ENGINEERING MATERIALS I

CH-5 HARDNESS & HARDNESS TESTING

Vickers hardness test

The Vickers hardness test was developed
in the early 1920s as an alternative
method to measure the hardness of
materials.
Vickers tests has two versions:
macro Vickers (load over 1kg) and
micro Vickers (load less than 1kg)
The Vickers macrotest is often easier to
use than other hardness tests since the
required calculations are independent of
the size of the indenter, and the indenter
can be used for all materials irrespective
of hardness.
However, Vickers macrohardness test is
not as widely used as the Brinell or
Rockwell test.

A diamond, in the form of a right pyramd wth

a square base and an angle of 136 between
opposte faces s forced nto the materal under
a load F.
The two diagonals, d and d, of the
indentaton left n the surface of the materal
after removng the load are measured, and
ther arthhmetc mean d calculated.
VHN

VHN=1.8544F/d
F=load ,kg
d=mean of diagonal impression,mm
=face angle of diamond=136
d=(d+d) /2

 Diagonals of the indentation produced are approximately seven

times larger than the depth of indentation, especially with

high hardness metals it provides better accuracy than that
could be obtained with the Brinell or Rockwell.

This is because of the fact that, by virtue of its indentation,

higher measurement accuracy can be obtained even if the

indentation depth is small. So this makes the Vickers test
especially suitable for hardness measurements in thin layers
and very hard alloys.

Vickers hardness number is nearly independent of the test

loads for homogeneous materials due to the fact that the

ratio between the diagonals of the impression remains constant
under different test loads above 5kg. At lower loads it may
be load dependent.

 Standart designation of Vickers hardness is usually given with

load and duration values:

eg 450VHN/30/20 means a 450Vickers hardness value
measured under a load of 30kg for a duration of 20secs
(similar to the Brinell)

Vickers hardness tests and Brinell test are similar to each

other both in principle and also the hardness values.
Both calculate the hardness as the load/area of impression
While Brinell use a ball as indenter Vickers use a diamond
with angle of 136degrees resembling a ball as seen in fig.5.9
Therefore numerical values of HB and VHN of the same test
piece are so close to each other up to HB400

Advantages of Vickers Hardness Test Method

1.Soft, as well as hard metals may be tested.
2.Tests may be conducted in low-load and micro
range as well
3.The vickers hardness apart from the micro and
low-load range is independent of the test-load
applied (above 5kg).
4.The pyramidal impression damages the work-pieces
only slightly.

MICROHARDNESS TEST
The microhardness test is generally
employed for testing
small precision parts
surface layers
thin materials
small diameter wires
for investigation of small areas
hardness of constituents
hardness near edges such as in
cutting tools,etc.

The term microhardness

refers to static indentatin
tests made with load up to
1 kg.
In such tests the load must
be applied with great care
for order of magnitude of
the applied load is usually
from 1 gram to 500 grams.
The indenter is
either a 136 diamond
pyramid [vickers test] or
the Knoop diamond
indenter.

 In microhardness tests, it is very

important that the surface being

tested be lapped flat and be free
from scratches.

Knoop indenter produces (nearly 3

times) larger diagonal than what

Vickers indenter produces.
Similarly depth of impression is
nearly half that of the Vickers.

Therefore Vickers test is less

sensitive to surface conditions than

Knoop for the same test load, but
more sensitive to errors in
measuring the impression size

Microhardness test values are

usually dependent on the test load

since loads are rather low.

Knoop hardness valu is

also calculated on the

principle of force
divided by the area of
impression similar to
Brinell and Vickers tests.
In Vickers it was
VHN=1.8544F/d
KHN=P/A=P/CL

Now in Knoop it is

KHN=P/A=P/CL or
KHN=14.230 P/L

KHN=14.230 P/L

TEST
This test consists of
dropping a diamond
tipped hammer under its
own weight, from a fixed
height on to test
speciment, and reading
the rebound height.
The rebound of the
hammer varies in
proportion to the
hardness of the metal:
the higher the rebound,
the harder the metal.

