Bangladesh University of

Engineering and Technology

Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering

Course Name: MME 102 Group Number: 1

Experiment Number: 3(b)

Name of the Experiment:

MECHANICAL TESTING OF MATERIALS HARDNESS

Date of Performance:
20/10/2024
Submited To
Date of Submission: F.M Abrar Daiyan
28/10/2024 Lecturer(Adjunct),
Department of MME, BUET
Submited By
Arnob Halder
Student ID: 2311005
Department: MME
Sec�on: A

Page | 1
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................3
Equipment...................................................................................................................................3
Procedure ..................................................................................................................................3
Result .........................................................................................................................................5
Discussion ..................................................................................................................................7

Page | 2
Introduction:
Hardness measures a material's resistance to localized plastic or permanent deformation. It
indicates the material's resistance to surface impacts such as indentation, scratching, or abrasion.
If a material is scratched easily, it means it is softer than the material, which is hard to scratch.
There is a scale called the Mohs scale, rated from 1 to 10 for the qualitative measurements of a
material's hardness, where diamond is rated 10 as the hardest material and talc is rated 1 as the
softest material on earth. Now, with more advanced equipment, we can measure the quantitative
values of the hardness of a material. For instance, Rockwell, Vickers, Brinell, Knoop and Shore
hardness testing are used for different types of materials.
In this experiment we measured the hardness of materials using Rockwell, Vickers and Shore
hardness tests.

Equipment:
1) Microhardness (Vickers) tester
2) Rockwell hardness tester
3) Shore 00 Hardness Tester
4) Different test specimens

Procedure:
Rockwell Hardness Test:
1) HRB:
i. Pure aluminum, casted aluminum and cast iron were taken.
ii. The surfaces of the specimen were polished, and it was ensured that all of them
were as flat as possible.
iii. All of the specimens were placed under the indenter one by one.
iv. 100 Kg load for 15s was applied.
v. One reading was taken for every specimen.

2) HRC:
i. Medium Carbon Steel, Cast Iron and Alloy Steel were taken.
ii. The surfaces of the specimens were polished, and it was ensured that all of them
were as flat as possible.
iii. All of the specimens were placed under the indenter one by one.
iv. 150 kg load for 15s was applied.
v. One reading was taken for every specimen.

Page | 3
Vickers Hardness Test:
i. A Railway clip and a Metal sheet (one side coated with paint) were taken.
ii. The surfaces of the specimens were polished, and it was ensured that all of them
were as flat as possible.
iii. 3 Kg load was applied for the railway clip.
iv. 1 Kg load was applied for the metal sheet.
v. The duration was 10s for both of the specimens.
vi. 3 readings for the metal sheet and 2 readings for the railway clip were taken.

Shore Hardness Test:

i. Shore 00 hardness tester was taken.
ii. It was placed on a Glass plane and a Teflon plane.
iii. One reading was taken for both of the specimens.

Page | 4
Result:
Rockwell Hardness Test:
Table 1: Results from the Rockwell and Brinell Hardness Test

Scale Material Dwell Test Load Hardness

Time (Kgf)
(s)

HRB Non-Ferrous Pure Al 15 100 -57

Casted Al 48.3

Ferrous Cast Iron 84.3

HRC Non-Ferrous Medium Carbon Steel 15 150 28.5

Alloy Steel 59.6

Ferrous Cast Iron -2.0

Vickers Hardness Test:

Table 2: Results from the Vickers Hardness Test

Material Reading Dwell Test D1 (μm) D2 (μm) VHN VHNavg Identified

No. Time Load Material
(s) (Kgf)
Metal 01 10 1 148.8 157.6 82.2 74.8 Low
Sheet Carbon
02 171.3 159.3 67.9 Steel

03 163.5 152.5 74.3

Railway 01 10 3 161.7 168.3 204.3 200.7 High

Clip Carbon
02 166.9 169.1 197.1 Steel

Page | 5
 1.8544𝑃𝑃 𝑑𝑑1 +𝑑𝑑2
We know that, VHN= [ d= ]
𝑑𝑑 2 2

• For Metal Sheet, P = 1 Kgf

148.8+157.6
d1 = = 153.2 μm
2
171.3+159.3
d2 = 2
= 165.3 μm
163.5+152.5
d3 = = 158 μm
2

