ME 101: Materials Science and Technology

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Hardness is not necessarily an indication of

strength , although for some materials such
as steel, a harder steel is a stronger steel.
Measure of a materials ability to resist
surface indentation or scratching
A difficult property to describe in terms of
first principles value depends greatly on
method of testing.
Different testing methods different scales
and values

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Brinell Hardness Test: 10mm diameter

ball with a load of 500, 1000 or 3000kg
Rockwell Hardness Test: A cone shape
indenter; the depth of penetration is
measured.
Vickers Hardness Test: Pyramid shape
indenter

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Brinells Hardness
ME101: Materials Science and
Technology

P from 500 - 3000 kg

D= 10 mm

D
d

BHN 2 P

D D

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

D2 d 2

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

1.
2.
3.

Press a 10mm (3/8") diameter ball into

material with a known amount of load.
Measure diameter of the indentation.
BHN =
Load
=
2L
Surface Area D[D-(D2-d2)1/2]
1. L = Load placed on ball, usually 3000 kg , but

1500 kg, and 500 kg can also be used.

2. D = Diameter of steel ball ( = 10 mm)

3. d = diameter of dent, measured by looking thru

a Brinell microscope.

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Plastic

Mild steel

Elastic
H
Copper

H = Ae-BT

d/D(%E)
ME101: Materials Science and
Technology

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Tensile Strength = 3.4 BHN

Correlations between the

Brinell hardness number (BHN)
and tensile strength of carbon
steels.
ME101: Materials Science and
Technology

Hardness (HB)

Sample must be ten times thicker than the

indentation depth (sample usually should be
at least 3/8" thick).

Test is most accurate if the indentation depth

is 2.5 - 5.0 mm. Adjust load to achieve this.

Test is no good if BHN > 650

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Widely used and

well accepted
Large ball gives
good average
reading with a
single test.
Accurate
Easy to learn and
use

Destructive
Non-portable
High initial cost
($5,000)
Error due to
operator reading
Brinell Microscope
(10% max)

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Machine measures depth of penetration and computes

hardness

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Select Scale - load

and indentor
depending on the
scale
Press a point into
material

Diamond Point (Brale)

1/16" ball
1/8" ball
ball

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Load levels and indenter sizes for Rockwell hardness tests.

Symbol
Indenter
Normal Scales
RB, 1/16 ball*
RC, cone +
RA, cone
RD, cone
RE, 1/8 ball
RF, 1/16 ball
RG, 1/16 ball
Superficial Sales
R15N, cone+
R30N, cone
R45N, cone
R15T, 1/16 ball
R30T, 1/16 ball
R45T, 1/16 ball

Minor(Pre-)
Load, kg

Major(Total)
Load, kg

Coefficients in
R = C1 C2 t
C1

C2mm-1

10
10
10
10
10
10
10

100
150
60
100
100
60
150

130
100
100
100
130
130
130

500
500
500
500
500
500
500

3
3
3
3
3
3

15
30
45
15
30
45

100
100
100
100
100
100

1000
1000
1000
1000
1000
1000

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Sample must be ten times thicker than the

indentation depth (sample usually should
be at least 1/8" thick).
Need 3 tests (minimum) to avoid
inaccuracies due to impurities, hard
spots.
Test is most accurate if the Rockwell
Hardness is between 0 and 100. Adjust
scale to achieve this.
For Steel:
If HRa > 60, use HRc scale
If HRa < 60, use HRb scale
ME101: Materials Science and
Technology

Widely used and

well accepted
Little operator
subjectivity
Accurate
Fast

Destructive
Non-Portable
Initial cost ($5,000)

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

1)

If -20 < HRc < 40

BHN = 1,420,000
(100 HRc)2

2)

If 40 < HRc < 100

BHN =

3)

25,000__
(100 - HRc)

If 35 < HRb < 100

BHN =
7,300____
(130 - HRb)

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

DPH/VHN/VPH/VH = 2PSin(/2)/L2

P: applied load in kg, 5-120 kg

L: average diagonal length, mm
(typically from a few m to 1 mm)

: angle between opposite faces of

indenter; 136
L

Range: 5 (extremely soft metals) 1500 (extremely hard materials)

1.854P
HV
2
L

A
Vickers Hardness = F/A = 3 y

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Continuous hardness from soft (5 DPH) to

hard materials (1500 DPH)
DPH independent on load value unlike
BHN
Careful surface preparation required
Slow due to careful measurement
Small indentation compared to BHN
Pin cushion and Barrel indentations
possible
ME101: Materials Science and
Technology

