HARDNESS TEST

HARDNESS TEST

Hardness: It is the resistance of material surface to occurs any

variation on it under loads as scratch, indentation, abrasion. No
single measure of hardness, universally applicable to all
materials, has yet been devised.
 Indentation hardness: Resistance of a material to permanent
indentation under static or dynamic load.
 Rebound hardness: Energy absorption under impact loads.
 Scratch hardness: Resistance of a material to scratching.
 Wear hardness: Resistance of a material to abrasion.
 Machinability: Resistance of a material to cutting or drilling.

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 HARDNESS TEST
STATIC INDENTATION HARDNESS TESTS
Because of the simplicity of the indentation hardness
tests, they have become one of the important quality
control tests of metals and they are considered as
non-destructive tests. The Brinell, Vickers and Rockwell
tests are the most commonly used as the static
indentation hardness tests.

1- Brinell hardness test

In this test, the hardness of a
metal is obtained from the
dimensions of the impression
made by a steel ball after the
ball has been pressed into the
metal under a known load.
Hydraulic Brinell hardness
testing machine 3
 HARDNESS TEST

Brinell hardness number (BHN) =

When the depth of indentation is to be measured,

a hardness number is computed from the depth of
the indentation by using the following equation: P

BHN = D

D 1
Where h  D2  d2 Indenter h
2 2
Specimen
Then,
2P
BHN = kg/mm 2 d

πD(D  D 2  d 2 ) Indentation

D is the diameter of the indenter in mm, Schematic representation of

d is the diameter of the impression in mm, Brinell Indentation
P is the load on a ball in kg,
h is the depth of the impression in mm, and
A is the spherical area of impression = Dh
Then, Brinell hardness number (BHN) = P/A 4
 HARDNESS TEST
There is an empirical relationship, for steels, between the tensile
strength and BHN which may be expressed as follows:
u = BHN x 0.36 (kg/mm2)
u = BHN x 0.22 (ton/in2)
u = BHN x 500 (psi)

In spite of the Brinell test is a simple one to make, several

precautions are necessary in order to obtain good results. These
precautions are as follows:
 It is not adapted to testing extremely hard materials, because the
ball itself may deform.
 It is not satisfactory for testing thin pieces such as razor blades,
because the usual indentation may be greater than the thickness of
the piece.
 It is not adapted to testing case hardened surfaces, because the
depth of the indentation may be greater than the thickness of the
case and because the yielding of the soft cores.

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 HARDNESS TEST

 Thickness of test specimen should be at least 10 times the depth

of indentation (h).
 Specimen surface should be cleaned and polished
 Full load must be applied for 15-30 sec.

Relation between hardness number and tensile strength of some metals

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 HARDNESS TEST
If an indentation is made too near the edge of the specimen or too close
to a previous one, it may be too large owing to lack of sufficient
supporting material. However, tests have shown that the error may be
neglected if the distance of the center of the indentation from the edge
of the specimen or from the center of adjacent indentations is equal to
or greater than 2.5 times or 4 times the diameter of the indentation
respectively.
2.5d 4d

The size of the balls used is: 10, 5, 2 and 1 mm diameters according to:
- The structure of the metal,
- Size of indentation and dimensions of specimen
- Load applied.
The relation between the applied load P (kg) and the diameter of the
ball D (mm) obtained from d/D= 0.25-0.5 and P/d2= const., then
P
 K (const.)
D2 7
 HARDNESS TEST

The specifications specify particular sizes of D balls and certain

values for the constants are shown in this table

P Load (kg) for indicated ball diameter

Material 2 BHN
D D=1 mm D=2 mm D=5 mm D=10 mm
Steel & materials of similar
30 30 120 750 3000 >160
hardness
Copper alloys & materials of
10 10 40 250 1000 60-160
similar hardness (light)
Copper & materials of similar
5 5 20 125 500 20-60
hardness (very light)
Lead, tin & materials of similar
1 1 4 25 100 < 20
hardness (soft)

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2- Vickers hardness test
The Vickers hardness tester is somewhat similar to the Brinell in
that an indentation is made and the hardness number is determined
from the ratio P of the load exerted by a mass P ( in kgs) to the
contact surface area A of the indentation ( in mm2) .
The indenter is a square-based diamond
pyramid in which the angle between the
opposite face is 136º. The mass may be
carried from 1 to 120 kg