The Schleroscope hardness numbers are

indicated by the following symbols (ASTM

A448)
HSc XX or HSd XX where c and d refer
to two different types of instruments used
for the test.
For scale (model) C height and mass of
the hammer are 251.2mm and 23 gr
For scale (model) D height and mass of
the hammer are 17.9mm and 36 gr

Lots of different size and shapes of specimens

can be tested with Scleroscope test method.

Small parts including thin sheets and strips
and large parts like steel rolling rolls can be
tested with Scleroscope test method.
Scleroscope is a portable test equipment and
can be taken to the field or out of lab to test
the part in place like heavy and large rolls of
steel rolling.
For thin parts, minimum thickness of sheets in
various categories are given on page 265

For a reliable Scleroscope test result, the

degree of surface finish is important since

small loads (masses) are used.
An excessively coarse finish will yield low and
erratic readings. Harder is the test surface,
better has to be the surface finish for a
reliable and reproducible results.
Test should not be done more than once in
the same spot since impact of the hammer
cold works the that spot and causes
subsequent redings thereon to be high.
The indentations has to be spaced at least
0.5mm apart

DUROMETER
The durometer is a popular isntrument
for measuring the indentation
hardness of the elastrometers
and polymers.
This is one of the standardised
ASTM procedure for testing rubber
and plastic(ASTM D2240-68)
The operation is similar to rockwell
test method. Durometer hardness is
a measure of the depth of
indentation.

The indenter is pressed against the

material being tested by a
calibrated spring and the
indentation depth is measured by
an indicating device

The shore durometer has

two models:
1)Model A for testing soft
materials
2)Model D for hard materials
Both durometers are quite
similar, differing primarily in
the sharpness of indenters
and the magnitude of the
load applied to the indenter
by the calibrated spring.
The load is applied by foot and the
reading is taken within seconds
of contact of load with the
material.
HA=0-100 or
HD= 0-100 are usual designations

ULTRASONIC
HARDNESS TEST
A magnetostrictive ,diamond-tipped
rod,vibrating at ultrasonic
frequencies,is brought into contact
with the metal at a load of 3.3 kg.
The change in freqency of the tip due
to hardness of the metal is read on
a meter scale in terms of either
Rockwell or Vickers numbers.
The shallowness of the indentation
produced by the tester (less than
0.013 mm) makes it particularly
suitable for testing.
The equipment is very portable but
Its use is resricted primarily to steel.

HOT HARDNESS
TESTING
At low temperatures, a correlation has been identified between
hardness and tensile strength of many metals.
It is, however, not clear if this correlation exists at high
temps too.
Therefore it is a wonder how the hardness of metal changes at
elevated/high temperatures.
Hot hardness gives a good indication of the potential usefulness
of a metal or alloy for high- temperature applications.
Some degree of the success has been obtained in correlating
the hot-hardness with strength at elavated temperatures.

The points that have to be watched for hot-hardness

testing are:
1)Hardness tester and the specimen both have to be at the
same temperature.
2)A cold indenter will cause local cooling and thus produce an
effect similar to quenching(of the specimen)
3)Tests have to be carried out in either vacuum or an inert
gas otherwise the surface of the specimen will be
oxidised.

While some of these will cause totally useless results

some will cause appriceable errors in results.

Very special Rockwell hardness testers (models 6JR,
6JS & 6JT) are available for testing at temps up to
980 C.

SCRATCH HARDNESS
The basic principle of the test is that a diamond is
drawn under a vertical load steadily over a
horizontal surface.
A special diamond whose shape can be adapted to the
particular requirements is used. It may be conical as
in Rockwell test or pyramidal as in Vickers test.

Indentation hardeness was closely related to the tensile

strength of most metals
Likewise, the resistance of a material to wear is closely
related to its peformance in a scratch test as above.
Duo to this relation the scratch test is of the
technological interest.
This property of resistance to wear is measured by
means of various scratch hardness tests.

