ABSTRACT

Evaluation of the hardness of three different

categories namely Rockwell, Vickers’s, Brinell of the
sample of Aluminum 2024-T4 to have an insight of
what actually are the factors to be considered for the
hardness testing ,test.

HAMMAD UR REHMAN
MATERIALS LAB-II

HARDNESS TEST
FOR ALUMINUM
4032-T651
DHA Suffa University
HARDNESS:
Hardness of a material is the materials resistance to the localized plastic deformation.

Early hardness tests were based on natural minerals with a scale constructed solely on the ability of one
material to scratch another that was softer. A hardness indexing scheme was devised, termed the Mohs
scale, which ranged from 1 on the soft end for talc to 10 for diamond. The depth or size of the resulting
indentation is measured, which in turn is related to a hardness number; the softer the material, the
larger and deeper the indentation, and the lower the hardness index number.

Measured hardness’s are only relative (rather than absolute), and care should be exercised when
comparing values determined by different techniques.

Hardness tests are performed more frequently than any other mechanical test
For several reasons:

 They are inexpensive, and easy to do.

 The material is not damaged by the test, so the material can still
be used after hardness testing…
 Other mechanical properties can also be derived from the
hardness data, such as: tensile strength.
 Micro hardness test specimens must have a polished surface whereas it is usually sufficient for
specimens in macro/regular hardness testing to just have a ground or clean surface. In general,
however, it can be said that the variation of the measured hardness result relates directly to the quality
of the surface preparation. Therefore, it is a good idea to consider the trade-off vs. surface quality and
test result variation before deciding on an inferior surface preparation. As good practice, the material
tested should be clean, smooth, and even. The degree of specimen surface roughness that can affect
the hardness results is dependent on the Rockwell scale being used. Usually, the regular scales can
tolerate a finished ground surface to obtain accurate results. However, as the applied forces get lighter,
the surface's requirements become more influential and the need for a smoother surface becomes
more important. For the lowest hardness test force, the 15 Kgf scales, a polished or lapped surface is
recommended. Care should be taken when finishing any material prior to testing to avoid the possibility
of causing a work hardened condition to the material.

As per all the mechanical tests standards used in the present day world are listed in ASTM,
www.astm.org. WE CONSIDERED ASTM standard handbook of E18.5598.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Inaccuracies also result if the test specimen is too thin, if an indentation is made too near a specimen edge, or if two
indentations are made too close to one another. Specimen thickness should be at least ten times the indentation
depth, whereas allowance should be made for at least three indentation diameters between the center of one
indentation and the specimen edge, or to the center of a second indentation. Furthermore, testing of specimens
stacked one on top of another is not recommended. Also, accuracy is dependent on the indentation being made into a
smooth flat surface.

DIFFERENT TESTS PERFORMED:

We have arranged a faced sample of aluminum 4032-T651, in a disc shape for the hardness
testing.

We performed 3 different types of hardness tests, the significance of doing three different tests is..

Rockwell hardness test:

This test is performed with a conical hardened steel or diamond tipped indenter, whose cone
1 1 1 1
diameter can be2, 4 , 8 , 16 mm. this is the most common used hardness testing mechanism, and no
special skills are require for this test.

With this system, a hardness number is determined by the difference in depth of penetration resulting
from the application of an initial minor load followed by a larger major load; utilization of a minor load
enhances test accuracy. On the basis of the magnitude of both major and minor loads, there are two
types of tests: Rockwell and superficial Rockwell. For Rockwell, the minor load is 10 kg, whereas major
loads are 60, 100, and 150 kg. Each scale is represented by a letter of the alphabet; several are listed
with the corresponding indenter and load.

Rockwell Hardness Value: 33HRC100

Brinell hardness Test:
In Brinell tests, as in Rockwell measurements, a hard, spherical indenter is forced into the surface of the metal to be
tested. The diameter of the hardened steel (or tungsten carbide) indenter is 10.00 mm (0.394 in.). Standard loads
range between 500 and 3000 kg in 500-kg increments; during a test, the load is maintained constant for a specified
time (between 10 and 30 s). Harder materials require greater applied loads. The Brinell hardness number, HB, is a
function of both the magnitude of the load and the diameter of the resulting indentation (see Table 6.5). 16 this
diameter is measured with a special low-power microscope, utilizing a scale that is etched on the eyepiece. The
measured diameter is then converted to the appropriate HB number using a chart; only one scale is employed with
this technique.

Brinell Hardness Value: 0.658BHN100

Brinell Hardness Value calculated: 32.268BHN100
F=187 D1=342 D2=179
2𝐷1
𝐵𝐻𝑁 =
(3.142 × 𝐷1)[(𝐷1 − 𝐷2)0.05 ]
BHN = 0.04985744
VICKER’S hardness Test:
Two other hardness-testing techniques are Knoop (pronounced and Vickers (sometimes also called diamond
pyramid). For each test a very small diamond indenter having pyramidal geometry is forced into the surface of the
specimen. Applied loads are much smaller than for Rockwell and Brinell, ranging between 1 and 1000 g.The
resulting impression is observed under a microscope and measured; this measurement is then converted into a
hardness number (Table 6.5). Careful specimen surface preparation (grinding and polishing) may be necessary to
ensure a well-defined indentation that may be accurately measured. The Knoop and Vickers hardness numbers are
designated by HK and HV, respectively 18 and hardness scales for both techniques are approximately equivalent.
Knoop and Vickers are referred to as micro indentation-testing methods on the basis of indenter size. Both are well
suited for measuring the hardness of small, selected specimen regions; furthermore, Knoop is used for testing brittle
materials such as ceramics. .
Format: No. VH load

Vickers Hardness value: 𝟓𝟕𝟓𝑽𝑯𝟏𝟎𝟎

Vicker’s Hardness Value by formulation: 560.7561VH100
D = (257 − 93)
D = 164 units

Now For SF
50*magnification

Sf = 0.002mm

Now:

D = D × Sf

D = 164 × 0.002

D =0.328mm
Finally For VHN:
𝐹
𝑉𝐻𝑁 = 1.854 × ( )
𝐷2
𝑉𝐻𝑁 = 1723.3046
Results:
 Hardness values as calculated provide some insight of hardness values presented on different
websites, but these errors are due to poor surface finish of our specimen, equipment error.