Module2/ Mechanical Property measurement/ Hardness Test/lecture 4&5

Module2: Mechanical Property measurement/ Hardness Test

Subject: Materials Engineering
Subject Code: ES – ME 401:
Prepared by: Prof. (Dr.) Sourav Kayal

Courses Topics:
(a) Measuring Hardness
(b) Common Concepts of Hardness
(c) Brinell Hardness Test
(d) Rockwell Hardness Test
(e) Vickers Hardness Test
(f) MICRO-HARDNESS TEST: Knoop Hardness Test & The Scleroscope Hardness Test
(g) Relationship between Hardness and Tensile strength
(h) Numerical Problems

Course Learning Objectives

After completing the course, students will be able to:

 Understand Hardness test

 Explain and calculate Brinell Hardness Number
 Understand Rockwell and Vickers Hardness
 Understand micro-hardness test
 Calculate Tensile strength from obtained hardness number
 Solve Numerical Problems related to compression test

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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.

Measuring Hardness: Hardness is indicated in a variety of ways, as indicated by the names of

the tests that follow:
 Static indentation tests: A ball, cone, or pyramid is forced into the surface of the metal
being tested. The relationship of load to the area or depth of indentation is the measure of
hardness, such as in Brinell, Knoop, Rockwell, and Vickers hardness tests.
 Rebound tests: An object of standard mass and dimensions is bounced from the surface
of the workpiece being tested, and the height of rebound is the measure of hardness. The
Scleroscope and Leeb tests are examples.
 Scratch file tests: The idea is that one material is capable of scratching another. The
Mohs and file hardness tests are examples of this type.
 Plowing tests: A blunt element (usually diamond) is moved across the surface of the
workpiece being tested under controlled conditions of load and shape. The width of the
groove is the measure of hardness. The Bierbaum test is an example.
 Damping tests: Hardness is determined by the change in amplitude of a pendulum
having a hard pivot, which rests on the surface of the workpiece being tested. The
Herbert Pendulum test is an example.
 Cutting tests: A sharp tool of given shape is caused to remove a chip of standard
dimensions from the surface of the workpiece being tested.
 Abrasion tests: A workpiece is loaded against a rotating disk, and the rate of wear is the
measure of hardness.
 Erosion tests: Sand or other granular abrasive is impinged on the surface of the
workpiece being tested under standard conditions, and loss of material in a given time is
the measure of hardness. Hardness of grinding wheels is measured by this testing method.
 Electromagnetic testing: Hardness is measured as a variable against standards of known
flux density.
 Ultrasonic testing: A type of indentation test

In the following chapters, most of these methods are covered. However, the focus is on static
indentation tests, because they are the most widely used. Rebound testing is also used
extensively, particularly for hardness measurements on large workpieces or for applications in
which visible or sharp impressions in the test surface cannot be tolerated.

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Common Concepts of Hardness: The hardness test is, by far, the most valuable and most
widely used mechanical test for evaluating the properties of metals as well as certain other
materials. The hardness of a material usually is considered resistance to permanent indentation.
In general, an indenter is pressed into the surface of the metal to be tested under a specific load
for a definite time interval, and a measurement is made of the size or depth of the indentation.
The principal purpose of the hardness test is to determine the suitability of a material for a given
application, or the particular treatment to which the material has been subjected. The ease with
which the hardness test can be made has made it the most common method of inspection for
metals and alloys.
Why so valuable? Principally, the importance of hardness testing has to do with the relationship
between hardness and other properties of material. For example, both the hardness test and the
tensile test measure the resistance of a metal to plastic flow, and results of these tests may closely
parallel each other. The hardness test is preferred because it is simple, easy, and relatively
nondestructive.
Hardness is not a fundamental property of a material. Hardness values are arbitrary, and there are
no absolute standards of hardness. Hardness has no quantitative value, except in terms of a given
load applied in a specified manner for a specified duration and a specified penetrator shape.
Current practice divides hardness testing into two categories: macrohardness and microhardness.
Macrohardness refers to testing with applied loads on the indenter of more than 1 kg and covers,
for example, the testing of tools, dies, and sheet material in the heavier gages. In microhardness
testing, applied loads are 1 kg and below, and material being tested is very thin (down to 0.0125
mm, or 0.0005 in.). Applications include extremely small parts, thin superficially hardened parts,
plated surfaces, and individual constituents of materials.

