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Hardness Test

What is Hardness
Hardness is the resistance of a material to localized deformation. The term can apply to deformation from indentation, scratching, cutting or bending. In metals, ceramics and most polymers, the deformation considered is plastic deformation of the surface. For elastomers and some polymers, hardness is defined at the resistance to elastic deformation of the surface. The lack of a fundamental definition indicates that hardness is not be a basic property of a material, but rather a composite one with contributions from the yield strength, work hardening, true tensile strength, modulus, and others factors. Hardness measurements are widely used for the quality control of materials because they are quick and considered to be nondestructive tests when the marks or indentations produced by the test are in low stress areas.
There are a large variety of methods used for determining the hardness of a substance. A few of the more common methods are introduced below.
Mohs Hardness Test One of the oldest ways of measuring hardness was devised by the German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs in 1812. The Mohs hardness test involves observing whether a materials surface is scratched by a substance of known or defined hardness. To give numerical values to this physical property, minerals are ranked along the Mohs scale, which is composed of 10 minerals that have been given arbitrary hardness values. Mohs hardness test, while greatly facilitating the identification of minerals in the field, is not suitable for accurately gauging the hardness of industrial materials such as steel or ceramics. For engineering materials, a variety of instruments have been developed over the years to provide a precise measure of hardness. Many apply a load and measure the depth or size of the resulting indentation. Hardness can be measured on the macro-, micro- or nano- scale.
Brinell Hardness Test
The oldest of the hardness test methods in common use on engineering materials today is the Brinell hardness test. Dr. J. A. Brinell invented the Brinell test in Sweden in 1900. The Brinell test uses a desktop machine to applying a specified load to a hardened sphere of a specified diameter. The Brinell hardness number, or simply the Brinell number, is obtained by dividing the load used, in kilograms, by the measured surface area of the indentation, in square millimeters, left on the test surface. The Brinell test is frequently used to determine the hardness metal forgings and castings that have a large grain structures. The Brinell test provides a measurement over a fairly large area that is less affected by the course grain structure of these materials than are Rockwell or Vickers tests.
A wide range of materials can be tested using a Brinell test simply by varying the test load and indenter ball size. In the USA, Brinell testing is typically done on iron and steel castings using a 3000Kg test force and a 10mm diameter ball. A 1500 kilogram load is usually used for aluminum castings. Copper, brass and thin stock are frequently tested using a 500Kg test force and a 10 or 5mm ball. In Europe Brinell testing is done using a much wider range of forces and ball sizes and it is common to perform Brinell tests on small parts using a 1mm carbide ball and a test force as low as 1kg. These low load tests are commonly referred to as baby Brinell tests. The test conditions should be reported along with the Brinell hardness number. A value reported as "60 HB 10/1500/30" means that a Brinell Hardness of 60 was obtained using a 10mm diameter ball with a 1500 kilogram load applied for 30 seconds.
Rockwell Hardness Test
The Rockwell Hardness test also uses a machine to apply a specific load and then measure the depth of the resulting impression. The indenter may either be a steel ball of some specified diameter or a spherical diamond-tipped cone of 120° angle and 0.2 mm tip radius, called a brale. A minor load of 10 kg is first applied, which causes a small initial penetration to seat the indenter and remove the effects of any surface irregularities. Then, the dial is set to zero and the major load is applied. Upon removal of the major load, the depth reading is taken while the minor load is still on. The hardness number may then be read directly from the scale. The indenter and the test load used determine the hardness scale that is used (A, B, C, etc).
For soft materials such as copper alloys, soft steel, and aluminum alloys a 1/16" diameter steel ball is used with a 100-kilogram load and the hardness is read on the "B" scale. In testing harder materials, hard cast iron and many steel alloys, a 120 degrees diamond cone is used with up to a 150 kilogram load and the hardness is read on the "C" scale. There are several Rockwell scales other than the "B" & "C" scales, (which are called the common scales). A properly reported Rockwell value will have the hardness number followed by "HR" (Hardness Rockwell) and the scale letter. For example, 50 HRB indicates that the material has a hardness reading of 50 on the B scale.
A -Cemented carbides, thin steel and shallow case hardened steel
B -Copper alloys, soft steels, aluminum alloys, malleable iron, etc.
C -Steel, hard cast irons, pearlitic malleable iron, titanium, deep case hardened steel and other materials harder than B 100
D -Thin steel and medium case hardened steel and pearlitic malleable iron
E -Cast iron, aluminum and magnesium alloys, bearing metals
F -Annealed copper alloys, thin soft sheet metals
G -Phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, malleable irons
H -Aluminum, zinc, lead
K, L, M, P, R, S, V -Bearing metals and other very soft or thin materials, including plastics.
Rockwell Superficial Hardness Test
The Rockwell Superficial Hardness Tester is used to test thin materials, lightly carburized steel surfaces, or parts that might bend or crush under the conditions of the regular test. This tester uses the same indenters as the standard Rockwell tester but the loads are reduced. A minor load of 3 kilograms is used and the major load is either 15 or 45 kilograms depending on the indenter used. Using the 1/16" diameter, steel ball indenter, a "T" is added (meaning thin sheet testing) to the superficial hardness designation. An example of a superficial Rockwell hardness is 23 HR15T, which indicates the superficial hardness as 23, with a load of 15 kilograms using the steel ball.
