Creep, Fatigue and Fracture

(MT31007)
Hardness Lecture I

Suggested Text books:

George E. Dieter, Mechanical Metallurgy

M.A. Meyers and K.K. Chawla, Mechanical Behavior of

Materials

1
 Hardness
• Hardness is the resistance of a material to
plastic deformation.
• Methods of measurement:
– Scratch Hardness
– Resistance to Indentation
– Dynamic or Rebound Hardness

2
 Accompanying factors
• Materials with higher hardness have
higher Tensile Strength and Brittleness

• Softer materials are more ductile

3
 Scratch Hardness

• Introduced by Friedrich Mohs in 1822

• Used for comparing the hardness of rocks and

minerals

4
 Moh’s hardness Scale
Mineral Hardness #
Diamond 10
Corundum 9
Topaz Hard Cr plating 8
8 Martensitic steel 7-
8
Quartz 7 W7
Feldspar 6
Apatite 5
Fluorite 4 Mild steel 3-4
Calcite 3 Copper 2-3
Gypsum 2 Lead 1-2
Talc 1 5
 Indentation Hardness
For specific loads, techniques involve the
measurement of:
 Depth of Penetration

 Surface Area of Indentation

 Projected Surface Area of Indentation

6
 Rockwell Hardness Test
• Introduced in 1919 by Stanley Rockwell
• Manufacturing started in 1920 by Charles Wilson
• Wilson revised the Rockwell method
• Principle: Hardness is calibrated with depth of
indentation, i.e. hardness is inversely
proportional to depth of penetration
• Reading obtained directly from dial-guage.
Depth measurement or calculation is not
required.

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8
 Rockwell Test Procedure –
ASTM Standard E18

• Select Scale - load and indenter depending on

the scale
• Press the indenter into the sample:
– - Diamond indenter (Brale) with cone angle of 120o
– - 1/16" ball indenter
– - 1/8" ball indenter

9
 Rockwell Hardness
• No need to measure depth or width of indentation optically.
• Preload (Minor load) of 10 kgf (3 kgf for superficial scale) is
applied prior to the application of the main load to seat the
specimen – minimizes the requirement of surface preparation
and reduces the tendency for ridging or sinking in of the
indenter.
• Major load is applied and depth of indentation is recorded on a
dial gage in terms of arbitrary hardness numbers (HR). The dial
contains 100 divisions, each representing a penetration of
0.00008 inches. (0.002 mm). The number sequence is such that
smaller penetration gives higher hardness number.
• Brale Indenter: Diamond Cone with cone angle of 120o
• Steel Ball Indenter: 1/8 inch (3.175 mm), 1/16 inch (1.587 mm)
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Rockwell Hardness Testing

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 Machine measures depth of
penetration and computes hardness

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 Rockwell Hardness Scales
Minor load = 10 kgf for scales A, B, C, D, E, F & L; 3 kgf for N

•Testing Procedure in ASTM E18-74

•Conversion Tables for Alloys: ASTM E140-78 13
 Rockwell Superficial Scales (Minor Load = 3 kgf )
Scale Symbol Indenter Major Typical Applications of Scales
Load
kg
HR15N Brale® 15 kg • Cemented carbides, thin steel and shallow
HR30N Diamond 30 kg case hardened steel
HR45N 45 kg • Steel, hard cast irons, pearlitic malleable
iron, titanium, deep case hardened steel
and other materials harder than B100
• Thin steel and medium case hardened
steel and pearlitic malleable iron
HR15T 1/16" ball 15 kg • Copper alloys, soft steels, aluminum
HR30T 30 kg alloys, malleable iron
HR45T 45 kg • Annealed copper alloys, thin soft sheet
metals
• Phosphor bronze, beryllium copper,
malleable irons. Upper limit G92 to avoid
possible flattening of ball
HR15W 1/8" ball 15 kg • Cast iron, aluminum and magnesium
HR30W 30 kg alloys, bearing metals
HR45W 45 kg • Aluminum, zinc, lead
• Steel, hard cast irons, pearlitic malleable
HR15X 1/4" ball 15 kg
HR30X 30 kg
HR45X 45 kg
HR15Y 1/2" ball 15 kg
HR30Y 30 kg
HR45Y 45 kg 14
 Rule of Thumb
• Keep indentations 2-3 diameters apart
• Select the scale to keep reading between 20-
80
• For Steel:
If HRA > 60, use HRC scale
If HRA < 60, use HRB scale

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 Precautions of Rockwell Test
1) Sample must be ten times thicker than the indentation
depth (sample usually should be at least 1/8" thick).

