Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Easy to perform Quick - 1 to 30 seconds Relatively inexpensive Non-destructive Finished parts can be tested - but not ruined Virtually any size and shape can be tested Practical QC device - incoming, outgoing
Hardness is determined by taking the mean diameter of the indentation and calculating the Brinell hardness number (BHN or HB) by dividing the applied load by the surface area of the indentation according to following formula :
where P is load in kg; D ball diameter in mm; and d is the diameter of the indentation in mm.
The Brinell hardness number followed by the symbol HB without any suffix numbers denotes standard test conditions using a ball of 10 mm diameter and a load of 3,000 kg (300 N) applied for 10 to 15 s. For other conditions, the hardness number and symbol HB are supplemented by numbers indicating the test conditions in the following order: diameter of ball, load, and duration of loading. For example, 75 HB 10/500/30 indicates a Brinell hardness of 75 measured with a ball of 10 mm diameter and a load of 500 kg applied for 30s.
For example: HV 300 corresponds to a Sigma-y of approximately 1000 MPa. An approximate relationship between the hardness and the tensile strength (of steel) is ,
Where HB is the Brinnell Hardness of the material, as measured with a standard indenter and a 3000 kgf load .
There are two types of Rockwell tests: Rockwell :the minor load is 10 kgf, the major load is 60, 100, or 150 kgf . Superficial Rockwell :the minor load is 3 kgf and major loads are 15, 30, or 45 kgf . In both tests, the indenter may be either a diamond cone or steel ball, depending upon the characteristics of the material being tested Aluminum alloys, copper alloys and soft steels are tested with 1/16 diameter steel ball at 100 kgf load (Rockwell hardness scale B). Harder alloys and hard cast iron are tested with the diamond cone at 150 kgf (Rockwell hardness scale C). An example of Rockwell test result: 53 HRC. It means 53 units, measured in the scale C by the method HR (Hardness Rockwell).
The size of the indent is determined optically by measuring the two diagonals of the square indent .The Vickers hardness number is a function of the test force divided by the surface area of the indent.
P HV (1.8544) 2 d
The constant is a function of the indenter geometry and the units of force and diagonal. The Vickers number, which normally ranges from HV 100 to HV1000 for metals, will increase as the sample gets harder. A typical Vickers hardness is specified as follows:
356HV0.5
Where 356 is the calculated hardness and 0.5 is the test force in kg.
Chart for converting various hardness scales. Note the limited range of most scales. Because of the many factors involved, these conversions are approximate.