Integrated Design and Manufacturing Lab
Practical No. 04
Date of Performance: 01/02/2017
A report on
i) Surface Polishing Machine
ii) Micro hardness tester
Prepared by Submitted to
Srinath Gudur Dr. Abhay Sharma
me17resch01002
i) Surface Polishing Machine
Aim: To understand the working of Surface Polishing Machine
Equipment Name: Mecatech 234
Make: Presi
Introduction: MECATECH 234-264 is a range of robust, powerful and reliable polishing
machines incorporating the most advanced technologies for an easy use and fast
maintenance. Its platens Ø 200 and 250mm, associated with the TC 10, TI10 and TCI10
polishing heads give the best polishing results on all types, sizes and numbers of
specimen.
Fig 1: MECATECH 234
Technical specifications of MECATECH 234:
Number of motors 1
Number of polishing platens 1
Diameter of the polishing platen 200 to 250mm
Rotation speed 20 to 600 RPM
Direction of rotation Clockwise and counter-clockwise
Motor power 250 W
Voltage / Frequency / Max. Current 230 V 1P/50-60 Hz/8A
Air pressure 5 - 10 bars
Water inlet Ø 12mm
Water outlet Ø 32 mm
Compressed air (inside) Ø 10mm
Functioning:
TFT LCD COLOUR TOUCH SCREEN
The machine is provided with a LCD touch screen which can be positioned on the left or
right side of the polishing machine, it is very easy to create or modify a polishing method,
to store it (memory capacity: 100 methods) and to manage the functions of MECATECH
234. During the progress of the cycle, the current operation can be displayed as well as
the following one or the previous one, allowing the operator to anticipate consumables
to come.
HIGH POLISHING QUALITY
The force applied on the samples is controlled by a proportional electronic valve giving a
total precision. MECATECH 234 calculates automatically the force to be applied on the
sample, whatever the number or samples, avoiding any risk of mistakes to the operator.
The force applied to samples is reduced to the starting up and to the stop of the cycle for
an optimal quality of polishing.
Operating Procedure:
1. Start the air compressor and let the pressure be developed up to at least 6 bar
2. Check the water supply
3. Press green ON button (Present below the machine)
4. Attach the required grade emery paper on the Platen
5. The samples are to be held in the head of the machine and to be carefully tightened
6. Polishing can be done in two modes:
a. R&D Mode
b. Program Mode
7. Set the required speed of the platen (range available: 20 to 600 rpm) and the head,
in which samples are held (range available: 20 to 150 rpm)
8. After polishing is done on emery papers, wet polishing is done for still better
surface finish (Mirror finish)
9. For wet polishing different cloth and paste combinations are used. For example:
a. Green color cloth + red color diamond paste (the paste is of 6-12 µm size)
b. Red color cloth + green color diamond paste (the paste is of 3-4 µm size)
c. Cream color cloth + pink color diamond paste (the paste is of 0.5 -1 µm size)
10. Once the required polishing is done, switch OFF the machine properly
ii) Micro hardness tester
Aim: To understand the working of Micro hardness tester
Equipment Name: UHL VMHT
Make: UHL VMHT
Introduction: Hardness is a measure of how resistant solid matter is to various kinds of
permanent shape change when a compressive force is applied. Macroscopic hardness is
generally characterized by strong intermolecular bonds, but the behavior of solid
materials under force is complex; therefore, there are different measurements of
hardness: scratch hardness, indentation hardness, and rebound hardness.
Hardness is dependent on ductility, elastic stiffness, plasticity, strain, strength, toughness,
viscoelasticity, and viscosity.
Common examples of hard matter are ceramics, concrete, certain metals, and super hard
materials, which can be contrasted with soft matter.
Microhardness testing is a method of determining a material’s hardness or resistance to
penetration when test samples are very small or thin, or when small regions in a
composite sample or plating are to be measured.
The term "microhardness" has been widely employed in the literature to describe the
hardness testing of materials with low applied loads. A more precise term is
"microindentation hardness testing”. In microindentation hardness testing, a diamond
indenter of specific geometry is impressed into the surface of the test specimen using a
known applied force (commonly called a "load" or "test load") of 1 to 1000 gf.
Microindentation tests typically have forces of 2 N (roughly 200 gf) and produce
indentations of about 50 μm. Due to their specificity, microhardness testing can be used
to observe changes in hardness on the microscopic scale. Unfortunately, it is difficult to
standardize microhardness measurements; it has been found that the microhardness of
almost any material is higher than its macrohardness. Additionally, microhardness values
vary with load and work-hardening effects of materials.
The two most commonly used microhardness tests are tests that also can be applied with
heavier loads as macroindentation tests:
o Vickers hardness test (HV)
o Knoop hardness test (HK)
In microindentation testing, the hardness number is based on measurements made of the
indent formed in the surface of the test specimen. The hardness number is based on the
applied force divided by the surface area of the indent itself, giving hardness units in
kgf/mm². Microindentation hardness testing can be done using Vickers as well as Knoop
indenters. For the Vickers test, both the diagonals are measured and the average value is
used to compute the Vickers pyramid number. In the Knoop test, only the longer diagonal
is measured, and the Knoop hardness is calculated based on the projected area of the
indent divided by the applied force, also giving test units in kgf/mm².
