Hardness testing

Hardness has already been defined as the resistance of a material to indentation or

abrasion by another hard body (good hardness generally means that the material is
resistant to scratching and wear). It is by indentation that most hardness tests are
performed. A hard indenter is pressed into the specimen by a standard load, and the
magnitude of the indentation (either area or depth) is taken as a measure of hardness.

Hardness tests are commonly used for assessing material properties because they are
quick and convenient. However, a variety of testing methods is appropriate due to differences
in hardness among different materials. The most well known hardness tests are Brinell and
Rockwell.

Principle of any hardness test method

Principle is forcing an indenter into the sample surface followed by measuring dimensions
of the indentation (depth or actual surface area of the indentation).
Hardness is not fundamental property and its value depends on the combination of
Tensile strength, yield strength and modulus of elasticity.

Benefits of hardness test:

 Easy
 Inexpensive
 Quick
 Non-destructive
 May be applied to the samples of various dimensions and shapes

Hardness is a measure of the material’s resistance to localized plastic

deformation (e.g. dent or scratch)

A qualitative Moh’s scale, determined by the ability of a material to scratch

another material: from 1 (softest = talc) to 10 (hardest = diamond).

Diamond 10
Corundum 9
Topaz 8
Quartz 7
Orthoclase (Feldspar) 6
Apatite 5
Fluorite 4
Calcite 3
Gypsum 2
Talc 1
Usually a small indenter (sphere, cone, or pyramid) is forced into the surface of a
material under conditions of controlled magnitude and rate of loading. The depth or size
of indentation is measured. The tests somewhat approximate, but popular because they
are easy and non-destructive (except for the small dent).
Some limitation for hardness test

 Type of material

 Specimen thickness

 Test location

 Scale limitations

Theory
Current practice divides hardness testing into two categories: macro hardness and micro
hardness. Macro hardness refers to testing with applied loads on the indenter of more than 1
kg and covers, for example, the testing of tools, dies, and sheet material in the heavier gages.
In micro hardness testing, applied loads are 1 kg and below, and material being tested is very
thin (down to 0.0125 mm, or 0.0005 in.). Applications include extremely small parts, thin
superficially hardened parts, plated surfaces, and individual constituents of materials.
1) Macro Hardness Testers Loads > 1 kg
 Rockwell
 Brinell
 Vickers
2) Micro Hardness Testers < 1 kg
 Knoop diamond
 Vickers diamond pyramid

3.1 Macro Hardness Test Methods

3.1.1 Rockwell Hardness Test

The Rockwell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond cone
or hardened steel ball indenter. The indenter is forced into the test material under a preliminary
minor load 𝐹0 (Fig. 1A) usually 10 kgf. When equilibrium has been reached, an indicating
device, which follows the movements of the indenter and so responds to changes in depth of
penetration of the indenter, is set to a datum position. While the preliminary minor load is still
applied an additional major load is applied with resulting increase in penetration (Fig. 1B).
When equilibrium has again been reach, the additional major load is removed but the
preliminary minor load is still maintained. Removal of the additional major load allows a partial
recovery, so reducing the depth of penetration (Fig. 1C). The permanent increase in depth of
penetration, resulting from the application and removal of the additional major load is used to
calculate the Rockwell hardness number.
 Figure 1. Rockwell Principle

There are several considerations for Rockwell hardness test

 Require clean and well positioned indenter and anvil.
 The test sample should be clean, dry, smooth and oxide-free surface.
 The surface should be flat and perpendicular to the indent.
 Low reading of hardness value might be expected in cylindrical surfaces.
 Specimen thickness should be 10 times higher than the depth of the indenter.
 The spacing between the indentations should be 3 to 5 times of the indentation diameter.
 Loading speed must be standardized.

3.1.2 The Brinell hardness Test

The Brinell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a 10 mm
diameter hardened steel or carbide ball subjected to a load of 3000 kg. For softer materials the
load can be reduced to 1500 kg or 500 kg to avoid excessive indentation. The full load is
normally applied for 10 to 15 seconds in the case of iron and steel and for at least 30 seconds
in the case of other metals. The diameter of the indentation left in the test material is measured
with a low powered microscope. The Brinell harness number is calculated by dividing the
load applied by the surface area of the indentation. When the indentor is retracted two
diameters of the impression, d1 and d2 , are measured using a microscope with a calibrated
graticule and then averaged as shown in Fig.2(b).
 Where:
P is the test load [kg]
D is the diameter of the ball [mm]
d is the average impression diameter of indentation [mm]

Figure 2. Brinell Principle

The diameter of the impression is the average of two readings at right angles and the use of a
Brinell hardness number table can simplify the determination of the Brinell hardness. A well-
structured Brinell hardness number reveals the test conditions, and looks like this, "75 HB
10/500/30" which means that a Brinell Hardness of 75 was obtained using a 10mm diameter
hardened steel with a 500 kilogram load applied for a period of 30 seconds. On tests of
extremely hard metals a tungsten carbide ball is substituted for the steel ball. Compared to the
other hardness test methods, the Brinell ball makes the deepest and widest indentation, so the
test averages the hardness over a wider amount of material, which will more accurately
account for multiple grain structures and any irregularities in the uniformity of the material.
This method is the best for achieving the bulk or macro-hardness of a material, particularly
those materials with heterogeneous structures.

