Toughest material ever is an alloy of chromium, cobalt and nickel

An alloy made of almost equal amounts of chromium, cobalt and nickel resists fracturing even at incredibly cold temperatures, which could make it useful for building spacecraft

By Matthew Sparkes

An alloy of chromium, cobalt and nickel (CrCoNi) is the toughest material ever tested, and its characteristics could make it useful in the construction of aircraft or spacecraft.

Toughness is a measure of a material’s resilience against fracturing, and it isn’t the same thing as hardness, which is a measure of a material’s ability to withstand deformation. For instance, you can’t put a dent in a diamond, famously known to be the hardest material yet discovered, but you might be able to crack one. …