Brinell Hardness Test: The Brinell hardness test is widely used for testing metals and
nonmetals of low to medium hardness. It is named after the Swedish engineer who developed it
around 1900. The Brinell test is a simple indentation test for determining the hardness of a wide
variety of materials. The test consists of indenting the test material with a 5 or 10 mm diameter
hardened steel or carbide ball on the flat surface of a workpiece (Fig. 1a) subjected to a load of
3000 kg. For softer materials the load can be reduced to 1500 kg or 500 kg to avoid excessive
indentation. The full load is normally applied for 10 to 15 seconds in the case of iron and steel
and for at least 30 seconds in the case of other metals. The load time period is required to ensure
that plastic flow of the metal has ceased. After removal of the load, the resultant recovered round
impression is measured in millimeters using a low-power microscope (Fig. 1b).

Hardness is determined by taking the mean diameter of the indentation (two readings at right
angles to each other) and calculating the Brinell hardness number (HB) by dividing the applied
load by the surface area of the indentation according to the following formula:

𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝑭
HB = = ᴨ
𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝑫(𝑫 𝑫𝟐 𝒅 𝟐 )
𝟐

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Where HB = Brinell Hardness Number (BHN); F = indentation load (in kg); D = diameter of the
ball (in mm); and d = diameter of the indentation on the surface (in mm).

Fig. 1 Brinell indentation process. (a) Schematic of the principle of the Brinell indentation process. (b)
Brinell indentation with measuring scale in millimeters

The resulting BHN has units of kg/ mm2, but the units are usually omitted in expressing the
number. For harder materials (above 500 BHN), the cemented carbide ball is used because the
steel ball experiences elastic deformation that compromises the accuracy of the reading. Also,
higher loads (1500 and 3000 kg) are typically used for harder materials. Because of differences
in results under different loads, it is considered good practice to indicate the load used in the test
when reporting HB readings.

Rockwell Hardness Test: This is another widely used test, named after the metallurgist who
developed it in the early 1920s. It is convenient to use, and several enhancements over the years
have made the test adaptable to a variety of materials.
The Rockwell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond cone
or hardened steel ball indenter, with diameter = 1.6 or 3.2 mm. The indenter is forced into the
test material under a preliminary minor load F0 (Fig. 2A) usually 10 kg. When equilibrium has
been reached, an indicating device, which follows the movements of the indenter and so
responds to changes in depth of penetration of the indenter, is set to a datum position. While the
preliminary minor load is still applied an additional major load of 150 kg (or other value) is
applied with resulting increase in penetration (Fig. 2B). When equilibrium has again been reach,
the additional major load is removed but the preliminary minor load is still maintained. Removal
of the additional major load allows a partial recovery, so reducing the depth of penetration. The
permanent increase in depth of penetration, resulting from the application and removal of the
additional major load is used to calculate the Rockwell hardness number. Advantages of the

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Rockwell hardness method include the direct Rockwell hardness number readout and rapid
testing time.

Figure 2 Sequence of Rockwell Hardness Test

Differences in load and indenter geometry provide various Rockwell scales for different
materials. The most common scales are indicated in Table 1.

Table 1: Common Rockwell hardness scales.

Rockwell Scale Hardness Symbol Indenter Load (kg) Typical Materials Tested

A HRA Cone 60 Carbides, ceramics

B HRB 1.6 mm ball 100 Nonferrous metals

Ferrous metals, tool steels
C HRC Cone 150

Vickers Hardness Test: The Vickers hardness was first introduced in England in 1925 by R.
Smith and G. Sandland. It was originally known as the 136° diamond pyramid hardness test
because of the shape of the indenter. The manufacture of the first tester was a company known as
Vickers-Armstrong Limited, of Crayford, Kent, England. As the test and the tester gained
popularity, the name Vickers became the recognized designation for the test.
The Vickers test method is similar to the Brinell principle in that a defined shaped indenter is
pressed into a material, the indenting force is removed, the resulting indentation diagonals are
measured, and the hardness number is calculated by dividing the force by the surface area of the
indentation. Vickers testing is divided into two distinct types of hardness tests: macro-
indentation and micro-indentation tests. These two types of tests are defined by the forces.
Micro-indentation Vickers (ASTM E 384) is from 1 to 1000 gf and the macro-indentation range
with test forces from 1 to 120 kgf as defined in ASTM E 92.
Test Method: As mentioned previously, the principle of the Vickers test is similar to the
Brinell test, but the Vickers test is performed with different forces and indenters. The Vickers
hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond indenter, in the form

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of a right pyramid with a square base and an angle of 136 degrees between opposite faces
subjected to a load of 1 to 120 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. These length measurements are used to calculate the Vickers hardness
number (HV).
The Vickers hardness number (formerly known as DPH for diamond pyramid hardness) is a
number related to the applied force and the surface area of the measured unrecovered indentation
produced by a square-base pyramidal diamond indenter. The Vickers indenter has included face
angles of 136° (Fig. 3), and the Vickers hardness number (HV) is computer from the following
equation:
𝟏𝟑𝟔𝟎
𝟐𝑭𝑺𝒊𝒏 𝟏.𝟖𝟓𝟒𝑭
HV = 𝟐
𝟐
=
𝒅 𝒅𝟐
Where F is the indentation load in kgf, and d is the mean diagonal of indentation, in mm .