3.1.3 Vickers Hardness Test

The Vickers hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond
indenter, in the form of a right pyramid with a square base and an angle of 136 degrees
between opposite faces subjected to a load of 1 to 100 kgf. The full load is normally applied
for 10 to 15 seconds. The two diagonals of the indentation left in the surface of the material
after removal of the load are measured using a microscope and their average calculated. The
area of the sloping surface of the indentation is calculated. The Vickers hardness is the
quotient obtained by dividing the kgf load by the square mm area of indentation.
 F= Load in kgf
d = Arithmetic mean of the two diagonals, d1 and d2 in
mm
HV = Vickers hardness

Figure 3. Vickers Principle

When the mean diagonal of the indentation has been determined the Vickers hardness may be
calculated from the formula, but is more convenient to use conversion tables. The Vickers
hardness should be reported like 800 HV/10, which means a Vickers hardness of 800, was
obtained using a 10 kgf force. Several different loading settings give practically identical
hardness numbers on uniform material, which is much better than the arbitrary changing of
scale with the other hardness testing methods. The advantages of the Vickers hardness test are
that extremely accurate readings can be taken, and just one type of indenter is used for all
types of metals and surface treatments. Although thoroughly adaptable and very precise for
testing the softest and hardest of materials, under varying loads, the Vickers machine is a floor
standing unit that is more expensive than the Brinell or Rockwell machines.

3.1.1 Shore Scleroscope

The test piece must be small enough to mount in the testing machine, and hardness is
measured as a function of indentation. However, the scleroscope is not like other types of
hardness tests based their measure on the ratio of applied load divided by the resulting
impression are [ like Brinell and Vicker well] or by the depth of impression [ like Rock
well].

The scleroscope is an instrument that measures the rebound height of a hammer dropped
from a certain distance above the surface of the material to be tested. The hammer
consists of a weight with diamond indenter attached to it. The scleroscope therefore
measures the mechanical energy absorbed by the material when the indenters strikes the
surface. The energy absorbed gives an indication of resistance to penetration, which
matches our definition of hardness. As shown in figure 25.
 The primary use of the sclerscope seems to be in measuring the hardness of large parts
of steel, large rolls, casting and gears.
And since the seclroscope can be carried to the work piece, it is useful for testing large
surfaces and other components which could not easily be placed on the testing tables
of any other testing machines.

Figure 25. Shore scleroscope

Micro Hardness Test Methods

The term microhardness test usually refers to static indentations made with loads not
exceeding 1 kgf. The indenter is either the Vickers diamond pyramid or the Knoop elongated
diamond pyramid. The procedure for testing is very similar to that of the standard Vickers
hardness test, except that it is done on a microscopic scale with higher precision instruments.
The surface being tested generally requires a metallographic finish; the smaller the load used,
the higher the surface finish required.
The Knoop hardness number KHN is the ratio of the load applied to the indenter, P (kgf) to
the unrecovered projected area A (mm2).
KHN = F/A = P/CL2
Where:
F=applied load in kgf
A=the unrecovered projected area of the indentation in mm2
L=measured length of long diagonal of indentation in mm
C = 0.07028 = Constant of indenter relating projected area of the indentation to the square of
the length of the long diagonal.

The Vickers Diamond Pyramid hardness number is the applied load (kgf) divided by the
surface area of the indentation (mm2)

Where:
F= Load in kgf
d = Arithmetic mean of the diagonals d1 and d2 in mm

HV= Vickers hardness.

Comparing the indentations made with Knoop and Vickers Diamond Pyramid indenters for a
given load and test material:
 Vickers indenter penetrates about twice as deep as Knoop indenter
 Vickers indentation diagonal about 1/3 of the length of Knoop major diagonal
 Vickers test is less sensitive to surface conditions than Knoop test
 Vickers test is more sensitive to measurement errors than knoop test
 Vickers test best for small rounded areas and Knoop test best for small elongated areas.
 Knoop test good for very hard brittle materials and very thin sections