strong Momentum, with Its Revenue Overtaking PUBG Mobile in a Single Market for Q1 2021
-
The Games Fund Launched a $50 Million Early Investment Fund to Invest in American and European Companies
-
How to Download and Install Wyze App for Free?