Brinell Hardness

Testing
Hardness is resistance of material to plastic deformation
caused by indentation.
Sometimes hardness refers to resistance of material to
scratching or abrasion.
In some cases relatively quick and simple hardness test may
substitute tensile test.
Hardness may be measured from a small sample of material
without destroying it.
Principle of any hardness test method is forcing an indenter
into the sample surface followed by measuring dimensions of
the indentation (depth or actual surface area of the
indentation).

Hardness is determined by taking the mean diameter of the

indentation and calculating the Brinell hardness number (BHM or
HB) by dividing the applied load by the surface area of the
indentation according to following formula :

where P is load in kg; D ball diameter in mm; and d is the diameter

of the indentation in mm.

 The Brinell hardness number followed by the symbol HB without

any suffix numbers denotes standard test conditions using a ball of
10 mm diameter and a load of 3,000 kg (300 N) applied for 10 to
15 s.
For other conditions, the hardness number and symbol HB are
supplemented by numbers indicating the test conditions in the
following order: diameter of ball, load, and duration of loading.
For example, 75 HB 10/500/30 indicates a Brinell hardness of 75
measured with a ball of 10 mm diameter and a load of 500 kg
applied for 30s.

For example: HV 300 corresponds to a Sigma-y of

approximately 1000 MPa. An approximate relationship
between the hardness and the tensile strength (of steel) is,

Where HB is the Brinnell Hardness of the material, as

measured with a standard indenter and a 3000 kgf load.

 There are two types of Rockwell tests:

Rockwell: the minor load is 10 kgf, the major load is 60, 100, or
150 kgf.
Superficial Rockwell: the minor load is 3 kgf and major loads are
15, 30, or 45 kgf.
In both tests, the indenter may be either a diamond cone or steel
ball, depending upon the characteristics of the material being
tested
Aluminum alloys, copper alloys and soft steels are tested with
1/16 diameter steel ball at 100 kgf load (Rockwell hardness scale
B).
Harder alloys and hard cast iron are tested with the diamond
cone at 150 kgf (Rockwell hardness scale C).
An example of Rockwell test result: 53 HRC. It means 53 units,
measured in the scale C by the method HR (Hardness Rockwell).

VICKERS Hardness
Testing
The impression, produced by the Vickers indenter is clearer, than
the impression of Brinell indenter, therefore this method is more
accurate.
All Vickers ranges use a 136 pyramidal diamond indenter that
forms a square indent. The indenter is pressed into the sample by an
accurately controlled test force.
The force is maintained for a specific dwell time, normally 10 15
seconds. After the dwell time is complete, the indenter is removed
leaving an indent in the sample that appears square shaped on the
surface.

 The size of the indent is determined optically by measuring the two

diagonals of the square indent. The Vickers hardness number is a
function of the test force divided by the surface area of the indent.

P
HV (1.8544) 2
d
The constant is a function of the indenter geometry and the units
of force and diagonal. The Vickers number, which normally ranges
from HV 100 to HV1000 for metals, will increase as the sample
gets harder.
A typical Vickers hardness is specified as follows:
356HV0.5
Where 356 is the calculated hardness and 0.5 is the test force in kg.

Hardness Test
The hardness test offers the engineer a
quick, inexpensive and nondestructive way to
estimate the tensile strength of a specimen.
Hardness tests all make a small (sometimes
microscopic) indentation into the surface of
a specimen, and then use the force applied
and the size of the indentation to calculate a
"hardness number."
The correlation between this value and the
tensile strength allows this to be used as a
quality control parameter

HB

D D D 2 Di2
2

D; diameter of indenter
Di; diameter of impression in mm
F; applied load in Kg

Hardness correlates well with wear

resistance
For steel, nondestructive test
Tensile strength (psi)=500*HB

 The Rockwell Hardness Test utilizes two

kinds of indentors.
A small steel ball is used for soft materials
and a diamond-shaped cone called a Brale is
used for hard materials. To perform the
test, the indentor is pushed into the surface
of the material being tested. The test
machine measures the depth of penetration
and automatically converts this data into a
Rockwell Hardness number

Hardness Mechanical Tests

Brinell Test Method

One of the oldest tests
Static test that involves pressing a hardened steel ball (10mm)
into a test specimen while under a load of
3000 kg load for hard metals,
1500 kg load for intermediate hardness metals
500 kg load for soft materials