Fig. 3 Diamond pyramid indenter used for the Vickers test and resulting indentation in the workpiece d,
mean diagonal of the indentation in millimeters

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When the mean diagonal of the indentation has been determined the Vickers hardness may be
calculated from the formula, but is more convenient to use conversion tables. 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. Although thoroughly adaptable
and very precise for testing the softest and hardest of materials, under varying loads, the Vickers
machine is a floor standing unit that is more expensive than the Brinell or Rockwell machines.
MICRO-HARDNESS TEST
Knoop Hardness Test: The term micro-hardness test usually refers to static indentations made
with loads not exceeding 1kgf. In 1939, Frederick Knoop and his associates at the former
National Bureau of Standards developed an alternate indenter based on a rhombohedral-shaped
diamond with the long diagonal approximately seven times as long as the short diagonal shown
in fig. 4. The procedure for testing is very similar to that of the standard Vickers hardness test,
except that it is done on a microscopic scale with higher precision instruments. The surface being
tested generally requires a metallographic finish; the smaller the load used, the higher the surface
finish required. Precision microscopes are used to measure the indentations; these usually have a
magnification of around X500 and measure to accuracy of ±0.5 micrometres. Also with the same
observer differences of ±0.2 micrometres can usually be resolved. It should, however, be added
that considerable care and experience are necessary to obtain this accuracy.

Figure 4 Knoop Hardness Test

The Knoop hardness value (HK) is determined according to the formula

𝑭
HK = 14:2 𝟐
𝑫
Where F = load in kg; and D = the long diagonal of the indentor in mm.

The Scleroscope Hardness Test: The Scleroscope test consists of dropping a diamond tipped
hammer, which falls inside a glass tube under the force of its own weight from a fixed height,

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onto the test specimen. The height of the rebound travel of the hammer is measured on a
graduated scale. The scale of the rebound is arbitrarily chosen and consists on Shore units,
divided into 100 parts, which represent the average rebound from pure hardened high-carbon
steel. The scale is continued higher than 100 to include metals having greater hardness. In
normal use the shore scleroscope test does not mark the material under test. The Shore
Scleroscope measures hardness in terms of the elasticity of the material and the hardness number
depends on the height to which the hammer rebounds, the harder the material, the higher the
rebound. Advantages of this method are portability and non marking of the test surface.

The Durometer: The Durometer is a popular instrument for measuring the indentation hardness
of rubber and rubber-like materials. The most popular testers are the Model A used for
measuring softer materials and the Model D for harder materials. The operation of the tester is
quite simple. The material is subjected to a definite pressure applied by a calibrated spring to an
indenter that is either a cone or sphere and an indicating device measures the depth of
indentation.

Relationship between Hardness and Tensile strength:

Tensile strength = k×BHN MPa
k = 3.296 for alloy steel
= 3.342 for Plain Carbon steel.
VHN ≈ BHN
𝑩𝑯𝑵
Rc ≈
𝟏𝟎
Problem: In a Brinell hardness test, a 1500-kg load is pressed into a specimen using a 10-mm-
diameter hardened steel ball. The resulting indentation has a diameter = 3.2 mm. (a) Determine
the Brinell hardness number for the metal. (b) If the specimen is steel, estimate the tensile
strength of the steel.

SOLUTION

Given: F = indentation load = 1500 kg, D = diameter of the ball = 10 mm

d = diameter of the indentation on the surface = 3.2 mm
(a) The Brinell hardness number for the metal can be calculated using the following formula

𝑭 𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎
Brinell Hardness Number = ᴨ =ᴨ = 181.6 BHN
𝑫(𝑫 𝑫𝟐 𝒅 𝟐 ) 𝒙𝟏𝟎(𝟏𝟎 𝟏𝟎𝟐 𝟑.𝟐𝟐 )
𝟐 𝟐
(b) Estimate the tensile strength of the steel:
Tensile strength = k×BHN MPa
Where, k = 3.342 for Plain Carbon steel.
Tensile strength = 3.342 ×181.6 = 606.91MPa

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