THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI.

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING.

FME 251: MATERIAL SCIENCE.

LABORATORY REPORT NUMBER 002.

INDENTATION OF A METAL BY A BALL.

GROUP A SUB GROUP A2.

AUTHOR NAME: BULUMA MARK EUGINE

REG NO: F18/1494/2011.

SUBMITTED TO: PROF. RADING.

RESPECTED PROFESSOR IN ENGINEERING REALMS.

DATE: 20/11/2012.
THE ABSTRACT:

Hardness Test: This is essentially the resistance of the surface of a material to deformation. There is no
absolute scale for hardness. The commonly used tests for hardness are:
(a) Brinell hardness test
(b) Vickers hardness test
(c) Rockwell hardness test
(d) Rebound hardness test
(e) Scratch test

In the experiment, Brinell hardness test was used in attempt to examine the relation of the deformation of
metal specimen to the hardness property of a metal.

Using a hardened steel ball fixed unto a Brinell Hardness Test machine demonstrated in the experimental
setup diagram. The specimen was mounted unto the machine and the machine was loaded with equivalent
loads as indicated by the experimental procedure. The results were measured by help of a microscope,
recorded, and tabulated. The results were used to plot graphical curves using the Microsoft excel
spreadsheet package. The analysis and discussion of the results was done in relation to the preset theory.
Deductions were made, conclusion derived from discussion of the analyzed results and recommendations
put forward in response to errors encountered during the experiment.
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE EXPERIMENT.

1. To examine deformation of metal specimen when hardened steel specimen is pressed into it under
different normal loads.
2. To use the indentations to determine the properties of a metal.

THE INTRODUCTION TO EXPERIMENT.

The Brinell hardness test is a simple, quick and non destructive test that can be performed:

On a small piece of material thats too small to machine a tensile/compressive test specimen out
of it.
On a piece of metal thats needed to be preserved for future use.
When there is no time to prepare for tensile/compressive test.

Therefore, in this experiment report on INDENTATION OF A METAL BY A BALL, we use a steel ball,
following the standard procedure for performance of Brinell hardness test to determine some mechanical
properties of two metal specimens i.e. steel and aluminium.

THEORY BEHIND THE EXPERIMENT.

Hardness is the property of a material (metal) by virtue of its ability to resist abrasion, indentation (or
penetration)
And scratching by harder bodies. It is the resistance of a material to permanent deformation of the
surface. In other words, one can define it as the resistance of the metal to penetration by an indenter. The
hardness
Of a surface of the material is, of course, a direct result of inter-atomic forces acting on the surface of the
Material. We must note that hardness is not a fundamental property of a material, however, but rather a
combined effect of compressive, elastic and plastic properties relative to the mode of penetration, shape
of penetrator, etc. Hardness seems to bear a fairly constant relationship to the tensile strength of a given
material and thus it can be used as a practical non-destructive test for an approximate idea of the value of
that property and the state of the metal near the surface.

All hardness tests are made on the surface or close to it. We may note that in mechanical
tests the bulk of material is involved.

Sometimes, hardness is expressed in terms of macro-hardness and micro-hardness. The macro hardness
of material relates to its resistance to larger volume displacements in plastic deformation, whereas micro
hardness
is the hardness of the materials in microscopically small volumes e.g. in grain boundaries.
Hardness of materials is of importance for dies and punches, limit gauges, cutting tools, bearing surfaces
etc. Softness of a material is opposite extreme of hardness. On heating all materials become soft.

Brinell hardness number is the hardness index, calculated by pressing a hardened steel ball (indenter)
into test specimen under standardized load. Brinell hardness tests are used to determine
hardness of metallic materials, to check quality level of products, for uniformity of samples of metals,
for uniformity of results of heat treatment.

The Brinell Hardness Number (BHN) is obtained by dividing the applied force by the spherical surface
area of the indentation, i.e.
The value of Brinell hardness number is related to tensile strength and for two
materials this is as shown in below:

The diameter (D) of the ball, 1, 2, 5 or 10 mm (generally it is 10 mm) and the applied load (P) are
chosen, such that the same value of P/D 1, 5, 10 or 30 will give the same hardness number. The thickness
of the material being tested should be at least 10 times the depth of the indentation.
Steel ball used in Brinell hardness testing should be polished and free from surface defects. Tungsten
carbide balls should be used, so that there should
not be any permanent change in ball diameter.
THE APARATUS AND THE SET UP OF THE EXPERIMENT.
THE PROCEDURE OF THE EXPERIMENT.

