ABSTRACT
Department o f Materials, School o f Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University o f Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
6.1 HISTORICAL ASPECTS
The mechanical properties of graphites are important and often are critical in their engineering applications, but usually it is a unique combination of properties that leads to the selection of graphite for a particular application. These other characteristics are low friction coefficient, high electrical and thermal conductivity, resistance to corrosive chemicals, low neutron capture cross section, and high thermal stability which results in exceptional mechanical properties at high temperatures relative to other materials.
