DEFINITION DESTRUCTIVE

Prolonged endurance testing under the most severe operating conditions, continued until the component, equipment, or product specimen fails (is broken or destroyed).
The purpose of destructive testing is to determine service life and to detect design weaknesses that may not show up under normal working conditions. See also non
destructive testing.

In destructive testing, or (Destructive Physical Analysis DPA) tests are carried out to the specimen's failure, in order to
understand a specimen's structural performance or material behaviour under different loads. These tests are generally
much easier to carry out, yield more information, and are easier to interpret than nondestructive testing. [1] Destructive
testing is most suitable, and economic, for objects which will be mass-produced, as the cost of destroying a small number
of specimens is negligible. It is usually not economical to do destructive testing where only one or very few items are to be
produced (for example, in the case of a building). Analyzing and documenting the destructive failure mode is often
accomplished using a high-speed camera recording continuously (movie-loop) until the failure is detected. Detecting the
failure can be accomplished using a sound detector or stress gauge which produces a signal to trigger the high-speed
camera. These high-speed cameras have advanced recording modes to capture almost any type of destructive failure.
[2] After the failure the high-speed camera will stop recording. The capture images can be played back in slow
motion showing precisely what happen before, during and after the destructive event, image by image.
Hardness
Hardness is a measure of how resistant solid matter is to various kinds of permanent shape change when a
compressive force is applied. Some materials, such as metal, are harder than others. Macroscopic hardness is generally
characterized by strong intermolecular bonds, but the behavior of solid materials under force is complex; therefore, there
are different measurements of hardness: scratch hardness, indentation hardness, and rebound hardness.
Hardness is dependent on ductility, elastic stiffness, plasticity, strain, strength, toughness, viscoelasticity, and viscosity.

References[edit]
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Jump up^ Wredenberg, Fredrik; PL Larsson (2009). "Scratch testing of metals and polymers: Experiments and
numerics". Wear 266 (12): 76. doi:10.1016/j.wear.2008.05.014.
Jump up^ Hoffman Scratch Hardness Tester. byk.com
Jump up^ Allen, Robert (2006-12-10). "A guide to rebound hardness and scleroscope test". Retrieved 2008-09-08.
Jump up^ Jeandron, Michelle (2005-08-25). "Diamonds are not forever". Physics World.
Jump up^ San-Miguel, A.; Blase, X.; Mlinon, P.; Perez, A.; Iti, J.; Polian, A.; Reny, E. et al. (1999-05-19). "High Pressure Behavior
of Silicon Clathrates: A New Class of Low Compressibility Materials". Physical Review 83 (25):
5290. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..83.5290S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.5290.
^ Jump up to:a b Haasen, P. (1978). Physical metallurgy. Cambridge [Eng.] ; New York: Cambridge University Press.
Jump up^ Samuel, J. (2009). Introduction to materials science course manual. Madison, Wisconsin: University of WisconsinMadison.
Jump up^ Smedskjaer, Morten M.; John C. Mauro; Yuanzheng Yue (2010). "Prediction of Glass Hardness Using TemperatureDependent Constraint Theory". Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 (11): 2010. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.115503.
Jump up^ Leslie, W. C. (1981). The physical metallurgy of steels. Washington: Hempisphere Pub. Corp., New York: McGrawHill, ISBN 0070377804.

The Vickers hardness test was developed in 1921 by Robert L. Smith and George E. Sandland at Vickers Ltd as an
alternative to the Brinell method to measure the hardness of materials.[1] The Vickers test is often easier to use than other
hardness tests since the required calculations are independent of the size of the indenter, and the indenter can be used
for all materials irrespective of hardness. The basic principle, as with all common measures of hardness, is to observe the
questioned material's ability to resist plastic deformation from a standard source. The Vickers test can be used for
all metals and has one of the widest scales among hardness tests. The unit of hardness given by the test is known as
the Vickers Pyramid Number(HV) or Diamond Pyramid Hardness (DPH). The hardness number can be converted
into units of pascals, but should not be confused with pressure, which also has units of pascals. The hardness number is
determined by the load over the surface area of the indentation and not the area normal to the force, and is therefore not
pressure.
R.L. Smith & G.E. Sandland, "An Accurate Method of Determining the Hardness of Metals, with Particular Reference to Those of a High Degree
of Hardness," Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Vol. I, 1922, p 623641.

