HARDNESS TESTING

ASSIGNMENT NO 2
TALAL IQBAL KHAN ME131043 4B

HARDNESS

A material is said to be hard or soft depending how easy it is to be

machined, cut or ground
Its a property that acts as a tool characterizing various mechanical
properties of materials
Has close relations with other mechanical properties such as strength
ductility and fatigue of material
It is primarily associated to surface and therefore hard to define
Generally it can be defined as resistance of a material to permanent
deformation of its surface
The three main methods of measuring hardness are
(1)Scratch hardness test: if material stressed by scratching
(2)Indentation hardness test: if material stressed by indentation
(3)Dynamic hardness test: if material stressed by impact

SCRATCH HARDNESS

Oldest method of hardness measurement

Based on ability of materials to get scratched by other materials
The material om which scratch is left is softer than other
For hardness measurement through this method Mohs devised a numerical
scale consisting of ten materials arranged in the order of increased hardness
from 1 to 10. Diamond was the hardest and talc was softest

INDENTATION HARDNESS

Most widely used in industries and laboratories

An indenter of specified geometry is allowed to penetrate the surface of
selected material under given static load
This results in material undergoing plastic deformation
Hardness is expressed on the basis of depth or size of impression or load
applied

BRINELL HARDNESS TEST

First clearly defined by Brinell in 1900 and is oldest method

This method is based on measurement of impression size made by steel ball
under a known load

 The indenter used is normally of diameter 10 mm and under a

known load of normally 30 KN
For indenters of different diameter the principal is that similar
geometrical impressions have proportionate diameters that are
produced which give same value of hardness provided that load
applied is proportionate to the square of ball diameter
P=kD^2 where k is load factor and is different for different
materials
Meyer a scientist stated that for spherical indenters the load does
not always vary as square of D he suggested that
P= d^n

Here n is Meyers index and its value is 2 for soft materials and
2.5 for hard materials

ERRORS

The greatest error that may be encountered in evaluation of

brinell hardness is the deviation in the measured diameter of
impression from actual one
Caused due to localized deformation which results in
irregularities
Ridging or sinking in are the type of irregularities produced
In ridging it involves the pile up of metal at the rim of
impression, the diameter of impression is more than actual
diameter
Sinking in causes depression or sinking of metal in which the
diameter of impression is less than actual
In both cases there will be errors
Ridging commonly found in cold worked metals whereas
sinking is found in annealed metals
Error may also occur due to flattening of steel ball under load
particularly when load is above 400bhn

To avoid this indenter should be checked for plastic

deformation
High carbon steels are preferred which are hardened and
reduce chances of flattening of ball

PRECAUTIONS

The surface of specimen should be free from oil dirt scale or

pits before test is performed
Specimen should be flat and normal to indenter
The thickness of work piece must be at least ten times the
depth of indentation to avoid formation of any bulge on
reverse side of work piece
The test is designed for static loading so loading must be
gentle
Too rapid loading lead to damage of indenter and wrong
results
Thin hard components should not be tested on brinell machine
for the reason stated above

ADVANTAGES AND APPLICATION OF

BRINELL TEST

Test is easy to perform

Makes use of hardened steel ball suitable for determination of
harness of heterogeneous materials such as grey cast iron
Test also suitable for unhardened steel and nonferrous metals and
alloys
Rechecking of harness data is possible

Test can also be used to determine tensile strength and endurance

limit of certain metals and alloys

Brinell hardness is a function of carbon content in steels therefore

method provides rapid estimation of approximate carbon content in

steels

DISADVANTAGES OF BRINELL TEST

The brinell hardness number is dependent on load

Hardened steels and its components cannot be tested by this

method because of limited range of hardness that can be measured
by this method due to fear of flattening of indenter
It creates large size of impression which is undesirable especially
for small and thin components. Moreover deep and large
indentations spoil the surface