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Knoop hardness Test: Pyramid shape

indenter
Scleroscope: rebound height
Durometer: The resistance to
penetration (elastic deformation)
Relationship between Hardness and
Strength

TS K h HB

where K h 500 in lb/in

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

3.45 in MPa

Micro Hardness Tests

Major : Minor = 7 : 1

P :
Ap :
L :
C :

14.2P
HK
2
L

Applied load = 25 gf- 300 gf

Unrecovered Proj. area of indentations, mm 2
Length of long diagonal, mm
A constant supplied by the manufacturer
(C=0.07028 for
172 30' between long edges and 130 0' between short edges)

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Accurate
Useful for elongated and
anisotropic constituents.
Requires load to be
normal to surface plane
parallel surfaces.
Can be done on
mounted specimens

Slow
Sensitive to surface
condition
Subject to error in
diagonal measurement

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

Microhardness variation in a 9Cr-1 Mo steel weldment as a function of position.

Note the structural changes and the corresponding changes in hardness as the
fusion line is traversed.
ME101: Materials Science and
Technology

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

The Shore (Durometer) test provides an empirical

hardness value that doesn't correlate to other
properties or fundamental characteristics.
Shore Hardness, using either the Shore A or Shore D
scale, is the preferred method for rubbers/elastomers
and is also commonly used for 'softer' plastics such as
polyolefins, fluoropolymers, and vinyls. The Shore A
scale is used for 'softer' rubbers while the Shore D
scale is used for 'harder' ones.
Because of the resilience of rubbers and plastics, the
hardness reading may change over time - so the
indentation time is sometimes reported along with the
hardness number.
number The ASTM test number is ASTM
D2240 while the analogous ISO test method is ISO
868.

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

The Brinells Hardness Test of an alloy steel was measured

to be 355. What is the diameter of the indentation if a load of
2000 kg was used. Also compute the tensile strength of the
material.
D= 10 mm
d = 2.65 mm
Tensile Strength = 1207 MPa

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

The Brinell hardness of an alloy steel is 355. Compute the

diameter of the indentation if a load of 200 kg was used and estimate the
Solution
corresponding tensile strength of the material.

BHN 2 P

D D

D2 d 2

Substituting the values from the problem statement yields :

355 2 2000

10 10

10 2 d 2

which after some algebra gives d = 2.65mm

ME101: Materials Science and

Technology

5mm
ME101: Materials Science and
Technology

Indentation Hardness used for steel

It is indicative of ultimate tensile strength

as opposed to scratch or rebound hardness

Atoms move out of the way to create
indentation

Two main types: Brinell and Rockwell

A spherical indenter (1 cm diameter) is

shot with 29 kN force at the target
Frequently the indenter is steel, but for
harder materials it is replaced with a
tungsten carbide sphere
The diameter of the indentation is
recorded
The indentation diameter can be
correlated with the volume of the
indentation.

BHN

D D

2P

ASTM and ISO use the HB value. It can

be HBS (Hardness, Brinell, Steel) or the
HBW (Hardness, Brinell, Tungsten)
HBW = 0.102 BHN
Sometimes written as HBW 10/3000
(Tungsten, 10 mm diameter, 3,000 kg
force)

Material
Softwood (e.g., pine)
Hardwood
Aluminum
Copper
Mild steel
18-8 (304) stainless steel
annealed
Glass
Hardened tool steel
Rhenium diboride

Hardness
1.6 HBS 10/100
2.67.0 HBS 1.6
10/100
15 HB
35 HB
120 HB
200 HB
1550 HB
15001900 HB
4600 HB

Scale Code

Load

Indenter

Use

120 diamond cone

Tungsten
carbide

HRA 60 kgf

Al, brass, and

HRB 100 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere soft steels

C
D

HRC 150 kgf 120 diamond cone

HRD 100 kgf 120 diamond cone

HRE 100 kgf 1/8 in diameter steel sphere

HRF 60 kgf

HRG 150 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere

1/16 in diameter steel sphere

Harder steels

HBW
10/3000

HRA 60KG

HRB 100KG

HRC 150KG

Tensile
Strength
(Approx)

638

80.8

59.2

329,000

578

79.1

56

297,000

461

74.9

48.5

235,000

375

70.6

40.4

188,000

311

66.9

33.1

155,000

241

61.8

100

22.8

118,000

207

94.6

16

100,000

179

89

87,000

149

80.8

73,000

111

65.7

56,000