BSEE 4

Subject: ENSC 20103

(Materials Science & Engineering)
Lesson 3
Properties of Engineering Materials
(cont’d: Hardness of Metals)

Oct 23, 2023

10:30am – 12:30pm
 Materials Science and Engineering
Properties of Engineering Materials
Mechanical Properties of Metals
1. Strength
2. Stiffness
3. Elasticity
4. Plasticity
5. Ductility
6. Brittleness
7. Malleability
8. Toughness
9. Machinability
10. Resilience
11. Creep
12. Fatigue
13. Hardness
 Materials Science and Engineering
Properties of Engineering Materials
Mechanical Properties of Metals

13. Hardness.
• The resistance of a metal to attempts to deform it.
 Materials Science and Engineering

Metal Hardness Testing: Methods & Scales

1. Brinell Hardness
2. Rockwell Hardness
3. Vickers Hardness
4. Shore Scleroscope
 Materials Science and Engineering
Properties of Engineering Materials
Challenges of measuring metal hardness
• Hardness is not an intrinsic (inherent/natural) material
property.
• The result can change from one material sample to
another. This is especially true for a metal like iron,
which can appear in many different forms.
• Thus, different methods will produce different results for
the same material.
• Though, there are conversion tables available that can
be used to convert between one hardness scale method
to another.
 Materials Science and Engineering
Properties of Engineering Materials
Mechanical Properties of Metals (Hardness).
(a) Brinell Hardness test
• One of the first widely accepted.
• It involves pressing a ball of steel (or tungsten
carbide for harder materials) into the test piece at a
constant and known force. The softer the material,
the deeper the ball will penetrate and vice versa.
• The next step is to take a measurement of the
diameter of the resulting impression, followed by a
calculation, typically in megapascals, to determine
the Brinell hardness scale.
 Materials Science and Engineering
Properties of Engineering Materials
Mechanical Properties of Metals (Hardness).
(b) Rockwell Hardness test:
• The most commonly used method.
• The value of Rockwell hardness is accompanied by
the scale used.
• Comparison of two indentations made in a
material. One made with a small load, and the
other with a large load.
• A unique feature is that it correlates linearly with
material tensile strength
• It’s generally reserved for harder materials.
 Materials Science and Engineering
Properties of Engineering Materials
Mechanical Properties of Metals (Hardness.)
(c) Vickers Hardness
• Sometimes called Diamond Pyramid test
• Uses a square-based pyramid shaped diamond to impress into
the material. The impression is then measured; the size of the
impression determines how far it was pushed into the
material. A formula is then applied to determine the hardness
of the material.
• Especially suitable for softer materials that do not need high
loads as it provides better accuracy.
• The width of a square impression is much easier to measure
than a circle. This means that you can use the same formula
(no matter the size of the indenter) as well as the same
indenter for all material types, unlike many other methods.
 Materials Science and Engineering
Properties of Engineering Materials
Mechanical Properties of Metals (Hardness.)
(d) Shore scleroscope
• A scleroscope is a device used to measure the
rebound or dynamic hardness of materials.
• The setup consists of a hollow vertical glass tube
connected to a stand.
• Through this tube, a diamond hammer is dropped
onto the test piece and the bounce of the
hammer is recorded.
 Materials Science and Engineering

Take Aways and Assignment:

1. Relax and Enjoy Studying
2. Don’t hesitate to ask questions
3. Solve Assignment Problems
4. Advanced Reading for next Topic
5. Pray……
6. Ingatz….
 Materials Science and Engineering

That’s all for today class,

God bless
and see you next meeting…