VICKERS HARDNESS TEST

Its the most accurate method of harness measurement and it
incorporates advantages of both brinell and Rockwell and
overcomes the disadvantages associated with them
Load from 10N to 1200 N can be applied and there is no limiting
range of hardness measurement
A diamond pyramid indenter of square base and a smoothed off
point is used the angle is set to 136degree so that geometrically
similar indentations are obtained at all loads on a given material
The hardness is thus independent of load
The impression obtained is pyramidal
VHN=(1.845P)/L^2

SOURCES OF ERRORS

May occur due to measuring diagonal length irregularities as that

in brinell may also be observed

PRECAUTIONS

Same as those of brinell

ADVANTAGES AND APPLICATIONS

For homogenous materials the value of hardness remains constant

irrespective of load applied
Except for light load
Most accurate method of hardness test so highly used for research

Materials with hardness from much low to much high can be tested
Since the size of indentation is small hence component tested can
be used in industries
The method is suitable for measuring hardness of thin superficially
hardened components such as surface hardened components
With pyramid indenter the measurement of diagonal length is
much easier as compared to brinell

DISADVANTAGES

Its more time consuming not suitable for routine works where large
no of samples are to be tested
Not suitable for determining hardness of materials with
heterogeneous microstructures
It more expensive

ROCKWELL HARDNESS TEST

Most widely used in engineering industries where mass production

is carried out
This test is more rapid than the previous two methods
It directly gives value of hardness indicated on machine dial
Firstly a minor load of 100N is applied to seat the work piece and
to overcome errors that may be encountered due to surface
roughness
Then major loads of 600N, 980N and 1470N are applied
depending on geometry of indenter and hardness of material
Here two types of indenters are used the first is hardened steel ball
0f 1.58mm diameter and other is spheroconical indenter with its
apex angle equal 120 degree having rounded tip of radius 0.2mm

PRECAUTIONS
Same as for previous hardness test except surface penetration is
not important
Since a minor load is used a dirt free and grease free surface is
enough to produce results without errors

ERRORS

May be encountered while performing hardness test on curved

surfaces depending on curvature

Special fixtures or anvils are to be used to minimize such errors

ADVANTAGES

Very rapid for hardness measurement

Hardened steels and nonferrous metals can be tested with
reasonable accuracy
Use of minor loads reduces levels of surface finished required
Relatively lower load and pointed indenter causes no destruction to
surface of component

DISADVANTAGES

Depth of thickness should not exceed 1/8th of material

No test should be performed near closer to the edge of material

KNOOP HARDNESS (MICROHARDNESS)

Used particularly for brittle material or thin sheets where only a

small indentation is to be made
The indentation is so small that a microscope is used to see the
Hardness

PRECAUTIONS

Metallographic surfaces need to be prepared before testing

The load applied must be such that the depth of indent must be
about 20% or less of coating thickness

ERRORS
Polishing should be carried out carefully to avoid any surface work
hardening otherwise error will be encountered
If possible it should be done electrolytically

APPLICATIONS

Hardness of thin materials such as foils, ribbons and small

diameter wires
Small precision parts such as those of watch
Used to determine hardness gradient in surface hardened
components
Hardness of cutting tools, teeth of hacksaw blade, surgical needles,
ball pen and etc

SHORE HARDNESS TESTING

A small pointed indenter is made to fall within a glass tube from a
standard height of 250mm against surface of specimen
The top height of rebound of hammer is a measure of shore
hardness ,its expressed as a number
The device used is scleroscope
The instrument consists of glass tube accurately aligned on vertical
position through which hammer is guided during its downward fall
The hammer is raised to top of tube by air suction device
When hardness test is to be performed the air bulb is pressed by
hand to actuate an air valve which releases mechanical catch and
allows hammer to fall on surface of specimen
Within the glass tube is inscribed the scleroscope hardness scale
against which the first rebound is noted

 KHN=(P)/(L^2*C)

PRECAUTIONS

A specimen weighing less than 1kg should be backed by massive

support or else be clamped to avoid inertial effects
The specimen must be clamped
Several readings should be taken to minimize errors

ADVANTAGES AND APPLICATIONS

Very fast and simple

Impression left on surface is invisible
Instrument is portable
Used in hardness of finished components such as lathe machine
crank shafts and etc