Hardness test

• Another mechanical property that may be important to consider is hardness, which is a measure of
a material’s resistance to localized plastic deformation or the resistance to indentation (e.g., a
small dent or a scratch).

• There are three general types of hardness measurements depending on the manner in which the test
is conducted. These are (1) scratch hardness, (2) indentation hardness, and (3) rebound, or dynamic,
hardness.

• Only indentation hardness is of major engineering interest for metals.

• The depth or size of the resulting indentation is measured, which in turn is related to a hardness
number; the softer the material, the larger and deeper the indentation, and the lower the hardness
index number.

• Scratch hardness is of primary interest to mineralogists. With this measure of hardness, various
minerals and other materials are rated on their ability to scratch one another. Scratch hardness is
measured according to the Mohs’ scale.

• This consists of 10 standard minerals arranged in the order of their ability to be scratched. The
softest mineral in this scale is talc (scratch hardness 1), while diamond has a hardness of 10. range.

• Most hard metals fall in the Mohs’ hardness range of 4 to 8.

 Hardness test
Scratch hardness refers to the hardness of a material in terms of resistance to scratches
and abrasion by a harder material forcefully drawn over its surface

A different type of scratch-hardness test measures the depth or width of a scratch made by
drawing a diamond stylus across the surface under a definite load.

This is a useful tool for measuring the relative hardness of microconstituents, but it does not
lend itself to high reproducibility or extreme accuracy.

In dynamic-hardness measurements the indenter is usually dropped onto the metal
surface, and the hardness is expressed as the energy of impact.

The Shore scleroscope, which is the commonest example of a dynamic-hardness tester,

measures the hardness in terms of the height of rebound of the indenter.
It consists of a steel ball dropped from a fixed height. The hardness value is derived from the
energy loss of a defined impact body after impacting on a metal sample.
However, Rebound hardness frequently is used to investigate strength characteristics of
concreate
Ref: Mechanical Metallurgy by George E. Dieter
Indentation hardness

The depth or size of the resulting indentation is measured, which in

turn is related to a hardness number; the softer the material, the larger
and deeper the indentation, and the lower the hardness index number.
• Brinell hardness
• Vickers hardness
• Rockwell hardness
• Microhardness
 Brinell hardness
 First widely accepted and standardized indentation-hardness test proposed by J. A. Brinell in 1900.
 The Brinell hardness test consists in indenting the metal surface with a 10-mm-diameter steel ball at a
load of 3,000 kg.
 For soft metals the load is reduced to 500 kg to avoid too deep an impression, and for very hard metals
a tungsten carbide ball is used to minimize distortion of the indenter.
 The load is applied for a standard time, usually 30 s, and the diameter of the indentation is measured
with a low-power microscope after removal of the load.
 The average of two readings of the diameter of the impression at right angles should be made. The
surface on which the indentation is made should be relatively smooth and free from dirt or scale.
 The Brinell hardness number (BHN) is expressed as the load P divided by the surface area of the
indentation. This is expressed by the formula:

where P = applied load, kg

D = diameter of ball, mm
d = diameter of indentation, mm
units of BHN is kilograms per
t = depth of the impression, mm
square millimeter

Ref: Mechanical Metallurgy by George E. Dieter

Schematic figure of a Brinell-hardness tester
 Vickers hardness
 The Vickers hardness test uses a square-base diamond pyramid as the indenter.
 The included angle between opposite faces of the pyramid is 136°.
 This angle was chosen because it approximates the most desirable ratio of indentation diameter to
ball diameter in the Brinell hardness test.
 Because of the shape of the indenter, this is frequently called the diamond-pyramid hardness test.
 The diamond-pyramid hardness number (DPH), or Vickers hardness number (VHN, or VPH), is
defined as the load divided by the surface area of the indentation.
 In practice, this area is calculated from microscopic measurements of the lengths of the diagonals of
the impression. The DPH may be determined from the following equation

where P= applied load, kg

L= average length of diagonals, mm
θ= angle between opposite faces of diamond =136°
Fig. Vickers indenter and the shape of indentation, D
= diagonal of indentation, h = depth of indentation.
 Vickers hardness
• The Vickers hardness test has received fairly wide acceptance for research work because it
provides a continuous scale of hardness, for a given load, from very soft metals with a DPH of 5 to
extremely hard materials with a DPH of 1500.

• The Vickers hardness test is described in ASTM Standard E92-72.

• With the Rockwell hardness test, or the Brinell hardness test, it is usually necessary to change either
the load or the indenter at some point in the hardness scale, so that measurements at one extreme
of the scale cannot be strictly compared with those at the other end.

• Because the impressions made by the pyramid indenter are geometrically similar no matter what
their size, the DPH should be independent of load. This is generally found to be the case, except at
very light loads.

• The loads ordinarily used with this test range from 1 to 120 kg, depending on the hardness of the
metal to be tested.

