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Experiment #2

Hardness testing

Introduction to Hardness Testing

Hardness has a variety of meanings.

To the metals industry, it may be thought of as resistance to permanent deformation.

To the metallurgist, it means resistance to penetration.
To the lubrication engineer, it means resistance to wear.
To the design engineer, it is a measure of flow stress.
To the mineralogist, it means resistance to scratching, and
To the machinist, it means resistance to machining.
Hardness may also be referred to as mean contact pressure.

All of these characteristics are related to the plastic flow stress of materials.

Brinell hardness Test

Brinell hardness is determined by forcing a hard steel or carbide sphere of a specified diameter
under a specified load into the surface of a material and measuring the diameter of the
indentation left after the test.
The Brinell hardness number is obtained by dividing the load used, in kilograms, by the actual
surface area of the indentation, in square millimeters.
The result is a pressure measurement, but the units are rarely stated
The Brinell ball makes the deepest and widest indentation, so the test averages the hardness over
a wider amount of material, which will more accurately account for multiple grain structures and
any irregularities in the uniformity of the alloy.

Brinell Hardness number Formula

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Most commonly it is used to test materials that have a structure that is too coarse or that
have a surface that is too rough to be tested using another test method, e.g., castings and
forgings.

Typically the greatest source of error in Brinell testing is the measurement of the indentation.
Due to disparities in operators making the measurements, the results will vary even under perfect
conditions. Less than perfect conditions can cause the variation to increase greatly. Frequently
the test surface is prepared with a grinder to remove surface conditions. The jagged edge makes
interpretation of the indentation difficult.

Compared to the other hardness test methods, the Brinell ball makes the deepest and
widest indentation, so the test averages the hardness over a wider amount of material,
which will more accurately account for multiple grain structures and any irregularities in
the uniformity of the material.

This method is the best for achieving the bulk or macro-hardness of a material, particularly those
materials with heterogeneous structures

Test Procedure

1) Select a location for the test Remove oil or dirt, but the surface does not need to be
polished

2) make sure the part can be held securely.

3) Raise the spherical indenter according to the red mark on the scale.

4) Apply the load and wait 30 seconds

5) Remove the load

6) Measure the indent size with the aid of the optical microscope.

7) Calculate the Brinell hardness with the appropriate equation

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Precautions

The results obtained, even when the test was performed with utmost care, could be wrong

1) If the surface is not flat

2) If the surface is covered with a thick scale

3) If the tested material is too thin (less than 9.6 mm or 3/8 ") so that a mark appears on the
opposite side

4) If the tested material is too hard (more than 450 HBS for steel ball or more than 650 HBW
for tungsten carbide ball).

The letters HBS stand for Hardness Brinell with Steel ball, (HBW for tungsten carbide ball) but
the qualification should be completed by indicating also the ball diameter (10 mm) and the
applied force (load) (3000 kg).

Considerations

1) The specimen surface can be rough

2) Good illumination of the test indent is important for ensuring correct evaluation of the test
indent (e.g. with the aid of a ring light).

3) The process is slow (by comparison with the Rockwell method). The test cycle takes
somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds

4) Limitation in applying the method on thin specimens of very hard materials

5) High risk of deforming the material to be tested when testing in the macro range with high
test loads

6) The surface quality of the specimen must be good, because the indent is measured optically

7) Relatively large test indents that are easier to measure the rather small Vickers indentations

8) Can be used for testing non-homogeneous materials (e.g. castings)

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Applications

Because of the wide test force range the Brinell test can be used on almost any metallic material.
The part size is only limited by the testing instrument's capacity.

Rockwell Hardness Test

The Rockwell Hardness test is a hardness measurement based on the net increase in depth of
impression as a load is applied. Hardness numbers have no units and are commonly given in
different scales. The higher the number in each of the scales means the harder the material.

The Rockwell hardness test does not serve well as a predictor of properties such as strength or
resistance to scratches, abrasion, or wear, and should not be used alone for product design
specifications.

The Rockwell hardness test is used to measure the hardness of metal measures resistance to
penetration, the depth of the impression is measured rather than the diametric area. With the
Rockwell test, the hardness is indicated directly on the scale attached to the machine. This dial
like scale is really a depth gauge, graduated in special units. The Rockwell hardness test is the
most used and versatile of the hardness tests.

Rockwell Typical Scale Properties

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Types of indenters used

Conical diamond with a round tip for harder metals to ball indenters ranges with a diameter
ranging from 1/16 to 1/2 for softer materials.

Types of the Rockwell Test

There are two types of Rockwell tests:

1. Rockwell: the minor load is 10 kgf, the major load is 60, 100, or 150 kgf.

2. Superficial Rockwell: the minor load is 3 kgf and major loads are 15, 30, or 45 kgf.

In both tests, the indenter may be either a diamond cone or steel ball, depending upon the
characteristics of the material being tested

If no specification exists or there is doubt about the suitability of the specified scale, an analysis
should be made of the following factors that control scale selection:

Type of material

Specimen thickness

Test location

Scale limitations

Principe of the Rockwell Test

The indenter moves down into position on the part surface

A minor load is applied and a zero reference position is established
The major load is applied for a specified time period (dwell time) beyond zero
The major load is released leaving the minor load applied
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The resulting Rockwell number represents the difference in depth from the zero reference
position as a result of the application of the major load.

Test Procedure

Performing a Rockwell test consists in:

1. Putting gently the specimen in contact with the indenter

2. Applying a minor load
3. Automatically or manually zero the penetration measuring instrument or dial gage
4. Applying gradually the major load
5. Removing gently the total load while leaving in place the preliminary one (so that the
elastic deformation following the removal of final load is recovered)
6. Measuring the depth of penetration using the Instrument

Considerations for Rockwell hardness test

Require clean and well positioned indenter and anvil

The test sample should be clean, dry, smooth and oxide-free surface
The surface should be flat and perpendicular to the indenter
Low reading of hardness value might be expected in cylindrical surfaces
Specimen thickness should be 10 times higher than the depth of the indenter
The spacing between the indentations should be 3 to 5 times of the indentation diameter
Loading speed should be standardized
No specimen preparation required
Hardness value directly readable, no optical evaluation required
Quick & cost-effective process
Non-destructive testing
Not always the most accurate hardness testing method
The test location must be completely free of all contamination (e.g. scale, foreign bodies
or oil)
The indenter has unknown effects on the test results
With increasing hardness, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between
materials.
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