Experiment #01

Objective
To determine Rockwell’s hardness number of specimens.

Theory
Hardness
Hardness is one of the important mechanical properties which should be known before any
machining process or material use. Hence various hardness measuring tests are in used by different
industries, one of them is Rockwell hardness testing.

Rockwell hardness testing is a general method for measuring the bulk hardness of metallic and
polymer materials. Although hardness testing does not give a direct measurement of any
performance properties, hardness of a material correlates directly with its strength, wear resistance,
and other properties. Hardness testing is widely used for material evaluation because of its simplicity
and low cost relative to direct measurement of many properties. Specifically, conversion charts from
Rockwell hardness to tensile strength are available for some structural alloys, including steel and
aluminum.

Rockwell Hardness Test’s Background

Rockwell invented the Rockwell hardness test. He was a metallurgist for a large ball bearing
company and he wanted a fast non-destructive way to determine if the heat treatment process they
were doing on the bearing races was successful. The only hardness tests he had available at time
were Vickers, Brinell and Scleroscope. The Vickers test was too time consuming, Brinell indents were
too big for his parts and the Scleroscope was difficult to use, especially on his small parts.

To satisfy his needs he invented the Rockwell test method. This simple sequence of test force
application proved to be a major advance in the world of hardness testing. It enabled the user to
perform an accurate hardness test on a variety of sized parts in just a few seconds.
Rockwell Hardness Test

The Rockwell hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond cone or
hardened steel ball indenter. The indenter is forced into the test material under a preliminary minor
load then major load is applied with resulting increase in penetration. When equilibrium has again
been reach, the additional major load is removed but the preliminary minor load is still maintained.
Removal of the additional major load allows a partial recovery, so reducing the depth of penetration.
The permanent increase in depth of penetration, resulting from the application and removal of the
additional major load is used to calculate the Rockwell hardness number which is directly observed
from scale.

The Rockwell hardness number is expressed as a combination of the measured numerical hardness
value and the scale letter preceded by the letters, HR. For example, a hardness value of 80 on the
Rockwell A scale is reported as 80 HRA.

Types of the Rockwell Test

There are two types of Rockwell tests:

Regular Rockwell Hardness Testing: The minor load is 10 kgf, the major load is 60, 100, or 150 kgf.

Superficial Rockwell Hardness Testing: The minor load is 3 kgf and major loads are 15, 30, or 45 kgf.

SCALE AND VALUES

There are several alternative scales, the most commonly used being the "B" and "C" scales. Both
express hardness as an arbitrary dimensionless number.

Scale Abbreviation Load Indenter Use

A HRA 60kgf diamond cone Tungsten carbide
B HRB 100kgf 1/16 in steel Aluminiun, brass
sphere and soft steels
C HRC 150kgf Diamond cone Harder steels
D HRD 100kgf Diamond cone _
E HRE 100kgf 1/8 in dia steel _
sphere
F HRF 60kgf 1/16 in dia steel _
sphere
G HRG 150kgf 1/16 in dia steel _
sphere

Aluminum
The name aluminum is derived from the ancient name for alum (potassium aluminum sulphate),
which was alumen (Latin, meaning bitter salt). Aluminum was the original name given to the element
by Humphry Davy but others called it aluminum and that became the accepted name in Europe.
However, in the USA the preferred name was aluminum and when the American Chemical Society
debated on the issue, in 1925, it decided to stick with aluminum.
Aluminum is a soft and lightweight metal. It has a dull silvery appearance, because of a thin layer of
oxidation that forms quickly when it is exposed to air. Aluminum is nontoxic (as the metal)
nonmagnetic and non-sparking.

Aluminum has only one naturally occurring isotope, aluminium-27, which is not radioactive.

Procedure
Work piece was obtained from the laboratory.
Then the work piece was set on Rockwell testing machine.
Minor load was applied on work piece until the required position of minor scale was
achieved.
Major load scale was set on zero position for b scale (steel ball).
Major load was applied and held for a set time period of 10 seconds.
Major load was released on work piece back to the minor load when equilibrium was
achieved.
The value of Rockwell hardness no. was noted from scale.

Observation Table

Material Diamond (carbide, case Ball 1/16 dia Al, mild

used hardened materials) indenter steel
HRC HRA HRD HRB HRF HRG
M. Load M. Load M. Load M. Load M. Load M. Load
150kgf 60kgf 150kgf 100kgf 60kgf 150kgf
Hardened 61.6 99.5 71.5
steel
Mild steel 74.8
Aluminu 90.4 107.9 65
m