Experiment # 04

To perform the Rockwell hardness test and determine the hardness

of the given specimen

1. Apparatus: Rockwell hardness apparatus, metal or alloy specimen, Vernier caliper.

Introduction

2. Hardness

Hardness is the property of the material that tends to resist the penetration in the material.

Hardness is the measure of the ability of the body to resist the deformation in the

material.

Examples of the hard materials include ceramics, concrete, etc. are examples for concrete

materials.

3. Rockwell hardness

Rockwell hardness is a test method designed for measuring the penetration of indent

into the given material. Depending upon the penetration extent we can determine

whether a given material is hard or soft. Greater the inside depth of the indenter in the

material or specimen then this will indicate that material is soft and vice versa.

4. Difference between Rockwell and Super Rockwell hardness

In Rockwell hardness the pre – force is 10kgf while the force for testing or in other

words, one can say the main testing force can vary between 60kgf, 100kgf or 150kgf.
 Super Rockwell hardness is one in which the pre – force is 3kgf and testing force can

vary in range of 15kgf, 30kgf or 45kgf.

5. Advantages of Rockwell hardness test

Following are some advantages of the Rockwell hardness test

1. No need for preparing the geometry of the material.

2. Cost – effective testing procedure as no optical instrument is required.

3. This test do not damage the material and it can be still used for other specific

purposes.

6. Disadvantages of Rockwell hardness test

Following are some disadvantages of Rockwell hardness.

1. Presence of any impurity on work piece or on surface where experiment is to

performed causes considerable losses in accuracy.

2. The wear and tear effects of indenter will contribute to the error in the actual hardness

of the material. Because when the indenter is worn out, it will not give correct

difference between readings measured for Rockwell hardness machine.

7. Composition of different materials

We are familiar with the fact that the properties of a material depends upon its

composition if material is made of high carbon steel i.e. if it contains more carbon then it

will be brittle and will possess more strength than composition of steel containing less

amount of carbon, so as steel contains 0.8 to 2.3.% carbon so type of steel in which

greater quantity of carbon is used such as cast iron is a brittle materials and they break

down easily. While the material like medium strength carbon steel and high carbon steel
 contains significant amount of carbon in it so these are relatively harder and resist more

penetration. So they have greater hardness.

Cast iron contains 2.3 to 4.5% carbon content along with other element such as

manganese, silicon, charomium etc. so presence of these metals make cast iron very hard

material.

8. Factors affecting the hardness of the materials

Following are some factors affecting the hardness of the materials.

1. Temperature

2. Cohesive forces

3. Porosity

7.1. Effect of temperature on hardness

At high temperature the hardness of the material or specimen decreases since increase in

temperature the kinetic energy of the atoms forming the material increases and tries to

expand as a result, the hardness of the material decreases and it progresses towards the

brittle materials.

7.2. Effect of cohesive forces on hardness

Cohesive forces are those force which occur within the homogeneous phase of molecule.

More the cohesive forces less will be volume occupied and also low will be hardness.

8.3. Effect of porosity on hardness

Porosity in a material occurs due to entrapped air bubble in the air that is during

casting.
 Greater will be cooling rate greater will be hardness and the crystal structure of the

material will have fine grain structure.

So, by reducing the porosity the strength of the material is improved and also its

hardness increases during this process.

9. Choice of scales A, B and C

A, B and C scales are selected according to the composition of the specimen under

observations following things should be kept in mind in selection of scale.

9.1. Scale A

Scale has major applied load of 60 kg so this scale is useful for the low strength materials

like low carbon steel

9.2. Scale B

It has the major applied load of 100 kg so suitable for medium strong material like

medium carbon steel etc.

9.3. Scale C

In this scale the major applied load is 150 kg so it is used for high strength material

like high carbo steel.

10. Procedure

Following procedure is followed for the completion of the readings

1. Clean the surface of the Rockwell hardness machine on which work piece will be

tested.

2. Insert the indenter in the hole in chuck of machine.

3. Place the work piece below the indenter and set the indenter by using handle wheel.
 4. Apply the major load on the work piece.

5. Note down the value of the penetration from the calibrated scale.

6. Again remove the major load and note down the value of penetration recovered.

7. Difference between former and later values will give us the hardness number of the

material or work piece.

11. Observations and Calculations

No. of Major Diameter of Material tested E e Rockwell

Obs. load ball hardness
(kg) indenter Number
R=E−e
(in)
1 100 0.0625 Medium Carbon 109 47 62 HRB
Steel
2 100 0.0625 Medium Carbon 107 46.5 60.5 HRB
Steel
3 100 0.0625 Medium Carbon 105. 45 60.5 HRB
Steel 5
4 100 0.0625 Medium Carbon 106. 46.5 60 HRB
Steel 5
5 100 0.0625 Medium Carbon 104. 45 59.5 HRB
Steel 5

12. Discussion

So far from our above discussion it is concluded that greater the penetration of the

indenter in the material smaller will be the hardness of the specimen and the indenter

should be made up of the material stronger than the material of the specimen whose

hardness number is to be tested otherwise the indenter will breakdown without

penetrating into the work piece. The choice of the scale depends upon the type of the

material that we are testing.

13. Comments

The errors in the readings are may be due to following reasons

1. Poor calibration.

2. The presence of any impurities on the surface of work piece or on the surface at

which the work piece was kept is also a cause of errors in the readings.

3. Penetration in the material prior to applying major load is also a cause of errors in the

readings.

4. Over time creep effect are also significant in the machine that has caused errors in the

experimental readings.

14. References

Alias, S. K., Abdullah, B., Jaffar, A., Latip, S. A., Kasolang, S., Izham, M. F., & Ghani,

M. A. A. (2013). Mechanical Properties of Paste Carburized ASTM A516 Steel.

Procedia Engineering, 68, 525–530. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2013.12.216

Dai, G., Herrmann, K., & Menelao, F. (2009). Two approaches for enhancing the

accuracy of the Rockwell hardness test. Measurement Science and Technology,

20(6), 065701. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/20/6/065701