(i) We placed the test sample on the top of the test table and raised it with the elevating screw, till the test
sample just touched the ball.
(ii) We applied the desired load, starting with 250 kg equivalent load.
(iii) The steel ball during this period moved to the position of the sample and made an indentation.
(iv) We measured the indentation diameter at two places, by coinciding the two points of a reading
microscope (Fig. (c)).
(v)We changed the load by 250 kg equivalent increment and repositioned the specimen according to the
specifications in the theory. We repeated this until we reached a load equivalent to 3000kg.

This procedure was repeated by group A1, in testing the hardness of an aluminum specimen. The two
groups then discussed and shared the results.

RESULTS, COMPUTATIONS AND GRAPHWORK.

The tabulation of the results, computation was done by use of Microsoft excel spreadsheet package of The
Microsoft Office 7.

DIAMETER CURVED
DIAMETER ON BALL AREA CURVED BHN for
LOAD ON STEEL ALUMINUM DIAMETER FOR AREA OF BHN for aluminum
(Kg) (mm) (mm) (mm) STEEL AL steel(Kg/mm2) (Kg/mm2)
250 1.75 1.7 10 4.849 4.57 103.12 109.33
500 2.4 2.4 10 9.183 9.18 108.89 108.89
750 2.85 2.8 10 13.03 12.6 115.11 119.35
1000 3.25 3.15 10 17.06 16 117.26 125.04
1250 3.55 3.45 10 20.47 19.3 122.16 129.59
1500 3.85 3.7 10 24.22 22.3 123.87 134.54
1750 4.1 3.9 10 27.62 24.9 126.71 140.68
2000 4.35 4.1 10 31.28 27.6 127.86 144.81
2250 4.65 4.4 10 36.04 32 124.88 140.41
2500 4.85 4.6 10 39.43 35.2 126.81 141.98
2750 5.05 4.8 10 43.01 38.6 127.88 142.63
3000 5.3 5 10 47.76 42.1 125.63 142.54
 3500

Linear (STEEL)
3000

Linear (ALUMINUM)
2500

2000
LOAD (KG)

1500

1000

500

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
CURVED AREA (mm2)

From the graphs, the gradients were calculated as follows:

Gradient for steel curve 2250-1500 62.5 kg/mm2

36-24

Gradient for Aluminum 2250-1750 71.4kg/mm2

32-25
DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

We deduce from these results that the Brinell hardness number for both steel and aluminum is
approximately double the gradient of the respective curves. When load is equivalent to 3000kg and using
the steel ball of diameter 10mm.

However, the results are inconsistent over the other values of the loads. This is contrary to expectations as
it was expected that the results between the gradient and the Brinell hardness number be constant in
accordance with the theory which is proven by the fact that hardness of a homogeneous material is
uniform. The possible reasons behind the deviations are:

i. We did not vary the diameter of the indenting ball with respect to the variation in load magnitude.
ii. Reading error of the diameter of indentation using the microscope.
iii. Use of a rough steel ball surface.
iv. Use of the steel ball on a steel specimen which is of the same hardness. This could have caused
indentation of the steel ball.
v. Use of rough specimen surface.

CONCLUSION.

We have examined the deformation of steel and aluminum when a hardened steel ball was pressed into
the metal specimens. From the examinations we have determined that to get the correct indentations that
should give us the specific properties of the metal specimen we must vary the load with the diameter of
the indenting ball as demonstrated below:

Steel and cast iron (P/D2) = 30.

Copper and Aluminum alloys (P/D2) = 10

Copper and aluminum (P/D2) = 5

Lead, Tin and alloys (P/D2) = 1

REFERENCES.

1. Prof. G. O. Rading, Concise notes on Material Science, 2007, Victoria publishers.

2. Material science. Free download from: WWW.FaaDoOEngineers.com.
3. Laboratory practical manual-Material Science.