2) Need 3 tests (minimum) to avoid inaccuracies due to

impurities, hard spots

3) Indentation should not be too close to the edge of sample

4) Top and bottom surfaces of samples should be flat and

parallel.

Limitations

• Different scales for materials with widely varying hardness

• The indenter travel is limited to 100 Rockwell points or 0.2mm.

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 Advantages of the Rockwell Test
– Widely used and well accepted
– Little operator subjectivity – direct reading
– Accurate
– Fast
– Large range of scales (plastics to steels)
– Regular surface preparation (polishing not
needed)

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Brinell Test - Load over Area Test

Introduced by Dr. Jonathan Brinell in 1900.

Principle:
• Hardness = Load / Actual surface area of indentation
• Surface area of hemispherical indentation is measured. 18
Brinell Hardness
Testing Machine

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Brinell Hardness Testing Machine

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Brinell Test Method – ASTM Standard E10

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

with a known amount of load.

2. Measure diameter of the indentation.

3. Calculate hardness according to the formula

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Brinell Test

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 Brinell Hardness
• ASTM E10-78
• Indentation of metal surface by 10 mm
diameter steel ball at a load of 3000 kg or 500
kg for soft metal.
• For very hard metals, WC ball is used.
• Load applied for 10 - 15 s.
• Diameter of Indentation is measured with
microscope.

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 Brinell Hardness (BHN)
Proposed by
ASTM E10-78
J. A. Brinell in
1900.

• Principle: Hardness = Load divided by surface area of indentation

• HB = P/(Dt) = P/[(D/2)(D - (D2-d2)]
where P = applied load, kg, D = diameter of ball, mm &
d = diameter of indentation, mm, t = depth, mm
Since d/2 = D/2 sin , HB = P/[(/2)D2(1 – cos )]
For constant , HB (or BHN) is constant if P1/D12 = P2/D22 = P3/D32
Ensures same geometrical configuration
Problem: HB is dependent on the load for same sphere
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 Derivation

(D/2 – t)

[(D/2) – t]2 + (d/2)2 = (D/2)2

HB = P / Dt
 [(D/2) – t]2 = (D/2)2 – (d/2)2
Substitute here
t = (D/2) – [(D/2)2 – (d/2)2]1/2
 [(D/2) – t] = [(D/2)2 – (d/2)2]1/2

 t = (D/2) –
25
[(D/2)2 – (d/2)2]1/2
 P/D2 ratio for Brinell test
• 0.25  d/D  0.50
• Optimum d/D = 0.375

Material P/D2 ~BHN

Steels and cast
30 Over 100
iron
Copper and Al
10 30-200
alloys
Pure Al 5 15-100
Tin, lead and
1 3-20
their alloys 26
Brinell Indentations at Various Loads

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Precautions for Brinell Hardness Test
a) Sample must be ten times thicker than the indentation
depth (sample usually should be at least 3/8" thick).

b) Test is most accurate if the indentation depth is 2.5 - 5.0

mm. Adjust load to achieve this.

c) The top and bottom surfaces should be flat and parallel.

d) Distance between consecutive indentations should be  3

times diameter.

e) Requirement of 0.25 d/D  0.50; optimum for d/D =

0.375

f) Test is no good if BHN > 650, Sensitivity problem

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 Advantages of the Brinell Test

• Widely used and well accepted

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

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 Hardness and Tensile Strength

Tensile Strength = BHN x 500 [psi]

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 Meyer Hardness

• Hardness = Load/Projected Area of Indentation

• Meyer Hardness, pm = 4P/d2 (does not change with load)
• Emperical Relation between load and size of the indentation
(Meyer’s law):
P = kdn’
where P = applied Load, kg
d = diameter of indentation, mm
n’ = material constant related to strain hardening
k = material constant for resistance of metal to penetration
For fully annealed metals, n’ = 2.5
For fully strain hardened metals, n’ = 2.

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Relationship Between Hardness and Flow Curve

• Plastic zone beneath hardness indentation is surrounded

with elastic material, which hinders plastic flow.
• Mean compressive stress required exceeds that for simple
compression because of the constraint imposed.
• For indentation with a spherical ball,
pm = 30
 0 = pm/3 = 4P/3d2
• True strain is proportional to d/D (Tabor):
e = 0.2(d/D)
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