Hardness Test

Objective:

Make Brinell and Vickers hardness measurements on different materials specimens. And compare
measurements.

Apparatus Required:

 (DUROLINE-M) MICROHARDNESS TESTER Fig.20.

 Diamond indenters.
 Calibration block.
 Hardness specimens: steel, brass, aluminum.

1. Front panel
2. Elevation table handle
3. Holder column (screwed)
4. X-Y table
5. 10X-40X objective
6. Vickers Indentor
7. Right measurement knob
8. Left measurement knog
9. Read button
10. 10X oculer
11. Camera adapter hole
Introduction:
Hardness can be defined as resistance to penetration,
resistance to abrasion, resistance to scratching, or
resistance to cutting. These are related in that they all
require plastic flow of the material. A variety of tests for
hardness are in use, depending on which of the above
situations is of most interest. Material properties, such as
hardness can be altered to desired levels by various heat
treatment procedures. Heat treatments affect the
microstructure of the metal. Detailed descriptions of the
changes to the microstructure can be found in material
lecture notes.

This experiment will include Brinell, Vickers and Rockwell

tests which measure resistance to penetration. The amount of deformation that occurs when a
small, hard steel ball or diamond point is pressed into a material surface at some designated load
is the measure of the hardness of the material. Mohrs scale of Hardness
The Mohs scale of hardness is used to compare the hardness or scratch resistance of
minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material. The scale is based on
ten minerals (see table 7.1). It starts with the lowest value 1 which is given to talc, and ends with
the highest value 10 which is given to diamond. The higher the number the harder the mineral.
The softest mineral, talc, can be used in body powder and the hardest is diamond the scale is not a
linear scale, but somewhat arbitrary
The Mohs Hardness Scale is a relative scale. This means that a mineral will scratch any
substance lower on the scale and will be scratched by any substance with a higher number.
The hardness of a material is measured using the Mohs scale by finding the hardest material
that the given material can scratch, and/or the softest material that can scratch the given material.

Theory:

VICKERS HARDNESS TEST

The Vickers hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond
indenter, in the form of a right pyramid with a square base and an angle of 136 degrees between
opposite faces subjected to a load of 1 to 100 kgf. The full load is normally applied for 10 to 15
seconds. The two diagonals of the indentation left in the surface of the material after removal of
the load are measured using a microscope and their average calculated. The area of the sloping
surface of the indentation is calculated. The Vickers hardness is the quotient obtained by dividing
the kgf load by the square mm area of indentation.

P is the load and it can be varied from 1 to 1000 grams

d is the average diagonal diameter of indentation [mm]
When the mean diagonal of the indentation has been determined the Vickers hardness may be
calculated from the above formula. The Vickers hardness should be reported like 800 HV/10,
which means a Vickers hardness of 800, was obtained using a 10 kgf force.
The advantages of the Vickers hardness test are that extremely accurate readings can be taken,
and just one type of indenter is used for all types of metals and surface treatments.

BRINELL HARDNESS TEST

 The Brinell test for this experiment uses steel ball with different diameters which is pressed into
a specimen by a different load that is maintained for 15 to 30 seconds. The Brinell hardness
number (BHN) is calculated by:

Where:
P is the test load [kg]
D is the diameter of the ball [mm]
d is the average impression diameter of indentation [mm]
Since the Brinell number is based on the area of indentation, the diameter of the indentation must
be measured. This is done with a microscope. The scale seen through Hardness Test 2/5 the
microscope is in millimeters. The larger diameter indentation corresponds to a softer material
and lower Brinell number.

the microscope is in millimeters. The larger diameter indentation corresponds to a softer

material and lower Brinell number.

Procedure:

The hardness tests are carried out under the supervision of the lab
Instructor.
General procedure:
1. The specimen was placed on the vice.
2. The indenter was lowered until it just touches the specimen surface.
3. The appropriate load (F = 2kgf) was set for the indenter for 10 seconds.
4. The indenter was allowed to penetrate the specimen surface.
5. Load was removed and indenter was raised from specimen surface.
6. The appropriate parameter (diameter) of the indentation was measured.
7. The hardness value was computed.
8. The above steps were repeated for 8 times at different locations on the specimen and the
average value was computed.
Data Collection:

Record the results in table 7.2.

Material D1 D2 HV D1 D2 HV D1 D2
Aluminum 108.4 107.9 135.6 133.1 168.58 159.1
9 3 3 6 7
135.6 133.1 119.7 97.46 128.28 125.5
3 6 6 6
Brass 91.21 91.21 93.58 93.58 101.33 101.3
3
92.25 87.01 81.38 81.38 123.16 121.0
6 9

Results and Conclusion:

1. Take average of five values of indentation of each specimen. Obtain the hardness number
from the dial of a machine.

A. Aluminum: The hardness Vickers was 0.0222 when we applied 1000gf, then the value of Hv
decrease when applied

2. Compare Vickers and Knop hardness tests obtained.