Vickers Hardness Number (VHN)


2 P sin
VHN  2  1 .8544 P kg / mm 2
d2 d2
Where
d is the arrange length of the two diagonals
of the impression in mm,
 is the angle of apex = 136, and
P is the load in kg. 9
 HARDNESS TEST
One advantage of the Vickers machine over the Brinell machine lies
in the shape of the indentation: A much more accurate reading can
be taken from the diagonal of a square than can be taken from the
diameter of a circle, where the measurement must be made between
two tangents. The Vickers machine provides a fairly rapid method of
measuring hardness and can be used on metal as thin as 0.15 mm. It
is said to be accurate for hardness as high as 1300 (about 850 BHN).
This method is useful for obtaining hardness for case hardened
surfaces.

3- Rockwell hardness test

The indenter or "penetrator" may be either a steel ball of diameter
1/16" (1.41 mm) or a diamond cone with somewhat rounded of 0.2
mm radius.
The Rockwell test differs from the Brinell test in that the indenters
and the loads are smaller (the masses being 60, 100, 150 kg), and
that the resulting indentation is smaller and shallower. It is faster
because it gives direct readings. Therefore the Rockwell test is
widely used in industrial work. 10
 HARDNESS TEST

Several different scales may be utilized from possible combinations

of various indenters and different loads, which permit the testing
of virtually all metal alloys (as well as some polymers). Each scale is
represented by a letter of the alphabet; several are listed with the
corresponding indenter and load in this table.

Major
Scale Penetrator Material for which scale is used
load

Diamond Hardness steel and extremely hard metal when small

Rockwell A 60 kg
Cone impressions are required.

Steel ball Mild steel, medium carbon steel, sheet

Rockwell B 1/16 100 kg steel, soft steel and bars hardness steels,
diameter hardened and tempered.

Diamond Steel, alloy steel, material harder than

Rockwell C 150 kg
Cone Rockwell B 100.

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 HARDNESS TEST
A Rockwell test is made by slowly elevating a specimen against the
indenter until a minor load has been applied; as indicated by an
index hand on a dial gage, minor load = 10 kg. Dial of apparatus is
then set at zero. A major load is then applied by releasing a load
lever system (major load = 60, 100 or 150 kg) as shown in Figure.
The major load is removed and, with the minor load still acting, the
Rockwell hardness number is read on the dial gage. The utilization
of a minor load enhances test accuracy

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Dynamic hardness
The hardness measured by this instrument is often referred to as
rebound hardness. Scleroscope hardness is expressed by a number
given by the height of rebound of small pointed hammer after
falling within a glass tube from a height of 10 in (254 mm) against
the surface of the specimen. The height of rebound is measured
against a scale graduated into 140 equal parts.
Scratch hardness
The materials are arranged with respect to their ability to scratch
each other. Scale is set up in terms of several materials, each of
which will just scratch the material of next lower hardness number.
Moh was the first to give mineralogists a scratch hardness scale,
talc being at one end and diamond at the other.
Wear hardness
The wear hardness is the resistance of the material surface to
abrasion or wear and it measured by abrasion test, which is
performed by pressing the sample against the surface of a rotating
table to which an abrasive powder is applied.
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Machinability
It is the resistance of the material to cutting or drilling; the hardness
is measured as the depth of a hole made by a special drill in a given
time, while running at a constant speed and pressure.
Example 1
A Brinell test was carried out on a steel specimen using a ball of 10 mm in
diameter, if the diameter of indentation was 4.26mm. Calculate the BHN
and tensile strength of the test specimen (K= 30)

Solution
D = 10 mm, d = 4.26 mm,
K = P/D2 = 30 P = 30 x 100 = 3000 Kg
2P
BHN = kg / mm 2
D ( D  D2  d 2)
3000 x 2
  200.55 Kg/mm2
 x 10 x (10  100  ( 4 . 26 )

σu (kg/mm2) = BHN x 0.36 = 0.36 x 200.55 = 72.2 Kg/mm2

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