Hardness Testing

Introduction
Hardness testing is needed to see a materials resistance to wear, this allows engineers to see if the
specific material is suitable for its purpose. It can also be used as a measure of a materials resistance
to a localised plastic deformation.
Objectives
 Familiarize with the techniques used to measure the hardness of engineering materials.
 Identify the effect of carbon content on the hardness of steels
 Examine the influence of heat treatment on the hardness of steels. [1]

Apparatus

Figure 1: Samples with carbon content in

Figure 2: Rockwell Hardness Testing weight %
machine with conical diamond indenter

 Rockwell Hardness Tester with a conical diamond indenter. Weight applied: 150kg (Figure 1)
 Vickers Hardness Tester with square base pyramid diamond indenter. Weight applied: 30kg

Materials

 Plain Carbon Steel (0.18, 0.35, 0.60, 0.90, 1.20 (Figure 2)

 High Speed Steel samples (As-received, sample hardened at 1300 oC and quenched, samples
quenched and tempered for 1 hour at various temperatures from 200 oC to 750 oC)

Procedure

 Instruction on the use of the equipment is given during briefing/demonstration by technicians

in the laboratory.
 Measure the hardness of all specimens by the Rockwell and Vickers methods.
 In the case of the Rockwell method, the hardness values can be read directly from the scale
on the equipment. Two separate readings must be taken and their mean calculated for each
specimen.
 With the Vickers method, the size of the indentation (lengths of diagonals) must be measured
by using the attached microscope. Record the ocular readings (mm) in the X and Y directions
and calculated their mean.
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Results

Rockwell Hardness Vickers Hardness

% Carbon Hardness Readings, HR Ocular Readings (mm) Hardness

1 2 Mean X Y Mean HV

0.18 21.9 23.0 22.45 0.448 0.455 0.4515 262

0.35 30.5 28.5 29.50 0.421 0.426 0.4235 309

0.60 36.0 36.2 36.10 0.406 0.397 0.4015 344

0.90 36.0 36.4 36.20 0.397 0.387 0.3920 362

1.20 30.3 29.7 30.00 0.395 0.395 0.3950 357

Table 1: Low alloy plain carbon steels

Rockwell Hardness Vickers Hardness

Tempering
Hardness Readings, HR Ocular Readings (mm) Hardness
o
Temperature, C
HV
1 2 Mean X Y Mean

As-received 65 64.6 64.80 0.242 0.240 0.241 958

As-hardened 62.8 55.9 59.35 0.241 0.231 0.236 1043

200 64.3 64.3 64.30 0.249 0.245 0.247 912

400 62.7 63.1 62.90 0.251 0.245 0.248 905

450 63.4 63.4 63.40 0.248 0.254 0.251 883

500 64.7 64.2 64.45 0.247 0.245 0.246 919

550 65.8 66.5 66.15 0.223 0.228 0.226 1089

600 59.4 58.1 58.75 0.270 0.266 0.268 775

700 46.4 46.5 46.45 0.322 0.325 0.324 530

Table 2: Heat treated High Speed Steel

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 Hardness vs Carbon content
38
36.1 36.2
36

34
Hardness (Rockwell)

32
30
29.5
30

28

26

24
22.45
22

20
0.18 0.35 0.6 0.9 1.2
Carbon content (%)

Figure 3:Hardness vs Carbon content using carbon steel with Rockwell machine

Hardness vs Carbon content

370 362
357

350 344

330
Hardness (Vickers)

309
310

290

270 262

250
0.18 0.35 0.6 0.9 1.2
Carbon content (%)

Figure 4: Hardness vs Carbon content using carbon steel with Vickers machine

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 Effect of Tempering Temperature against Hardness (Rockwell)
for Heat Treated High Speed Steel
70
66.15
64.8 64.3 64.45
65 62.9 63.4
Hardness (Rockwell)

59.35 58.75
60

55

50
46.45

45

Tempering Temperature (°C)

Figure 5: Tempering temperature vs Hardness using High Speed Steel with Rockwell machine

Effect of Tempering temperature against Hardness (Vickers)

(High Speed Steel)
1200
1089
1100 1043

1000 958
Hardness (Vickers)

