Hardness number

The principle of the Brinell hardness test is that the spherical surface area of a recovered indentation made with a standard hardened steel ball under specific load is direcdy related to the property called hardness. In the following, HBN = Brinell hardness number, P = load in kgf,... 

Because of the geometric limitations of the indenting ball the relationship between indentation area and computed hardness number deviates from linearity when the recovered indentation diameter of a 10-mm ball is less than 2.5 mm or greater than 6.0 mm. 

In practice it is stiU necessary to read the diameter of the Brinell impressions with a caUbrated microscope however, the computations to derive the Brinell hardness number are uimecessary for standard loads and indentors. Table 1 of ASTM ElO (2) contains the tabulated relation between indentation diameter and hardness number. 

Rockwell. The invention of the Rockwed hardness tester in 1919 was an advance over previous indentation tests requiring accurate indentation measurement and tabular reduction to derive a hardness number. In the Rockwed test the hardness number is read direcdy from the instmment dial (1,3). 

The principle of the Rockwed hardness test is that the depth of the indentation between a minor and a major load appHed through an indenter is inversely proportional to the hardness number. Using a minor load to set the indenter helps to reduce backlash in the measuring system. 

In the Rockwed test a spheroconical diamond (Brale) indenter or a hardened steel bad is used with various load ranges to achieve a series of scales identified by a suffix letter (Table 3). The suffix letter defines both load and indenter. The most popular scales used are "C" for hard materials and "B" for soft materials. A Rockwed hardness number is meaningless without the letter suffix, eg, HRC 54 or HRB 95. 

The Rockwed testing machine is thus a framework permitting stable support of the workpiece on one side and means to impress the indenter under specified load on the other. A dial indicator attached to the indenter spindle is used to read directly the depth of indentation in hardness numbers. 

The relationship between depth of penetration and the Rockwed hardness number is... 

The A, D, and C Rockwed scales used primarily for steel and hard materials yield hardness numbers from 20 to about 85. Hardness numbers lower than HRC 20 are invaUd the Rockwed B, G, or F scales should be used. Hardness conversions from one scale to another are available for some common... 

The indenter/load combinations used for superficial Rockwell testing are Hsted in Table 5. As with the standard Rockwell test it is necessary to include the superficial load/indenter combination used for the hardness number to be meaningful, eg, HR30N 65 or HR30T 65. 

Vickers hardness numbers are calculated from measurement of the indentation diagonals as follows, where HV = Vickers hardness,... 

The Vickers hardness test is a macrohardness test in which loads are commonly varied from 9.8 to 1180 N (1 to 120 kgf). Vickers hardness numbers are invariant with load within the stated limits. 

The Vickers hardness test is commonly made on a flat specimen on which the indenter is hydrauhcaHy loaded. When the desired number of indentations have been made, the specimen is removed and both diagonals of the indentations, measured using a caUbrated microscope, are then averaged. The Vickers hardness number may be calculated, or for standard loads taken from a precalculated table of indentation size vs VHN. The preferred procedures are described in ASTM E92 (2). 

The Vickers hardness test, developed in the United Kingdom, is more popular there than in the United States. VHN (Vickers hardness number) and DPH (diamond pyramid hardness) are synonymous terms. 

The Knoop hardness number is computed from the measured long diagonal by the following formula where HK = Knoop hardness,... 

Ultrasonic Microhardness. A new microhardness test using ultrasonic vibrations has been developed and offers some advantages over conventional microhardness tests that rely on physical measurement of the remaining indentation size (6). The ultrasonic method uses the DPH diamond indenter under a constant load of 7.8 N (800 gf) or less. The hardness number is derived from a comparison of the natural frequency of the diamond indenter when free or loaded. Knowledge of the modulus of elasticity of the material under test and a smooth surface finish is required. The technique is fast and direct-reading, making it useful for production testing of similarly shaped parts. 

Table 6. Mohs Hardness Numbers for Some Materials...

Scratch Te.st. The scratch microhardness test is a refinement of the Mohs test. The corner of a cubic diamond is drawn across the surface of a metaHographicaHy poHshed sample under a constant load, usuaHy 29.4 N (3 kgf). The width of the resultant Vee groove scratch varies inversely with the hardness of the material displaced where H = scratch hardness number and A = groove width in micrometers. 

Scleroscope hardness numbers are convertible to other hardness scales (see ASTM E140) (2). 

Barcol Indenter. The Barcol hardness tester is a hand-held, spring-loaded instmment with a steel indenter developed for use on hard plastics and soft metals (ASTM D2583) (2). In use the indenter is forced into the sample surface and a hardness number is read direcdy off the integral dial indicator caUbrated on a 0 to 100 scale. Barcol hardness numbers do not relate to nor can they be converted to other hardness scales. The Barcol instmment is caUbrated at each use by indenting an aluminum ahoy standard disk suppHed with it. The Barcol test is relatively insensitive to surface condition but may be affected by test sample size and thickness. 

