Department of mechanical engineering, NIT Warangal

HARDNESS OF METAL MATRIX COMPOSITES

Hardness tests are routinely used as a simple and effective means of quantifying the tensile
strength of metallic materials. The correlation between various hardness scales and tensile
strength has been compiled for a variety of metals and alloys. When a metal is reinforced with
ceramic particles or short fibers, higher stiffness, higher strength and lower ductility for the
composite can be observed. The overall elastic-plastic nature of the composite, however, bears a
qualitative resemblance to that of monolithic metals. This implies that traditional macro hardness
may be useful in characterizing the mechanical properties of the composite, as in the case of
many engineering alloys.
The reinforcement fraction and matrix strength appear to play an important role in influencing
the behavior of the composite under hardness and tensile loading conditions. As reinforcement
fraction increases, so does hardness. The different loading modes of the tensile test compared to
the hardness test, along with the local increase in particle concentration directly underneath the
indenter during indentation, result in a significant overestimation of the tensile strength by the
hardness test, especially when the matrix strength is relatively low.
The correlation between hardness and tensile strength is not as straightforward as it in the case of
metals. This is particularly true for composites with large reinforcement particles that are more
prone to fracture during deformation processing. While fractured particles in tension do not bear
any applied load, they do not significantly alter the resistance to local compressive loading in a
macrohardness test. As a result, the hardness test can significantly overestimate the overall
tensile strength of the composite.

Hardness of metal matrix composites

BINNET B SAM(143501)

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Department of mechanical engineering, NIT Warangal

Optical micrograph of the 2080:SiC:20p-T8 composite near the

indentation site.

The above figure shows the microstructure of the depressed region caused by indentation of a
hardness-tested 2080: SiC:20p-T8 composite. Note that the indented region is large compared to
the size and spacing between the particles. Thus, the indentation measures the overall response of
the material and is relatively insensitive to localized effects. Very few cracked particles were
observed directly below or away from the indentation.
When the strength of the matrix is relatively low a wide range of hardness exists even when all
materials were heat-treated to the same tensile strength. This can be explained by the fact that as
the matrix strength decreases, load transfer to the high modulus particles is diminished. A lowerstrength matrix also renders a more prominent effect of reinforcement under indentation. If the
matrix strength is high, the effect is diminished.
Another explanation to rationalize the experimental findings (discrepancy between macro
hardness and tensile strength) is related to the localized nature of indentation loading.

Hardness of metal matrix composites

BINNET B SAM(143501)

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Department of mechanical engineering, NIT Warangal

Higher particle density

below the indenter.

During a tensile or compressive test, the material within the gauge section undergoes nominally
uniform deformation. In a hardness test, however, severe plastic flow is concentrated in the
localized region directly below the indentation, outside of which the material still behaves
elastically. Directly below the indentation the density of particles is forced to increase, compared
to regions away from the depression.
Following tests are generally used to determine the hardness values.
1) Vickers bulk hardness test
2) Brinell hardness test
3) Rockwell hardness test

Hardness of metal matrix composites

BINNET B SAM(143501)

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