1.8544×1
VHN1 = = 79.01 kgf/mm2
(153.2×10−3 )2

1.8544×1
VHN2 = = 67.87 kgf/mm2
(165.3×10−3 )2

1.8544×1
VHN3 = = 74.28 kgf/mm2
(158×10−3 )2

79.01+67.87+74.28
VHNAVG = = 73.72 kgf/mm2
3

74.8−73.72
Error : × 100% = 1.44%
74.8

• For Railway Clip, P = 3 Kgf

161.7+168.3
d1 = = 165 μm
2
166.9 + 169.1
d2 = = 168 μm
2

1.8544×3
VHN1 = = 204.34kgf/mm2
(165×10−3 )2

1.8544×3
VHN1 = = 197.1 kgf/mm2
(168×10−3 )2

204.34+197.1
VHNAVG = = 200.7 kgf/mm2
2

200.7−200.7
Error : × 100% = 0%
200.7

Page | 6
Shore-00 Hardness Test:
Table 3: Results from the Shore-00 Hardness Test

Material Shore hardness

Teflon Foam 16 Kgf

Glass 68 Kgf

Discussion:
1) Rockwell Hardness Test: The indenter is made of Diamond or a hard steel ball.
HRA,HRB,HRC are the different types of Rockwell Testing method used in different
conditions. Diamond cone is used in HRA and HRC, while indenter made with a hard steel
ball is used in HRB. The cone angle of the indenter is 120⁰.

Fig-01: Rockwell Hardness

Tester

Brinell Hardness Test: In this hardness tester, the indenter is made with a steel or
tungsten carbide ball. 3000 kgf of load is applied for harder materials and 500 kgf for softer
materials.
2𝑃𝑃
Brinell Hardness, BH = 2 −𝑑𝑑 2 )
𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋(𝐷𝐷−√𝐷𝐷
P = Load in kgf
D = Diameter of ball indenter (mm)
𝑑𝑑1 +𝑑𝑑2
d = diameter of indentation (mm) [ d= 2
]

Page | 7
 Fig-02: Top view of the measurement
position

Vickers Hardness Test: It is used for measuring the hardness of a thin material. The
indenter is a diamond pyramid with square base. The angle between the faces of pyramid
is 136⁰.
1.8544𝑃𝑃 𝑑𝑑1 +𝑑𝑑2
Vickers Hardness, VHN= [ d= ]
𝑑𝑑 2 2

Fig-03: Vickers Hardness Tester Fig-04: Top view of the

measurement position

Shore Hardness Test: It is used for measuring the hardness of different polymers. Shore
A, Shore D, Shore 0 and Shore 00 are different types of shore testing methods. Shore 00
is used for very soft materials like gel materials and foam rubbers.

Fig-05: Shore-00 Hardness Tester

Page | 8
 2) Brinell Test: The indentation should be done at least 2.5 times the diameter of the
indentation away from the edge of the specimen.

Vickers Test: The indentation should be done at least 2.5 times the diagonal length of the
indentation away from the edge of the specimen.

Rockwell Test: The indentation should be done at least 2 to 2.5 times the depth of
penetration away from the edge of the specimen.

The edge is only supported from one angle, and it gets deformed easily compared to the
center of the material. As the edge does not represent the properties of the material
accurately, indentation at the edge of a material is avoided.

3) The surface of the specimen has to be smooth for the Rockwell, Vickers and Brinell
hardness tests. The specimen needs to be kept as flat as possible while indenting to
minimize errors.

4) The value of d1 and d2 is different because the surface of the material was not properly
polished and it was not completely flat on the anvil.

5) The density on the surface of a polymer is not same as inside. There can be different
materials inside of a polymer which makes a difference of hardness between the surface
and inside of a polymer. As shore hardness tester only measures the surface hardness, it
does not reflect the overall or bulk hardness of a polymer accurately.

6) We tested the hardness of Pure Al, Casted Al, Medium Carbon Steel, Alloy Steel, and Cast-
Iron using Rockwell hardness tester. Where we got the hardness for pure Al -57 and Cast
Iron 84.3 in HRB. On the Vickers hardness tester, we tested two sample a railway clip and
a metal sheet, they have the hardness of 200.7 and 74.8 respectively.

Page | 9