The Vickers microindentation test is carried out in a similar manner welling to the Vickers
macroindentation tests, using the same pyramid. The Knoop test uses an elongated
pyramid to indent material samples. This elongated pyramid creates a shallow
impression, which is beneficial for measuring the hardness of brittle materials or thin
components. Both the Knoop and Vickers indenters require pre polishing of the surface
to achieve accurate results.
ISO 6507-1:2005 specifies the Vickers hardness test method for the three different ranges
of test force for metallic materials.
The Vickers hardness test is specified in ISO 6507-1:2005 for lengths of indentation
diagonals between 0.020 mm and 1.400 mm.
There is some disagreement in the literature regarding the load range applicable to
microhardness testing. ASTM Specification E384, for example, states that the load range
for microhardness testing is 1 to 1000 gf. For loads of 1 kgf and below, the Vickers
hardness (HV) is calculated with an equation, wherein load (L) is in grams force and the
mean of two diagonals (d) is in millimeters:
𝐿
HV = 0.0018544 x
𝐷2
For any given load, the hardness increases rapidly at low diagonal lengths, with the effect
becoming more pronounced as the load decreases. Thus at low loads, small measurement
errors will produce large hardness deviations. Thus one should always use the highest
possible load in any test. Also, in the vertical portion of the curves, small measurement
errors will produce large hardness deviations.
Technical specifications of UHL VMHT:
Test Forces:
All the instruments offer 12 steps of test force: 1, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 500,
1000, 2000 p (gf) covering the range of test forces required by the standards ASTM E-
384, EN ISO 6507 and EN ISO 4545. At the touch of a button, the test force is automatically
selected. The test force can also be changed by the computer when running automated
measurement cycles and as a consequence allowing different test forces in the inspection.
Focus Finder:
The newly introduced focus finder is available with all objectives (Leica Plan) and enables
the operator to detect the focus position very quickly. This is particularly helpful in cases
of highly polished samples with few details such as steel etc.
Approach Velocity:
For specific applications depending on elastic and plastic properties of the material, the
approach velocity of the indenter can be selected between 25 and 60 µm/s.
Results and Data Storage:
For each test, the measured diagonal lengths and the hardness value with test force are
given as well as tolerance judgment, statistics (mean value, maximum/minimum,
standard deviation). The test results can be stored as well as the specimen description
and operator name.
Optics:
The infinity corrected Leica Plan objectives 10x and 50x are used according to
International Standards, objectives 2.5x and 100x are optional. The measuring eyepiece
with field of view 16 mm offers an optimized, ergonomic working position. Easily
exchangeable aperture diaphragms enable the operator to optimize the contrast
according to his applications. The high quality of the optics ensures that indentations of
small loads can be measured.
Motorized Turret:
All of the models are equipped with a motorized turret. After choosing the indentation
spot, the indenter is brought into its working position at the touch of the button “Start
indentation”. After finishing the indentation process, the previously chosen objective is
automatically swiveled in and measurement (either by the operator with measuring
eyepiece or by PC with image analysis) can immediately start. The standard turret has 4
positions and can hold 3 objectives and one indenter. The optional turret with 6 positions
can hold 4 objectives and 2 indentors.
Fig 2: UHL VMHT
Operating Procedure:
1. Switch on the VMHT AUTO with the main switch at the backside of the instrument.
The green power LED lights up
2. Switch on the monitor (mains switch on front panel).
3. Switch on the PC (mains switch on rear panel, start button on front panel of PC)
4. Open the software ‘IMS-VMHT’ from the PC
5. Perform the initialization procedure carefully
6. Place the high reflective specimen into the vice. Fix it properly
7. Do a coarse focus of the specimen by joystick, and then perform autofocus
8. Adjust the testing parameters (load, dwell time, indentation speed) in the
Microscope Settings region of the Testing tab sheet.
9. Start the indentation with the button. Adjust the focus by joystick or with the
autofocus button
10. After indentations click Abort
11. Go to Testing
12. Select Single Measurements
13. Adjust both the cross wires (blue color and green color). The correct measurement
is shown by blue lines between the edge points of the indentation.
14. Save the results
15. After the measurements are done, remove the sample from the vice.
16. Close the software and switch OFF the VMHT machine switches
Sequence Plot - [Link]
Gradient Resolution - 1
290
285
280
275
270
Hardness (HV)
265
260
255
250
245
240
235
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Indentation No.
Fig 3: Sample hardness plot (ISO 6507)
Analysis Results:
Average Maximum Minimum Std. Deviation No. of
Indentations
258 HV 1 278 HV 1 247 HV 1 11.2 40