MatSE 471

Laboratory 3

Hardness and Its Measurement

Objectives

The objective for this laboratory is to measure the hardness of heat treated steels using Rockwell and
microhardness tests.

Background

Hardness is a comparative property of materials and may be measured in various ways. In the case of
metals, it is usually considered as the resistance to indentation. In static indentation tests, an indenter is
forced against a surface and perpendicular to that surface. The dimensions of the deformation zone are
used to obtain the "hardness" of the material. The indenter can be in the form of a small sphere, a pyramid
or cone. Although the hardness of a material is difficult to describe in terms of microscopic modes of
deformation and failure, its ease of usage make it a valuable substitute for the relatively slow and
expensive tensile test. The hardness number can be related to the yield strength or tensile strength of a
given metal, as determined from a tensile test. The tensile strength of a steel (in N/m 2), for example, is
6
roughly equal to 3 x 10 times its Brinell hardness number. Table 1 shows the characteristics of several
hardness testers.

Table 1. Characteristics of Several Hardness Testers

Type Penetrator Usual range of Usual range of Usual surface Typical

loads, kg hardnesses preparation applications
covered before testing
Rockwell Diamond cone 150 Medium to Fine grinding Production
C scale very hard testing of
finished parts
Rockwell 1/16 inch steel 100 Soft to medium Fine grinding Production
B scale ball testing of
finished parts
Brinell 10 mm steel 500-3000 Soft to hard Coarse Production
ball grinding testing of
unfinished
parts
Vickers Diamond 5-100 Very soft to Fine grinding Laboratory
pyramid very hard investigations
Microhardness Diamond 0.01-50 Very soft to Fine polishing Testing of
pyramid very hard micro-
constituents of
alloys
Macroindentation Tests
Brinell Hardness Test

In the Brinell hardness test, a steel sphere is pressed against a metal surface for a specified period
of time (10-15s) and the diameter of the indentation is measured. The Brinell hardness (HB) is
given by:

P
HB 
 D x depth

2P

−D ( D − ( D 2 − d 2 )1 / 2 )

where P is the load (in kg), D and d are the sphere and impression diameters, respectively (in mm)
(see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Impression caused by spherical indenter on metal plate.

Since d = Dsin,

2P
HB 
−D (1 − cos −)
2

NOTE: Different spheres will produce different indents. Hence, to produce a constant HB, independent
of the size of the sphere, the following relationship must hold:

P
 constant
D2
 One of the problems in the use of the Brinell test is that HB is dependent on the load P for the
same sphere. In general, HB decreases as the load is increased. Hence, Brinell tests are normally
conducted under standard conditions; e.g.,

Ball diameter: 10mm

Load: 300 kg
Duration of Loading: 10-15s

In this case, 360HB indicates a Brinell hardness of 360 under the specified conditions. For
different conditions, the parameters have to be specified. For example, 63HB 10/500/30 indicates a
Brinell hardness of 63 measured with a ball of 10mm diameter and a load of 500 kg applied for 30s.

Rockwell Hardness Test

This test is very popular since there is no need to measure the depth or width of the indentation
optically.

Figure 2
The testing procedure is shown schematically in Figure 2, and is as follows:

A preload is applied prior to the application of the main load; the dial of the machine provides a
number that is related to the depth of the indentation produced upon application of the main load.
Several Rockwell scales are used and the numbers refer to arbitrary scales. Two types of indenters are
used. The A, C, D and N scales use the Brale indenter, which is a diamond cone with a cone angle of
120°. The other scales use either 3.17mm or 1.587mm diameter spheres. The loads also vary,
depending on the scale. Usually, the C scale is used for harder steels and the B scale for softer steels.

Microhardness Tests - See Appendix 3.1

Procedure

You will be provided with a number of heat-treated steels. Measure the hardness of each and
correlate these values with the microstructure of the materials. The steel is 1035 with the
composition (wt%) 0.33%C, 0.72% Mn, 0.18%P, 0.025%S - 0.21%Si.

The following lists the heat treatment schedule for the various samples.

(1) As-received (normalized)-hot rolled and air cooled.

(2) Reaustenitized at l000°C for 10 minutes and furnace cooled.
(3) As for (2), but air cooled.
(4) As for (3), but quenched.
(5) As for (4) and subsequently tempered at 500°C for 1 hour.
(6) As for (4) and subsequently tempered at 650°C for 1 hour.

Some background on the effects of quenching and tempering is given in Appendix 7.1.

Obtain macrohardness data for each sample and correlate these data with the microstructures.
Microhardness data will also be obtained for the proeutectoid ferrite and pearlite which constitute
sample (2).