Brinell hardness is sometimes quoted in megapascals, the Brinell hardness number is multiplied by the acceleration due to
gravity, 9.81 m/s2, to convert it to megapascals. The BHN can be converted into the ultimate tensile strength (UTS),
although the relationship is dependent on the material, and therefore determined empirically. The relationship is based on

Meyer's index (n) from Meyer's law. If Meyer's index is less than 2.2 then the ratio of UTS to BHN is 0.36. If Meyer's index
is greater than 2.2, then the ratio increases. [1]
BHN is designated by the most commonly used test standards (ASTM E10-12 [2] and ISO 65061:2005[3]) as HBW (H from
hardness, B from brinell and W from the material of the indenter, tungsten (wolfram) carbide). In former standards HB or
HBS were used to refer to measurements made with steel indenters.
HBW is calculated in both standards using the SI units as

7.0

Tabor, David (2000), The Hardness of Metals, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-850776-3.

Questions
1. How do the Rockwell and Brinell tests actually measure hardness? Give
any appropriate sketches and formulae. Are there any units involved?

The typical test uses a 10 millimetres (0.39 in) diameter steel ball as an indenter with a 3,000 kgf (29 kN; 6,600 lbf) force.
For softer materials, a smaller force is used; for harder materials, a tungsten carbide ball is substituted for the steel ball.
The indentation is measured and hardness calculated as:

HBW is calculated in both standards using the SI units as

2. Describe the procedure for the Rockwell test, explaining the reason for the
pre-load.
Test

Method

Illustration

A = Depth reached by indenter after application of preload (minor load)

B
=
Position
of
indenter
during
major
load
C = Final position reached by indenter after elastic recovery of sample material
D = Distance measurement taken representing difference between preload and
major load position
First, a preliminary test force (commonly referred to as preload or minor load) is applied to a sample using a diamond indenter. This load represents the
zero or reference position that breaks through the surface to reduce the effects of surface finish.

3. What is the limitation on the thickness of specimens for a hardness test?

Explain. Calculate the minimum thickness for one specimen for the
Rockwell test and one for the Brinell test.
In rockwell make sure the material thickness is at least 10 times the indentation depth when using a
diamond indenter and at least 15 times the indentation depth for a ball type indenter. Examine the underside
of the material to ensure that no deformation of the material is evident.
With the unit of measurement for one regular Rockwell point equal to only 0.002 mm (approx. 0.00008 inch)
Brinell testing often use a very high test load (3000 kgf) and a 10mm wide indenter so that the resulting indentation averages out most surface and subsurface inconsistencies.

4. What are the limitations for distance from specimen edge to indentation
and distance between indentations? Explain why these limitations exist in
both cases.
During specimen testing or coupon block verification, the spacing between indents, as well as from the material edge, must be properly maintained to prevent any
adjacent indents or worked edge from influencing the next test. The accepted criteria is that the distance from the center of any indentation shall be at least three
times the diameter of the indentation In regards to distance from material edge, the distance from the center of any indentation to the edge of the test piece shall
be at least two and one-half times the diameter of the indentation. The purpose for these distances is to ensure that any indentation made is not influenced by work
hardening and flow of material around the previous indentation. Also, the edge distance requirement ensures that the indentation's area of contact permits proper
support.

5. What surface condition is necessary for Brinell, Rockwell and Vickers?

SMOOTH
6. Why is the mean pressure (stress) under the indenter much greater than
the yield stress? How much greater is it? What are the advantages of
Vickers test against Brinell test?
It depends on the hardness of material. For measuring hardness of steel for example, for hardness above 500 HB Vickers will be better.
This is because Brinell tests utilize a hardened steel ball for indenting purposes, while Vickers utilizes a diamond tip. With very hard materials, the ball used for Brinell test can
deform, thus giving inaccurate results. The diamond used for Vickers is more durable and less susceptible to this deformation.
In short, Vickers is better for harder materials.