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Practical Classtest no: - 2

Title: To determine Rockwell hardness test.

Subject: - Engineering Materials

Name: - Bhosale Vaibhav Naganath
Roll No: - M2A03
Faculty: - Mr. Bhalawankar M. Sir

Aim:-
To determine Rockwell hardness test.

Introduction: -
Introduction-The hardness of metal, in this test, is co-related with the depth of
indentation which is inversely proportional to hardness of the test piece. The test is
direct
reading type & calculations are not involved. The following indenter are used:
1) Hard steel ball of 116,18,14,or12 inch diameter, or

2) Square base pyramid diamond indenter with inscribed angle between opposite
faces of 120oThe load is applied in two stages. First a minor load of 10 kg is applied by
pressing the specimen against the indenter by raising the anvil. The major load of 60,100
or 150 kg is applied depending on processing of metals.

Principle: -

This is special purpose test is used for measuring surface hardness of component
byobtaining shallow impressions. The dial is having 100 equal division similar in
Rockwell test. Each division is inversely calibrated to 1micron depth of indentation
equal to unit of hardness value.
The minor load is 3 kg and major load is 15, 30, or 45 kg. The indenter used are same
as
Rockwell test. Different scales as N, T, W, and X & Y are used for different indenters
and
major load is written before the scale letter while reporting the hardness number.
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Procedure: -

1. Test step
First, the indenter is pressed with the test pre-force (also referred to as pre-force or preload) to
a penetration depth of h0 in the specimen to be tested. h0defines the reference level (basis) for
subsequent measurement of the residual indentation depth (h).
2. Test step
Next, the additional test force is applied for a dwell period defined in accordance with the
standard (several seconds), whereby the indenter penetrates into the specimen to a maximum
indentation depth of h1. The test pre-force plus the additional test force gives the total test force
(also referred to as total force or main load).
3. Test step
After the dwell period, the additional test force is removed, the indenter moves up by the elastic
proportion of the penetration depth in the total test force and remains at the level of the residual
indentation depth (h - expressed in units of 0.002 or 0.001 mm). This is also referred to as the
depth differential (difference in indentation depth before and after application of the total test
force). Now the Rockwell hardness (HR) can be calculated, using the residual indentation depth
(h) and a formula defined in the standard, taking account of the applied Rockwell scale.

Advantages: -

• no specimen preparation required (separation, grinding, embedding)

• hardness value directly readable, no optical evaluation required (measurement of
diagonals as in the optical methods)
• quick (short test cycle) and cost-effective process (the relevant hardness testers are
relatively inexpensive, as they do not need to be equipped with elaborate optical
systems, such as those used in Brinell, Vickers and Knoop machines)
• non-destructive testing; the test specimen can be used for other purposes.

Limitations: -

• It is not always the most accurate hardness testing method, as even a slight error in
measuring the depth difference can result in a significant error in the calculated
hardness value.
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• The test location must be completely free of all contamination (e.g. scale, foreign bodies
or oil) in order to achieve a meaningful test result.
• The indenter has unknown effects on the test results, e.g. if the indenter is worn and the
point of the tip is no longer sufficiently acute (only use certified and calibrated indenters
in order to minimise such effects!).
• With increasing hardness, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between
materials.

Practical Applications: -

• Type of indenter (material, shape and size or ball diameter);

• Magnitude of total test force (total force or main load);
• Scale division (basis h0 for the residual indentation depth (h) to be measured is 100 or
130;