• In spite of these advantages, the Vickers hardness test has not been widely accepted for routine
testing because it is slow, requires careful surface preparation of the specimen, and allows
greater chance for personal error in the determination of the diagonal length.
• A perfect indentation made with a perfect diamond-pyramid indenter would be a square.
 Vickers hardness
• However, anomalies are frequently observed with a pyramid indenter (Fig).
• The pincushion indentation is the result of sinking in of the metal around the flat faces of
the pyramid.
• This condition is observed with annealed metals and results in an overestimate of the
diagonal length. The barrel-shaped indentation in Fig. c is found in cold-worked metals. It
results from ridging or piling up of the metal around the faces of the indenter.
• The diagonal measurement in this case produces a low value of the contact area so that
the hardness numbers are erroneously high. Empirical corrections for this effect have been
proposed.

Types of diamond-pyramid indentations.

(a) Perfect indentation; (b) pincushion
indentation due to sinking in; (c) barreled
indentation due to ridging.
 Rockwell hardness
• The most widely used hardness test in the United States is the Rockwell hardness test.

• Its general acceptance is due to its speed, freedom from personal error, ability to distinguish small
hardness differences in hardened steel, and the small size of the indentation, so that finished heat-
treated parts can be tested without damage.

• This test utilizes the depth of indentation, under constant load, as a measure of hardness.

• A minor load of 10 kg is first applied to seat the specimen. This minimizes the amount of surface
preparation needed and reduces the tendency for ridging or sinking in by the indenter.

• The major load is then applied, and the depth of indentation is automatically recorded on a dial gage
in terms of arbitrary hardness numbers.

• The dial is reversed so that a high hardness, which corresponds to a small penetration, results in a
high hardness number.

• This is in agreement with the other hardness numbers described previously, but unlike the Brinell and
Vickers hardness designations, which have units of kilograms per square millimeter

• One combination of load and indenter will not produce satisfactory results for materials with a wide
range of hardness.
Rockwell hardness
 Rockwell hardness
• A 120° diamond cone with a slightly rounded point, called a Brale indenter, and 1.6- and 3.2 mm-
diameter steel balls are generally used as indenters.
• Major loads of 60, 100, and 150 kg are used.
• Since the Rockwell hardness is dependent on the load and indenter, it is necessary to specify the
combination which is used.
• This is done by prefixing the hardness number with a letter indicating the particular combination of
load and indenter for the hardness scale employed.
• A Rockwell hardness number without the letter prefix is meaningless.
• Hardened steel is tested on the C scale with the diamond indenter and a 150-kg major load.
• The useful range for this scale is from about RC, 20 to RC 70.
• Softer materials are usually tested on the B scale with a 1.6 mm-diameter steel ball and a 100-kg
major load.
• The range of this scale is from RB , 0 to RB 100.
• The A scale (diamond penetrator, 60-kg major load) provides the most extended Rockwell hardness
scale, which is usable for materials from annealed brass to cemented carbides. Many other scales are
available for special purposes.
• The Rockwell hardness test is a very useful and reproducible one provided that a number of simple
precautions are observed.
 Microhardness
• Many metallurgical problems require the determination of hardness over very small areas.
• The measurement of the hardness gradient at a carburized surface, the determination of the
hardness of individual constituents of a microstructure, or the checking of the hardness of a delicate
watch gear might be typical problems.
• The use of a scratch-hardness test for these purposes was mentioned earlier, but an indentation-
hardness test has been found to be more useful.
• The development of the Knoop indenter by the National Bureau of Standards and the introduction of
the Tukon tester for the controlled application of loads down to 25 g have made microhardness testing
a routine laboratory procedure.
• The Knoop indenter is a diamond ground to a pyramidal form that produces a diamond-shaped
indentation with the long and short diagonals in the approximate ratio of 7:1 resulting in a state of
plane strain in the deformed region.
• The Knoop hardness number (KHN) is the applied load divided by the unrecovered projected area of
the indentation.

where P= applied load, kg

A, = unrecovered projected area of indentation, mm’
L= length of long diagonal, mm
C= constant for each indenter supplied by manufacturer.
 Microhardness

• The low load used with microhardness tests requires that extreme care be taken in all stages of
testing. The surface of the specimen must be carefully prepared.
• Metallographic polishing is usually required. Work hardening of the surface during polishing can
influence the results.
 Hardness at elevated temperatures
 Interest in measuring the hardness of metals at elevated temperatures has been accelerated by
the great effort which has gone into developing alloys with improved high-temperature strength.
 Hot hardness gives a good indication of the potential usefulness of an alloy for high-temperature
strength applications.
 Some degree of success has been obtained in correlating hot hardness with high-temperature
strength properties.
 Hot-hardness testers using a Vickers indenter made of sapphire and with provisions for testing in
either vacuum or an inert atmosphere have been developed
 In an extensive review of hardness data at different temperatures Westbrook showed that the
temperature dependence of hardness could be expressed by

 where H = hardness, kgf mm-2

 T = test temperature, K
 A, B = constants
Temperature dependence
of the hardness of copper.