International Rubber Hardness. The International mbber hardness test (ASTM D1415) (2) for elastomers is similar to the Rockwell test ia that the measured property is the difference ia penetration of a standard steel ball between minor and major loads. The viscoelastic properties of elastomers require that a load appHcation time, usually 30 seconds, be a part of the test procedure. The hardness number is read directly on a scale of 0 to 100 upon return to the minor load. International mbber hardness numbers are often considered equivalent to Durometer hardness numbers but differences ia iadenters, loads, and test time preclude such a relationship. 

Mohs hardness values may vary Shore hardness number is derived from rebound height of standard steel ball when dropped on material from standard height. 

Fig. 17. Isothermal transformation (IT) diagram for a plain carbon eutectoid steel (1). Ae is A temperature at equiUbnum BHN, BrineU hardness number ...

For erosive wear. Rockwell or Brinell hardness is likely to show an inverse relation with carbon and low alloy steels. If they contain over about 0.55 percent carbon, they can be hardened to a high level. However, at the same or even at lower hardness, certain martensitic cast irons (HC 250 and Ni-Hard) can out perform carbon and low alloy steel considerably. For simplification, each of these alloys can be considered a mixture of hard carbide and hardened steel. The usual hardness tests tend to reflect chiefly the steel portion, indicating perhaps from 500 to 650 BHN. Even the Rockwell diamond cone indenter is too large to measure the hardness of the carbides a sharp diamond point with a light load must be used. The Vickers diamond pyramid indenter provides this, giving values around 1,100 for the iron carbide in Ni-Hard and 1,700 for the chromium carbide in HC 250. (These numbers have the same mathematical basis as the more common Brinell hardness numbers.) The microscopically revealed differences in carbide hardness accounts for the superior erosion resistance of these cast irons versus the hardened steels. 

Ritzel, n. (Mach.) pinion, ritzen, v.t. crack slit scratch etch cut. RitzhlLrte, /. hardness to scratching, -probe, /. abrasive hardness test, scratch test, -priifer, m. abrasive hardness tester, aclerometer. -verfahren, n. = Ritzharteprobe. -zahl, /. (scratch) hardness number. 

Brinell hardness number Vickers hardness number hour... 

Bhn Brinell hardness number CPRR Center for Plastics Recycling... 

The Brinell test uses an indentor of 10 mm diameter hardened steel ball, and applies a load which is usually 3000 kg. The Brinell hardness number (BHN) is defined as the load, F (kilogrammes), divided by the surface area of the indentation. The expression given below describes the definition. 

Brinell and Vicker s hardness numbers are comparable upto value of about 300. For higher hardness materials than this the Brinell values are slightly lower than HD numerals for the same material. 

The Knoop test is a microhardness test. In microhardness testing the indentation dimensions are comparable to microstructural ones. Thus, this testing method becomes useful for assessing the relative hardnesses of various phases or microconstituents in two phase or multiphase alloys. It can also be used to monitor hardness gradients that may exist in a solid, e.g., in a surface hardened part. The Knoop test employs a skewed diamond indentor shaped so that the long and short diagonals of the indentation are approximately in the ratio 7 1. The Knoop hardness number (KHN) is calculated as the force divided by the projected indentation area. The test uses low loads to provide small indentations required for microhardness studies. Since the indentations are very small their dimensions have to be measured under an optical microscope. This implies that the surface of the material is prepared approximately. For those reasons, microhardness assessments are not as often used industrially as are other hardness tests. However, the use of microhardness testing is undisputed in research and development situations. 

An alternative to the measurement of the dimensions of the indentation by means of a microscope is the direct reading method, of which the Rockwell method is an example. The Rockwell hardness is based on indentation into the sample under the action of two consecutively applied loads - a minor load (initial) and a standardised major load (final). In order to eliminate zero error and possible surface effects due to roughness or scale, the initial or minor load is first applied and produce an initial indentation. The Rockwell hardness is based on the increment in the indentation depth produced by the major load over that produced by the minor load. Rockwell hardness scales are divided into a number of groups, each one of these corresponding to a specified penetrator and a specified value of the major load. The different combinations are designated by different subscripts used to express the Rockwell hardness number. Thus, when the test is performed with 150 kg load and a diamond cone indentor, the resulting hardness number is called the Rockwell C (Rc) hardness. If the applied load is 100 kg and the indentor used is a 1.58 mm diameter hardened steel ball, a Rockwell B (RB) hardness number is obtained. The facts that the dial has several scales and that different indentation tools can be filled, enable Rockwell machine to be used equally well for hard and soft materials and for small and thin specimens. Rockwell hardness number is dimensionless. The test is easy to carry out and rapidly accomplished. As a result it is used widely in industrial applications, particularly in quality situations. 

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