tafila technical university

Faculty engineering

Exp. Name: Brinnel Hardness Test # (3).

Vickers Hardness Test # (4).

Name: Mohammad Nashat Abu-Sabbah.

Lecturer name: Eng. Mohannad Tamimi.

Date of doing this exp.: 17/11/2014.

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1. Objectives :
1. To measure the hardness of material using Brinrell Micro hardness tester.
2. To measure the hardness of material using Vickers hardness tester.

2. Introduction
2.1. Hardness
It is a common practice to test most materials before they are accepted for processing, and
before they are put into service to determine whether they meet the specifications required or
not. One of these tests is for hardness. (Rockwell, knoop, Brinnel, Vickers are the most
common types of hardness tests).
If we look up for the meaning of hardness we will find a various definitions, for example
hardness could be defined as the relative resistance of a metal or other material to denting,
scratching, bending, or the comparative ability of a substance to scratch or be scratched by
another. But the most precise and accurate meaning for it's the measure of a material’s
resistance to localized plastic deformation (e.g., a small dent or a scratch).
There are two types of tests classified upon the destruction criteria:
1- Destructive test. 2- Nondestructive test.
And in our experiment we use hardness test which is nondestructive test (e.g. the specimen
neither fractured nor excessively deformed; a small indentation is the only deformation.)
By using an indentation with a fixed load, the size of the indentation is proportional to the
material's hardness.
And note that these tests are considered to be relative tests; so after we use the empirical
formulas to calculate the hardness of the material the unit of the value conducted is the
hardness test type (HB, KB….etc.), so care is needed when we compare two test results and
this involve that we should combine test type for different tested materials.

2.1.1 Rockwell Hardness Test

The Rockwell tests are established as the most common method used to measure hardness
because they are not complicated to perform. 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).
Indenters include spherical and hardened steel balls and a conical diamond (Brale) indenter,
which is used for the hardest materials.

fig.1: Rockwell Hardness Tester

 There are different scales, denoted by a single letter, that use different loads or indenters.
The result is a dimensionless number noted as HRA, where A is the scale letter.

For example, 20HRC refers to the C scale of the Rockwell Hardness with the value of 20 and
60HR30W refers to the Rockwell Hardness of the value of 60 in the 30W scale.

2.1.2 Brinnel Hardness Test

Dr. J. A. Brinell Swedish researcher invented the Brinell test in Sweden in 1900. Brinell
hardness is determined by forcing a hardened steel or carbide sphere of a specified diameter
D under a specified load F into the surface of a material and measuring the diameter of the
indentation left after the test D1.

Fig.2: Brinnel ball and its impression

The Brinell hardness number, or simply the Brinell number, is obtained by dividing the load
used, in kilograms, by the actual surface area of the indentation, in square millimeters. The
result is a pressure measurement, but the units are rarely stated.
The Brinell hardness test uses a desktop machine to press a (1, 2.5, 5.0, 10) mm diameter of
hardened steel ball into the surface of the test specimen.
The machine applies a load of 500 kilograms for light metals such as copper, brass and thin
stock. A 1500-kilogram load is used for aluminum castings, and a 3000-kilogram load is used
for materials such as iron and steel. The load is usually applied for 10 seconds. After the
impression is made, a measurement of the diameter of the resulting round impression is
taken. It is measured using a low magnification portable microscope.

2.1.3 Knoop Micro hardness Test

The Knoop hardness test is a microhardness test use a very small diamond indenter with
pyramidal geometry which is pressed into the polished surface of the specimen with applied
loads varying from 1 and 1000 g (often 100g) for a certain time.
The resulting impression caused by the pyramidal indenter is measured by microscope after
that we convert it to hardness number HK using the following formula:
14.2 𝑃
𝐻𝐾 =
𝐿^2
Where:
P is the applied load in Kg.
L is the larger diagonal of the indenter.
Knoop test is used for particularly for very brittle materials (ceramics) or thin sheets, where
only a small indentation may be made for testing purposes.

The test was developed by Frederick Knoop and colleagues at the National Bureau of
Standards (now NIST) of the USA in 1939, and is defined by the ASTM E384 standard. The
advantage of the test is we need only a very small sample of material, and that it is valid for a
wide range of test forces. But in the other hand the main disadvantages are the difficulty of
using a microscope to measure the indentation (with an accuracy of 0.5 micrometer), and the
time needed to prepare the sample and apply the indenter. Temperature, load and the
environment may affect this procedure, which have been examined in detail.

fig.3: Knoop diamond indenter and its indentation.

2.1.4 Vickers Micro hardness Test

In fact Vickers microhardness test is similar to Knoop microhardness test. The Vickers
hardness test was developed in 1921 by Robert L. Smith and George E. In his method we
determine the hardness of steel whereby a diamond pyramid is pressed into the polished
surface of the specimen and the diagonals of the impression are measured with a microscope
fitted with a micrometer eye piece. The rate of application and duration are automatically
controlled and the load can be varied (1 to 2000g).
There are many reasons that we perform Vickers microhardness test instead of Brinrell
hardness test, for example if the thickness of the specimen is too small and it have a small
areas or even if it was very hard like high speed steel (H.S.S) and we use it also for brittle
materials.
Two types of indenters are generally used for the Vickers test family, a square base pyramid
shaped diamond for testing in a Vickers hardness tester and a narrow rhombus shaped
indenter for a Knoop hardness test.
The Knoop and Vickers hardness numbers are designated by HK and HV, respectively, and
hardness scales for both techniques are approximately equivalent.
 fig.4: Vickers diamond indenter and its indentation.