Types of Scratch Test

The MOHs scale catogorizes the materials on the basis of relative
hardness.
Each new material is used to scratch the old materials and placed in
a proper place on the scale.
1) A
2) B

B scratch A

3) C

4) D

B
C etc

.
10)
A new material N is used as the diamond to scratch materals starting with
the hardest material in the scale, D in this case
Note : This test is not objective test since the hardness of the two
material can be so close that just by scratching them and observing the
surface they can not be classified or scaled.

Bierbaum Scratch Hardness

is defined as the ratio of load to the square of measured width of
the scratch.

Bier.Sc.H = F / W
in (kg/mm)

Martens Scratch
Hardness
is the value of the load (in
kg) required to produce a
scratch of w=0.01mm.

Relative Scratch
Hardness Number

of
materials can be determined
by comparing the scratches
produced on the specimen
materials against a
reference scratch. Another
non-objective test

CHOICE OF TESTING METHOD

The points or the considerations that play a role in the choice
of the suitable hardness testing method are:
-The scope of the test (whether it is done to do a direct
hardness measurement or to do an indirect strength or wear
resistance measurement of the material)
-The degree of accuracy required (Vickers, Knoop or Rockwell)
-The rapidity with which the tests must be conducted (time).
-The specimen or part size (macro test or micro test or
Schleroscope etc).
Shore Scleroscope is the fastest by all standartd means, to be
followed by the Rockwell tester.
The Brinell or Vickers method of testing are comperatively
slower even if these tester are equipped with microprojectors.

The structure of the material effect the selection of

the size of the indenter(hence type of the test)
For Heteregeneous structures , with large inclusions
of individual structural components (e.g . gray iron
or nonferrous) hardness tests should be done with
a large size indenter;
because the large size of indentation averages out
local heterogeneties.
Whether it be a combination of the large indenter
low load or small indenter large load.

Homogeneous structure :requires

to be done at
smaller areas with smaller indenters since test done at this
point will be sufficiently representative of the bulk of the
metal.

Ferrous Materials

:Practically all ferrous meterials of

suitable thickness can be tested by the standart Brinell,
Rockwell, Vickers and Shore schleroscope method. However,
the Brinell test gives better results with coarse grained
materials because of the averaging provided by large10 mm
ball.

For hardened and tempered stell:Rockwell

and
Vickers testing produce more accurate results.When material
is thin Rockwell A scale or superification testing can be used.

Case Hardened Steels:

the penetrator should not produce

an impression which distrubs this layer.
The Rockwell tester is more advantageous in this case.The scale to
be used depends upon the thickness of the case.
Likewise, Vickers tester can also be used effectively.Variation of
hardness across the depth can only be achieved by microhardness
test.

Steel Forging:Brinell

test with 10mm ball and 3000kg load

gives better results.A good relationship exists between BHN
tensile streght of the forgings.

Cast Iron:

Cast iron is generaly tested by the standard Brinell

test because of the nonunformsty of the stracture of CI.

Plastics:

There are three important ASTM standarded

procedures for testing plastic.
1)DUROMETER
2)BARCOL IMPRESSOR
3)ROCKWELL TEST(R,L,M,E,K)
The relationship between their hardness and strength is not so
determinate as with metals.

Elastomers:
durometer.

Rubber and rubber like materials are tested on

Very Hard Materials

are tested with diamond indenter or

penetrators and very high contact pressure are required to
produce on impression of measurable size.The hardness of
ceramics is is usually determined according to Knoop scale.

Rockwell test is relatively instensive to surface

finish.

Brinell test can also be said not to be highly

influenced by the surface scratches and roughness

as long as the diameter of the impression could be
defined accurately.

The Vickers and microhardness tester require

reasonably better surface finish.

A General Rule is that ligher the test load the

higher the degree of surface finish required.