Title of Experiment

Hardness Test
Introduction

The Hardness Test is a measurement of the resistance of the material to indentation,which

indicates its strength. The indenter can be either rounded or pointed and is made of a material
much harder than the test piece, for example hardened steel and diamond.There are 3 methods to
test the hardness of the materials
Vickers hardness test
Brinell hardness test
Rockwell hardness test
there are two types of Rockwell tests.
Rockwell the minor load is 10kg the major load is 60,100 or 150kg.
Superficial Rockwell the minor load is 3kg and major load are 15,30 or 45kg.
o The most routinely used technique to measure the hardness of a material becauseof its
simplicity and doesnt require specific skills.
o A few scales can be used from few possibility different techniques that are usedwidely
for many types of steel and alloy, from the soft materials to a more hard material.
o The Rockwell scale is known as HR, and its followed by a suitable identity. Example,
80HRB refers to the B scale of the Rockwell Hardness with the value of 80 and
60HR30W refers to the Rockwell Hardness of the value of 60 in the 30Wscal

Brinell hardness test:

o Brinell test uses the force of a sphere shaped indenter on the specimen surface, just like
the Rockwell Test.
o To test the hardness of a steel (or carbide tungsten), the diameter of theindentation used is
10.00mm(0.394 in.).
o Harder material requires more force.

o Brinell Hardness Number, HB serves as both function, as the diameter and themagnitude,
which is the final result of an indentation.
o The force for each magnitude produced with the standard force between 500 and3000 kg
where the incensement of 500 kg in the test, follows a specified time.

Vickers hardness test:

o Two techniques to test the hardness of a material are Knoop Test (callednup) and Vickers
Test (also known as diamond pyramid). For each test, small diamond with pyramid
geometry is used to indent the material surface.
o The force used is much lighter than the force used in Rockwell and Brinell test.
o The preparation of the specimen must be correct, to insure the measurement of theindent
is exact.
o Knoop and Vickers Hardness Number are fixed which is HK and HV and thescale of
both techniques are almost alike
o Both techniques refer to micro hardness methods based on the force and the measurement
of the indent.
o Both are suitable to measure small value hardness of the selected specimen specially
knoop, which is used to measure brittle materials such as ceramic.

Objectives
o To introduce students with different types of hardness test.
o To determine the Rockwell, Brinell and Vickers hardness value for steel, aluminum,
brass and copper materials.
o To compare the hardness value between the four different specimens.

Apparatus and Materials

: Hardness test machine (Affri 250 MRS)

Hardness test machine

o Specimen of aluminum, brass, steel and copper.

Four specimens aluminum,brass,copper and steel

Methodology
1. The Hardness Test Machine had been properly checked and ready to be used for the
experiment.
2. The materials that are the specimen of aluminum, brass, steel, and copper had been
prepared. Each of the specimen have flat and clear surface for testing. None of them have
any indentation.
3. The scale of the load and indenter for each specimen had been categorized by using
common knowledge of material science.
4. The hardness test method had been chosen on the digital screen. The setup must match
the suitable indenter and material tested.
5. The indenter had been attached to the machine also with the protective casing.
6. The specimen had been placed parallel with the indenter by facing a flat surface side up.
7. The gap between the specimen and the indenter casing had been closed until it touched
each other by using the lever. The lever can adjust the height of the specimen.
8. After the specimen had been set, both of the green buttons located at the lower of each
side of the machine had been pushed together so that the testing will be started. The
indenter had made contact with the specimen creating indention mark.
9. The value of force had appeared on the screen and had been recorded.
10. The specimen level had been lowered down so that the specimen can be changed and also
the indenter can be changed for other test methods.
11. Step 4 until 10 had been repeated for each specimen for each hardness test. Safety
measures had been applied in this experiment.
12. For Rockwell Hardness Test, the value of the force will automatically appear after the
indention occurs. As for the Vickers and Brinells Hardness Test, the indention must be
calculated by using a microscope to determine the diameter of the indention. Apply that
diameter with the formula given for each test to determine the force act on the specimen.