3. Materials , Equipment and Experimental procedure

3.1Materials
3.1.1 Materials Brinnel Hardness Test
Specimen of low carbon steel.
3.1.2 Materials Vickers Micro hardness Test
Polished specimen of low carbon steel
3.2 Equipment
3.2.1 Equipment for Brinnel Micro hardness Test
Simple microscope and Brinell hardness testing machine:
1. User load.
2. Brinell ball holder.
3. Device body.
4. Specimen holding stand.

Fig.3: Brinnel hardness test machine.

3.2.2 Equipment for Vickers Microhardness Test
Vickers microhardness test machine with a diamond indenter in the form square pyramid
with angle of 136ᵒ between its opposite faces.

Fig.3: Vickers hardness test machine.

3.3 Experimental Procedure

3.3.1 Experimental Procedure for Brinnel Microhardness Test
The Brinell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a 5mm diameter
hardened steel or carbide ball subjected to a load of 7350N (750 kg).
1. Choose the indenter and place it in the hole of main rod according to the requirement of
the test.
2. Choose a force test according to the type of tested specimen.
3. Slowly pull the control handle to apply the load. And maintain to 10 sec.
4. The control handle is pushed backward to remove the load.
5. The test piece is remover after lowering the anvil.
6. We use readout microscope is used to measure the diameter of the indentation d.

The Brinell hardness number, or simply the Brinell number, is obtained by dividing the load
used, in kilograms, by the actual surface area of the indentation, in square millimeters.

𝐹 𝐹 2𝐹
𝐻𝐵 = = = 𝐸𝑞#(1)
𝐴 𝜋𝐷ℎ 𝜋𝐷. (𝐷 − √𝐷2 − 𝑑 2 )

Where: F = applied force (kg)

 D = diameter of indenter (mm)
d = diameter of indentation (mm)

It was conducted that the load is 24.5 Kg, diameter of indenter was 5.00 mm and the impression or
indentation diameter was 1.85 mm.

3.3.2 Experimental Procedure for Vickers Microhardness Test

1. The load of the indenter according the material of the specimen should be selected. In
the experiment, the load is equal to 500 gf (ferrous material).
2. Then we prepare the surface of the sample to be examined hardness by fine grinding
and polishing.
3. Place the sample on the vise of the tester and the arm of the machine is rotated so that
the distance between the upper surface of the sample and the object lens surface is 0.5
mm where the surface of the specimen is scene with a magnification of 400x.
4. Diamond pyramid is placed above the surface of the sample then running the test.
5. The lengths of indentation diagonals are measured then the average d is calculated and
applied in the Vickers hardness equation.
The Brinell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond
indenter subjected to load of (1 to 2000g) for 10 seconds. After we measure the two diagonal
of the indentation using the microscope we take the average value for them.
Then we calculate the area of slopping surface of the indentation. The Vickers hardness
obtained by the following relation:
𝛼
2𝑝 𝑠𝑖𝑛( 2 ) 1.8544 𝑝
𝐻𝑉 = =
𝑑^2 𝑑^2
Where: p is the load in gf.
d is the average of the diagonals of the indentation in ᶆm
α is the angle between the opposite faces of the diamond pyramid which equals 136ᵒ.

We must prove that there is no difference between the two formulas which used to calculate
the Vickers hardness. To do this, we adopt a certain measurement units and turn all the units
in the equations to these units. The adopted units are millimeter for diagonal length and Kgf
for load. The two equations are:
1- HV=1.8544F/d^2, where F in Kgf and d in mm.
2- HV=1854.4F/d^2, where F in gf and d in μm.
And when we convert the units the formula would be:
HV=1854.4*10-3F*106*10-3/d2=1.8544F/d^2 , where F in Kgf and d in mm.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1Results and Discussion for Brinell Hardness Test

HB equation:
𝐹 𝐹 2𝐹 750
𝐻𝐵 = = = =2∗ = 269.25
𝐴 𝜋𝐷ℎ 𝜋𝐷. (𝐷 − √𝐷 2 − 𝑑2 ) 3.14 ∗ 5(5 − √52 − 1.852 )
Table 1.HB Brinell hardness number according the diameter of indenter and the diameter of indentation.
Diameter of the indentation (mm) HB
𝑑10 : 2𝑑5 : 5𝑑2.5
3.7 278

According to the table the diameter of indenter is 5mm and the relation is 2𝑑5 the
diameter of the indentation is 1.85 mm why multiply by 2 according to relation so it 3.7
and by using the table we get HB equal to 278 .
278−269.25
Error = ∗ 100% = 3.249%
269.25

4.2Results and Discussion for Vickers Micro Hardness Test

Table 2.HV Vickers hardness number according the diameter of indenter.
# d1 d2 davg HV
1 54.5 53.2 53.85 319.74
2 54.6 53.9 54.25 315.0459
3 52.4 54.9 53.45 324.54
Average ----- ------- ------ 319.78

5. References:
www.farasia.com.cn
www.apmtesting.com
www.substech.com