912 905 919

883
900
775
800

700

600 530
500

400

Tempering Temperature (oC)

Figure 6: Tempering temperature vs Hardness using High Speed Steel with Vickers machine

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Discussion

Effect of carbon content on hardness

As displayed in figure 1, the hardness is directly proportional to the carbon content, as when the
carbon content increases, the hardness of the material increases from 22.45 to 36.10, this is only for
carbon content percentages from 0.18-0.6 however, from 0.6-0.90 the hardness has a very small
increase of 0.1 from 36.10-36.20, the hardness of the material then suddenly decreases from 36.20
to 30.00. This shows that the carbon content of the steel influences the hardness of the steel, this is
only true for carbon content up until 0.9, this means there is a specific point between 0.9 and 1.2
where once the carbon content percentage passes this point, the hardness of the steel begins to
decrease. From figure 1, we can see that the minimum value is 22.45, and the maximum value is
36.20.

Figure 2 has a very similar correlation to the graph in figure 1 as the hardness value also increases up
until a carbon content percentage of 0.9, although the hardness value still decreases from the
carbon content percentages of 0.9-1.2, the decrease in hardness is not as erratic as in figure 1, as the
value only decreases from 362 to 357.

Effect of tempering temperature on hardness

Figures 5 & 6 show that there is no correlation between hardness and tempering temperature. As
tempering temperature increases, the hardness of the steel increases and decreases constantly
showing no evident pattern, as there is too much fluctuation. This may be due to other factors
affecting the hardness of the steel. There is a large drop on both figures 5 and 6 at 700°C tempered
temperature.

In both figures 5 & 6, the maximum point for both Rockwell hardness and Vickers Hardness is when
using the 550°C tempered sample. In regards to the Rockwell Hardness, the hardness is only slightly
higher than the rest of the specimens, therefore if we were to consider errors such as the tolerance
of the machine, there may have been another specimen with the highest hardness value.

The martensitic structure within the steel is what provides its peak hardness. Properties of
martensite allow for different levels of residual stress formed in the quenched parts of the material
giving the material a higher hardness value. This is due to the abundance of Carbon atoms packed in
small spaces between iron atoms in martensite. When the steels are tempered, the martensites’
strain is released as atoms of Carbon migrate out of these small spaces to form Iron carbide
particles. This hardness reduction results in an increase in ductility, hence decreasing how brittle the
steel is, explaining the drop at the end of both figures 5 & 6.

Errors:
There are many errors that could’ve occurred during the experiment that may have influenced the
results that have been retrieved. Examples of this are when the readings were being taken from the
Vickers Hardness testing machine, they may have been taken incorrectly as the lens of the machine
may have not been aligned correctly to the indents produced by the load, therefore the readings
collected from the machine may induce incorrect and inaccurate results. Another source of error
could be the samples used for the experiment, these samples themselves may have slight defects
such as small scratches and cracks on the surface of the sample which could affect the readings
provided, as they may interfere with the hardness testing machine as they may be mistaken for
indents on the material. The final source of error that can be associated with the experiment is that
the samples may not have been positioned correctly when placed on the hardness testing machine,
as the indents on the surface of the material may have been aligned to indents used from previous
samples, and will therefore provide an incorrect reading on the hardness testing machine.

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Conclusion:
It can be concluded that the hardness of Low Alloy Plain Steel is directly proportional to the
materials Carbon Content as an increase in carbon content initiates an increase in the hardness of
the material. However, the Heat Treated High Speed steel doesn’t have any specific correlation with
the effects of tempering temperature, although the material is affected by tempering temperature,
the evidence displayed in the graphs doesn’t clearly specify how it is affected. This is because the
hardness value of the steel is constantly fluctuating up until the maximum after which there is a
sudden drop of the hardness value once the tempering temperature reaches higher values. The
validity of the experiment can be improved by using newer and cleaner samples that have
undergone polishing and grinding, so that the indents can be seen clearly on the hardness testing
machine, and the readings can be taken down more accurately. Also, the experiment can be
repeated to increase the validity of the results as well as increase the accuracy, if an average of all
the results are taken.

References

[1] Hardness Testing lab sheet given on 18th November 2016

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