Result/
Brinell Test
Materials
Mild steel
Copper
Brass
Aluminum

Diameter of Sphere
Ball (mm)
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.5

Load (kg)

P/D

HB

187.5
31.25
62.5
31.25

30
5
10
5

47.75
16.96
20.79
20.37

Brinell hardness test formula

BHN =

(kg/mm)

P = load (kg)
D = diameter of sphere (mm)
d = diameter of indentation depth (mm)
Mild steel

BHN =

Copper

BHN =

P = 187.5 kg
D = 2.5 mm
d = 1.0 mm

P = 31.25 kg
D = 2.5 mm
d = 0.685 mm

= 47.75 kg/mm

= 16.96 kg/mm

Brass

Aluminum

BHN =

BHN =

P = 62.5 kg
D = 2.5 mm
d = 0.875 mm

P = 31.25 kg
D = 2.5 mm
d = 0.625 mm

= 20.79 kg/mm

= 20.37 kg/mm

Vickers Test
Materials
Mild steel
Copper
Brass
Aluminum

Load (kg)
20
20
20
20

Vickers hardness test formula

VHN =

(kg/mm)

P = Load (kg)
d = average length of the corner (mm)

Mild steel

Copper

VHN =

VHN =

P = 20 kg
d = 0.5 mm

P = 20 kg
d = 0.675 mm

= 137.60 kg/mm

= 75.50 kg/mm

Brass

Aluminum

VHN =

VHN =

P = 20 kg
d = 0.525 mm

P = 20 kg
d = 0.56 mm

= 124.81 kg/mm

= 109.69 kg/mm

HV
137.60
75.50
124.81
109.69

Discussion:
Q1) discuss the importance of hardness test and name other types of the hardness test.

ANS 1) Hardness has a variety of meanings. To the metals industry, it may be thought of as
resistance to permanent deformation. To the metallurgist, it means resistance to penetration. To
the lubrication engineer, it means resistance to wear. To the design engineer, it is a measure of
flow stress. To the mineralogist, it means resistance to scratching, and to the machinist, it means
resistance to machining. Hardness may also be referred to as mean contact pressure. All of these
characteristics are related to the plastic flow stress of materials. Simply stated, hardness is the
resistance of a material to permanent indentation. It is important to recognize that hardness is an
empirical test and therefore hardness is not a material property. This is because there are several
different hardness tests that will each determine a different hardness value for the same piece of
material. And there are several types of hardness tests among these Meyer hardness test, Knoop
hardness test, shore durometer hardness test, Mohs hardness test and Barcol hardness test.

Q2) : analyze the hardness value of given materials. Do all hardness tests show similar trends?
Give your comments.
ANS2) Based from the data of all hardness tests, the hardness number of mild steel is higher
compare to copper, brass and aluminum. From the result, we can assume that mild steel the
hardest specimen.

Conclusion:
From this experiment, students are able to apply their knowledge with different types of hardness
test which are Rockwell test, Brinell test and Vickers test. Other than that, we can determine the
Rockwell, Brinell and Vickers hardness value for all specimens by calculating it using the
formula. As a result, we know that mild steel has the highest hardness value. All in all, this
experiment achieves its three main objectives and its purposes which are to determine the
suitability of a material for its designed purpose and also to check the particular treatment the
material has received. And above all students should know which material is brittle or ductile
and which one is suitable to use for specific function and also will differentiate between
materials their hardness and will be easy to choice every material for it,s proper position.

References:
1 ) Warwick, C. L., "Resume on Notched Bar Tests of Metals," Proceedings ASTM,
Vol. 22 Part 2, 1922, p. 78.
2) The Design and Methods of Construction of Welded Steel Merchant Vessels:
Final Report of a (U.S. Navy) Board of Investigation, Welding Journal, 26, 7, July
1947, p. 569.
3) Fahey, N. H., "Effects of Variables in Charpy Impact Testing," Materials
Research Standards, Vol 1, No. 11, Nov., 1961.
4) More information is on the ISO World Wide Web site, at http://www.iso.ch