Various types of Brinell

Method of load application:oil pressure, gear-driven screw, or
weights with a lever
Method of operation: hand or electric power
Method of measuring load: piston with weights, bourdon gage,
dynamoeter, or weights with a lever
Size of machine: stationary (large) or portable (hand-held)

Brinell Test Conditions

Brinell Test Method (continued)
Method
Specimen is placed on the anvil and raised to contact the
ball
Load is applied by forcing the main piston down and
presses the ball into the specimen
A Bourbon gage is used to indicate the applied load
When the desired load is applied, the balance weight on
top of the machine is lifted to prevent an overload on the
ball
The diameter of the ball indentation is measured with a
micrometer microscope, which has a transparent
engraved scale in the field of view

Brinell
Test Example
Brinell Test
Method (continued)
Units: pressure per unit area
Brinell Hardness Number (BHN) = applied load
divided by area of the surface indenter

BHN

2L

D D D d
2

Where: BHN
= Brinell Hardness Number
L = applied load (kg)
D = diameter of the ball (10 mm)
d = diameter of indentation (in mm)

Example: What is the Brinell hardness for a specimen with

an indentation of 5 mm is produced with a 3000 kg applied
load.
Ans:

BHN

2(3000kg )

(10mm) 10mm (10mm) 2 (5mm) 2

142.6kg / mm 2

Brinell Test Method

Range of Brinell Numbers
(continued)

90 to 360 values with higher number indicating higher hardness

The deeper the penetration the higher the number
Brinell numbers greater than 650 should not be trusted
because the diameter of the indentation is too small to be
measured accurately and the ball penetrator may flatten out.
Rules of thumb
3000 kg load should be used for a BHN of 150 and above
1500 kg load should be used for a BHN between 75 and 300
500 kg load should be used for a BHN less than 100
The materials thickness should not be less than 10 times the depth
of the indentation

Advantages & Disadvantages of the

Brinell Hardness Test

Advantages

Well known throughout industry with well accepted results

Tests are run quickly (within 2 minutes)
Test inexpensive to run once the machine is purchased
Insensitive to imperfections (hard spot or crater) in the material

Limitations
Not well adapted for very hard materials, wherein the ball deforms
excessively
Not well adapted for thin pieces
Not well adapted for case-hardened materials
Heavy and more expensive than other tests ($5,000)

Rockwell Test
Hardness is a function of the degree of indentation
of the test piece by action of an indenter under a
given static load (similar to the Brinell test)
Rockwell test has a choice of 3 different loads and
three different indenters
The loads are smaller and the indentation is
shallower than the Brinell test
Rockwell test is applicable to testing materials
beyond the scope of the Brinell test
Rockwell test is faster because it gives readings
that do not require calculations and whose values
can be compared to tables of results (ASTM E 18)

Rockwell Test Description

Specially designed machine that applies load through
a system of weights and levers
Indenter can be 1/16 in hardened steel ball, 1/8 in steel ball,
or 120 diamond cone with a somewhat rounded point
(brale)
Hardness number is an arbitrary value that is inversely
related to the depth of indentation
Scale used is a function of load applied and the indenter
Rockwell B- 1/16in ball with a 100 kg load
Rockwell C- Brale is used with the 150 kg load

Operation

Minor load is applied (10 kg) to set the indenter in material

Dial is set and the major load applied (60 to 100 kg)
Hardness reading is measured
Rockwell hardness includes the value and the scale letter

Scale
A
B
C
D
E
F
G

Rockwell
Values
Indenter
Applied Load
Brale
1/16 in
Brale
Brale
1/8 in
1/16 in
1/16 in

(kg)
60
100
150
100
100
60
150

B Scale: Materials of medium hardness (0 to 100HR B)

Most Common
C Scale: Materials of harder materials (> 100HR B) Most
Common
Rockwell scales divided into 100 divisions with each
division (point of hardness) equal to 0.002mm in

Rockwell and Brinell

Conversion
For a Rockwell C values between -20 and
40, the Brinell hardness
1.42 x10 6 is calculated by
BHN
100 HRC
For HRC values greater 4than 40, use
2.5 x10
BHN
100 HRC
For HRB values between 35 and 100 use
7.3 x10 3
BHN
130 HRB

Rockwell and Brinell

Conversion
HRC, values
For a Rockwell C2values,
.5 x10 4
BHN
greater than 40,
100 HRC

Example,

2the
.5 x10
Convert
Rockwell hardness
number
BHN
BHN 625
HRc 60 to
100BHN
60

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