Vickers and Knoop Microhardness Tests
The Vickers and Knoop Hardness Tests are a modification of the Brinell test and are used to measure the hardness of thin film coatings or the surface hardness of case-hardened parts. With these tests, a small diamond pyramid is pressed into the sample under loads that are much less than those used in the Brinell test. The difference between the Vickers and the Knoop Tests is simply the shape of the diamond pyramid indenter. The Vickers test uses a square pyramidal indenter which is prone to crack brittle materials. Consequently, the Knoop test using a rhombic-based (diagonal ratio 7.114:1) pyramidal indenter was developed which produces longer but shallower indentations. For the same load, Knoop indentations are about 2.8 times longer than Vickers indentations. An applied load ranging from 10g to 1,000g is used. This low amount of load creates a small indent that must be measured under a microscope. The measurements for hard coatings like TiN must be taken at very high magnification (i.e. 1000X), because the indents are so small. The surface usually needs to be polished. The diagonals of the impression are measured, and these values are used to obtain a hardness number (VHN), usually from a lookup table or chart. The Vickers test can be used to characterize very hard materials but the hardness is measured over a very small region.
The values are expressed like 2500 HK25 (or HV25) meaning 2500 Hardness Knoop at 25 gram force load. The Knoop and Vickers hardness values differ slightly, but for hard coatings, the values are close enough to be within the measurement error and can be used interchangeably.
Scleroscope and Rebound Hardness Tests
The Scleroscope test is a very old test that involves dropping a diamond tipped hammer, which falls inside a glass tube under the force of its own weight from a fixed height, onto the test specimen. The height of the rebound travel of the hammer is measured on a graduated scale. The scale of the rebound is arbitrarily chosen and consists on Shore units, divided into 100 parts, which represent the average rebound from pure hardened high-carbon steel.
The scale is continued higher than 100 to include metals having greater hardness. The Shore Scleroscope measures hardness in terms of the elasticity of the material and the hardness number depends on the height to which the hammer rebounds, the harder the material, the higher the rebound.
The Rebound Hardness Test Method is a recent advancement that builds on the Scleroscope. There are a variety of electronic instruments on the market that measure the loss of energy of the impact body. These instruments typically use a spring to accelerate a spherical, tungsten carbide tipped mass towards the surface of the test object. When the mass contacts the surface it has a specific kinetic energy and the impact produces an indentation (plastic deformation) on the surface which takes some of this energy from the impact body. The impact body will lose more energy and it rebound velocity will be less when a larger indentation is produced on softer material. The velocities of the impact body before and after impact are measured and the loss of velocity is related to Brinell, Rockwell, or other common hardness value.
Durometer Hardness Test
A Durometer is an instrument that is commonly used for measuring the indentation hardness of rubbers/elastomers and soft plastics such as polyolefin, fluoropolymer, and vinyl. A Durometer simply uses a calibrated spring to apply a specific pressure to an indenter foot. The indenter foot can be either cone or sphere shaped. An indicating device measures the depth of indentation. Durometers are available in a variety of models and the most popular testers are the Model A used for measuring softer materials and the Model D for harder materials.
Barcol Hardness Test
The Barcol hardness test obtains a hardness value by measuring the penetration of a sharp steel point under a spring load. The specimen is placed under the indenter of the Barcol hardness tester and a uniform pressure is applied until the dial indication reaches a maximum. The Barcol hardness test method is used to determine the hardness of both reinforced and non-reinforced rigid plastics and to determine the degree of cure of resins and plastics.
The Rebound or Leeb’s method
Hardness testers using Leeb’s method operate in a slightly different manner. Although the size of the test indentation generated is connected with the material hardness even in this case, it is indirectly measured via the loss of energy of a so-called impact body. A mass is accelerated to the surface of the test object and impinges on it at a defined speed, i.e. kinetic energy. The impact creates a plastic deformation of the surface, i.e. an indentation, due to which the impact body loses part of its original speed - or energy. It will lose more speed by creating a bigger indentation and, thus, at softer material. Technically, this principle of measurement is implemented by means of an impact body which has a spherical tungsten carbide tip and which is fired onto the test surface by spring force.
The speeds after and before the impact are each measured in a non-contact mode. This is done by a small permanent magnet within the impact body which generates an induction voltage during its passage through a coil, with this voltage being proportional to the speed.
The Swiss inventor of this method, D. Leeb, defined his own hardness value, the Leeb hardness value. The Leeb hardness value, HL, is calculated from the ratio of the impact and rebound speed according to: HL = VR/VI×1000 (VI, VR = Speed before the impact / after the impact.)
You might asked yourself: "Who wants to measure the hardness value in Leeb". The answer is: as a matter of fact, anybody who uses the rebound hardness testing method does it because the Leeb hardness value is, by definition in the equation (2), the actual physical measurement value behind this method. However, no user indicates the Leeb hardness value HL in his specifications or test reports. We mostly convert into the required hardness scales (HV, HB, HS, HRC, HRB, N/mm2). For this reason, only conversion brings the rebound hardness method to life. Therefore, conversion tables, are stored in all instruments.