Mechanical Engineering Technology

MCET 211Characteristion of Non-Metallic Materials Lab

Group Leader: Patricia Delph

Contributors: Matt Eckert

Dustyn Crowell

Instructor Name: Professor Parthum Jr.

Section: 01 – Tuesday 11:00 AM

Experiment Title:
Hardness Testing Lab

Date tested: 3/28/17

Date Submitted: 4/3/17
ABSTRACT
The objective of this lab was to test the hardness of eight different materials. There are
two types of materials: Elastomers and Plastics. The materials of elastomers that are to be tested
are four Buna-N rubbers. The materials of plastics are Valox 310 SEO, Cycolac T1000, Lexan
121, and Ultem 1000. The procedure of hardness testing was to test all plastic materials thrice
with Rockwell (ASTM D785) using two different hardness scales [Hardness Rockwell R (HRR)
and Hardness Rockwell M (HRM)]. Once we were finished with the plastics, we then tested all
the elastomers materials thrice with Durometer (ASTM D2240) using two different hardness
scales (A and D). The major findings from running these testing is that, from the plastics, the
Valox 310 SEO is the strongest out of all four of the materials tested with an average of 107.3
HRR and the average of 21.91 HRM. From the elastomers materials, number one out of the four
Buna-N rubbers was found to be the strongest with an average of 7.7 D and the average of 37.9
A. The less strong material in the plastic material was the Ultem 1000 with an average of 127.6
HRR and an average of 107.25 HRM. The less strong material in the elastomer material was the
number six with an average of 33.5 D and an average of 84.7 A. Overall, the testing showed that
one material, the Buna-N rubber, showed that four specimens are made of the same material, but
that they all had a different hardness and four different plastic materials. Each material, after
being tested thrice on one specimen, had a different hardness.

RESULTS
Hardness Testing
Elastomers with Durometer Hardness
Plastics with Rockwell Hardness Scales
Scales
Materials Average: Average:
HRR HRM Materials: D A
: HRR HRM D A
106.4 23.36 32.0 86.0
Valox Buma-N
107.5 21.78 107.5 21.91 35.5 84.5 33.5 84.7
310 SEO rubber # 6
107.9 20.59 33.0 83.5
121.4 82.94 12.0 52.5
Cycolac Buma-N
121.1 83.05 121.3 82.98 11.5 54.0 11.5 53.8
T1000 rubber # 2
121.4 82.96 11.0 55.0
123.6 54.21 19.5 67.0
Lexan Buma-N
122.7 54.01 122.8 54.47 20.0 65.0 19.8 66.0
121 rubber # 4
122.2 55.20 20.0 66.0
127.6 107.25 7.00 38.0
Ultem Buma-N
127.6 107.22 127.6 107.25 8.00 38.0 7.70 37.8
1000 rubber # 1
127.5 107.28 8.00 37.5
Total Average: 24.2 80.7
Table 1: Summary Table (Hardness)
 Hardness Scales of Elastomers
90

80

70
Scale A

60
Scale A
50

40

30
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Scale D

Graph 1: Comparison of Two Hardness Scales of Elastomers

Hardness Scales of Plastics

135

115

95
Axis Title

75
HRM
55

35

15
105 110 115 120 125 130
Axis Title

Graph 2: Comparison of Two Hardness Scales of Plastics

 Published Data
Materials HRR HRM Resources
Valox 310 SEO 120 - Sabic
Cycolac T1000 - - MAPP
Lexan 121 118 70 Sabic
Ultem 1000 - 109 Sabic
Materials Scale D Scale A Resources
Buna-N Rubber - 70 Mykin
Table 2: Published Data of hardness

OBSERVATIONS
o The relationship between the two scales of elastomers is that scale A is bigger
than scale D by approximately forty-seven %. When scale D increases, Scale A
also increases.

o The relationship between the two scales of plastics is that HRR is bigger than
HRM by approximately fifty % and when the HRM increases, the HRR also
increases.

o We found that published data is limited, when comparing to tested data. For
example, Cycolac T1000’s data was found in the Manufacturers Association for
Plastics Processors (MAPP) but you can’t get access to the data because you need
to become a member to get access to the published data. Other than that, the
results data are close to the published data. Buna-N rubber’s average from the
testing was 80.7 in scale A. but the published data was70 in scale A which is a
difference of 10.7 less than the results of testing. Lexan 121’s result data was
54.47 HRM but the published data is 70 HRM which is 15.53 bigger than the
result. Ultem 1000’s result is 107.2 HRM but the published data is 109 HRM
which is 1.75 bigger than the result. Valox 310 SEO’s result is 107.5 HRR but the
published data is 120 HRR, which were 12.5 bigger than the results.

o Given the molecular structures and what I know about the Tg’s of the plastics
materials, the Rockwell hardness’s results do make sense.

o Two of the samples are listed as Buna-N rubber but they display differences in
hardness. Some factors that could contribute to these differences are the timing
for hardening the rubber, like a different method of harden: quenching, or natural
 harden, the chemical structures are different, and the chemical components in the
rubbers are slightly different.

o Some potential sources of error could be human error, machine error, and or
calculation error. Human error could be the position of the material when tested
are incorrect or held in the machine, Durometer, wrong. A machine error could be
that it wasn’t properly set to zero or didn’t hit the materials correctly. A
calculation error could be that I put down the data incorrectly or calculated the
average for the result incorrectly.

APPENDIX
RAW DATA
REFERENCES
 Published Data of Valox 310 SEO, Accessed in 4/1/17. https://www.sabic-
ip.com/gepapp/eng/weather/weatherhtml?sltRegionList=1002002000&sltPrd=100200301
9&sltGrd=1002011410&sltUnit=0&sltModule=DATASHEETS&sltVersion=Internet&sl
tType=Online
 Published Data of Cycolac T1000, Accessed in 4/1/17. https://www.mappinc.com/plastic-
industry-forum/article246.htm
 Published Data of Lexan 121, Accessed in 4/1/17. https://www.sabic-
ip.com/gepapp/eng/weather/weatherhtml?sltRegionList=1002002000&sltPrd=100200300
8&sltGrd=1002010815&sltUnit=0&sltModule=DATASHEETS&sltVersion=Internet&sl
tType=Onlinev
 Published Data of Ultem 1000, Accessed in 4/1/17. https://www.sabic-
ip.com/gepapp/eng/weather/weatherhtml?sltRegionList=1002002000&sltPrd=100200301
8&sltGrd=1002011252&sltUnit=0&sltModule=DATASHEETS&sltVersion=Internet&sl
tType=Online
 Published Data of Buna-N rubber, Accessed in 4/1/17. http://mykin.com/nitrile-rubber-
properties