CARL VINCENT A.

TAPIL 20 March 2021

BSME 3-1 ME 3216L
Experiment No. 03

Brinell and Rockwell Hardness Testing

I. Objective: Determine the hardness number of different materials.

II. Apparatus: Brinell and Rockwell Hardness tester, microscope, 1/16” Ball indenter,
2.5 mm Ball Indenter, and Diamond Cone Indenter.

1/16” BALL INDENTER 2.5 mm BALL INDENTER

DIAMOND CONE INDENTER

III. Materials: Mild Steel, Cast Iron, Brass, and Aluminum.

MILD STEEL CAST IRON BRASS ALUMINUM

IV. Procedures

Wear appropriate personal protective equipment, safety glasses, and gloves as

there can be any physical injuries.

ROCKWELL HARDNESS TESTING

i. Prepare the sample specimen; ferrous (cast iron and mild steel) and non-
ferrous (aluminum and brass).
ii. Set the BRH tester load to 150 𝑘𝑔𝑓 for ferrous specimens and a 100 𝑘𝑔𝑓 for
non-ferrous specimens.
iii. Insert diamond indenter for ferrous specimens and 1/16” diameter indenter
for non-ferrous specimens.
iv. Mount the test sample on the anvil, assuming that the anvil is at distance from
the indenter.
v. Move the platform by rotating the elevating screw in a clockwise direction. Let
the indenter touch the workpiece or the specimen.
vi. Slowly adjust the elevating screw to apply a minor load of 3 kg, with the larger
dial at 0.
vii. Apply a major load by pushing the lever in the right plane of the machine, it
triggers a turning motion of both pointers.
viii. Larger pointer shall bounce back to stop at a certain point, at rest, wait for 30
seconds, then unload slowly by pulling the lever.
ix. Your final reading shall be at the point where the larger pointer stops after
unloading (Observe proper reading; C-scale for ferrous materials and B-Scale
for non-ferrous material).
x. Turn the elevating screw in a counterclockwise direction to unload the anvil
and move the specimen to a certain position and make three trials for each
material.
 BRINELL HARDNESS TEST
i. Prepare the sample specimen; ferrous (cast iron and mild steel) and non-
ferrous (aluminum and brass).
ii. Set the BRH tester load to 187.5 𝑘𝑔𝑓 for ferrous specimens and 250 𝑘𝑔𝑓 for
non-ferrous specimens.
iii. Insert 2.5 mm diameter indenter for ferrous specimens and 5 mm diameter
indenter for non-ferrous specimens.
iv. Mount the test sample on the anvil, assuming that the anvil is at distance from
the indenter.
v. Move the platform by rotating the elevating screw in a clockwise direction. Let
the indenter touch the workpiece or the specimen.
vi. Slowly adjust the elevating screw to apply a minor load of 3 kg, with the larger
pointer at 0.
vii. Apply a major load by pushing the lever in the right plane of the machine, it
triggers a turning motion of both pointers.
viii. Larger pointer shall bounce back to stop at a certain point, at rest, wait for 1
minute, then slowly unload by pulling the lever.
ix. Turn the elevating screw in a counterclockwise direction to unload the anvil
with the specimen.
x. Take out the specimen and make measurements with the indention diameter
by using a Brinell Microscope.
xi. Make another trial by moving the specimen to another position.

V. Data Gathering and Analysis:

ROCKWELL HARDNESS
Sample No. of Indenter Major Scale Reading Average
Trials Load (kg) Reading
CAST IRON 1 Diamond 18
(FERROUS) 2 Cone 150 C 24 23
3 Indenter 27
MILD STEEL 1 Diamond 13
(FERROUS) 2 Cone 150 C 14 12.67
3 Indenter 11
BRASS 1 1/6” Ball 65
(NON- 2 Indenter 100 B 73 70
FERROUS) 3 72
ALUMINUM 1 1/6” Ball 73
(NON- 2 Indenter 100 B 73 72.67
FERROUS) 3 72
 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 1 + 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 2 + 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 3
𝐴𝑣𝑔. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 =
3

CAST IRON:

18 + 24 + 27
𝐴𝑣𝑔. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 = = 23 𝐻𝑅𝐶
3

MILD STEEL:

13 + 14 + 11
𝐴𝑣𝑔. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 = = 12.67 𝐻𝑅𝐶
3

BRASS:

65 + 73 + 72
𝐴𝑣𝑔. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 = = 70 𝐻𝑅𝐶
3

ALUMINUM:

73 + 73 + 72
𝐴𝑣𝑔. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 = = 72.67 𝐻𝑅𝐶
3

BRINELL HARDNESS
Sample No. of Indenter Major Load Reading Avg. BHN (HB)
Trials (𝑘𝑔𝑓 ) reading
CAST 1 2.5 mm Ball 1.0
IRON 2 Indenter 187.5 1.1 1.07 mm 198.49
3 1.1
1.0 + 1.1 + 1.1
𝐴𝑣𝑔. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 = = 1.07 𝑚𝑚
3

2𝑃
𝐵𝐻𝑁 = , 𝐻𝐵
𝜋𝐷(𝐷 − √𝐷 2 − 𝑑2 )

Where: P= Applied load or force, 𝑘𝑔𝑓

D= Diameter of indenter, mm
d= Diameter of indention, mm
 2(187.5 𝑘𝑔)
𝐵𝐻𝑁 = = 198.49 𝐻𝐵
𝜋(2.5 𝑚𝑚)(2.5 𝑚𝑚 − √[(2.5 𝑚𝑚)2 − (1.07 𝑚𝑚)2 ]

VI. Observations

The Rockwell Test was conducted to measure depth of indentation, while the diameter
was concerned in Brinell testing. Comparing both tests, major load requirements were
greater after conducting the Brinell test compared to that of Rockwell test. The non-ferrous
aluminum was conducted with the greatest number of hardness. The least hardness number
was the ferrous mild steel.
VII. Conclusion
The Brinell and Rockwell experiment are one of the tests that are designed to test the
hardness of a metal specimen (ferrous and non-ferrous). Brinell specifically measure the
diameter, while the Rockwell measure the depth of penetration. Both tests were almost
similar, based on the experiment, Rockwell test solely get its hardness number with a direct
reading while Brinell test has to require further effort in getting the diameter and calculating
the tensile strength. Both experiments are considered to be non-destructive as it did not
cause breakage or any strains against the specimens.
Based in the Rockwell test results, the nonferrous aluminum has the highest value of
average hardness output, which means it is the toughest among the materials used in the
experiment. The result however has viable technical and or human errors, many factors were
unconsidered that may affect the results of the experiment. Hence further experiments shall
merit better maintenance of the machine or even improvements.