MECHANICS OF

MATERIALS LAB (ME-205L)

EXPERIMENT # 10
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
HITEC UNIVERSITY, TAXILA
 EXPERIMENT # 10

Brinell Hardness Test

 LAB INSTRUCTORS

• Lecturer Muhammad Mahad Shah (Section A & B)

• Lecturer Hafiz Ahmad (Section C & D)
• Lab Attendant Mansoor Ahmad
 AIMS & OBJECTIVES
• A IM
• To determine the Hardness value of a specified material using Brinell Hardness Testing Machine

• OBJECTIVES
• Find the Brinell Hardness Value of the test specimen
• Understand the uses and advantages of Brinell Hardness & its test
• Present your findings in a Lab Report with table, calculations, & discussion
 HARDNESS
• Hardness is another measure of the ability of a material to be deformed.
• DEFINITION: Hardness is measure of resistance to localized plastic deformation mechanical
indentation of abrasion i.e. PROPERTY OF MATERIAL TO RESIST SURFACE DEFORMATION.

• There are many different tests for hardness, but all measure the resistance of a material to
indentation, applying a known force to a tool of defined radius which is very much harder
than the material being tested.
• Empirical hardness numbers are calculated from measurements of the dimensions of the
indentation.
• Different types of Indentation Hardness Tests: Rockwell, Brinell,Vickers, Knoop
 BRINELL HARDNESS TESTING
• The test comprises forcing a hardened steel ball indenter into the surface of the
sample using a standard load.

• The diameter/load ratio is selected to provide an impression of an acceptable

diameter.The Indenter ball may be 10, 5 or 2.5 mm in diameter, the load may be
29420, 9807 or 1838 N.The indenter ball may be made of:
• Steel (S) forsoft materials
• Tungsten (W) for hard materials

• The Brinell hardness number (BHN) is found by dividing the load by the surface area
of the impression.
 BRINELL HARDNESS TESTING (CONTD.)

• Calculations

* Di = d
 BRINELL HARDNESS TESTING (CONTD.)

• When measuring the indentation diameter, make measurement at two orthogonal

directions, and get the average value to calculate, hardness.
 BRINELL HARDNESS TESTING (CONTD.)

• Standard Test Loads (F) and Weight Combinations for Brinell Hardness Testing
 BRINELL TEST - ADVANTAGES

• Brinell Test is mostly used for testing Castings & Forgings i.e. materials having very rough surface.

• Brinell testing often use a very high test load (3000 kgf) and a 10mm diameter indenter so that the
resulting indentation averages out most surface and sub-surface inconsistencies.

• Brinell test is generally used for bulk metal hardness measurements - the impression is larger
than that of the Vickers test and this is useful as it averages out any local heterogeneity and is
affected less by surface roughness.
 BRINELL TEST - DISADVANTAGES

• Due to the large ball diameter the test cannot be used to determine the hardness
variations in a welded joint for which the Vickers test is preferred.

• Very hard metals may cause the ball to deform resulting in an inaccurate reading.

• There is a tedious calculation method for determining the hardness (but Brinell
Hardness can also be read from standard tables).

• Brinell Hardness testing leaves a permanent indent on the test specimen i.e. this
method cannot be considered a non-destructive testing method.
 BRINELL SCALE

• Brinell Hardness number can be represented as:

• BHN (Brinell Hardness Number)
• HB (Hardness Brinell)
• HBW (Hardness: Brinell – Tungsten Carbide Indenter)
• HBS (Hardness: Brinell – Steel Indenter)
 BRINELL SCALE (CONTD.)

EXAMPLE:Steel has Brinell Hardness of 120.This can be written as:

• 120 BHN, and 120 HB
• Suppose, Tungsten Indenter of 10mm, and Test Load of 3000 kgf (29420 N) is used. It
can be written as: 120 HBW 10/3000
• Suppose, Steel Indenter of 2.5 mm, and Test Load of 750 kgf (7365 N) is used. It can
be written as: 120 HBS 2.5/750

120 HBW 10 3000

Brinell Hardness Type of Indenter Diameter of Test Load in kgf
No. used Indenter
 BRINELL HARDNESS TABLES
• Brinell Hardness can be estimated from standard tables:
 INDENTER BALLS

• Hand for scale

• Largest Ball:10mm
• Medium Ball: 5 mm
• Smallest Ball: 2.5 mm

• The indenter balls are placed

in their respective holders
and then mounted on to the
testing machine
 EXPERIMENT - SETUP

• APPARATUS: Brinell Hardness Tester,Test Specimen, Indenter,Weights, Microscope

• Brinell Hardness Tester

Microscope

Specimen

Indenter
Holders
 EXPERIMENT - PROCEDURE
1. Place the specimen to be tested at the center of specimen table, rotate the hand wheel smoothly.
2. 2. Lift up the specimen table, and let the specimen contact with indenter until hand wheel slide
relative to nut (skid), then stop rotating hand wheel.
3. Press "Start" button at this time, and the test will be launched automatically.
4. Then following processes will be carried out: load test force (load indicator is on), count down the
preset holding time after the test force is fully applied, keep this test force (holding indicator is on),
begin unloading when the time is elapsed (unloading indicator is on), and resume to the initial status
after unloading (power indicator is on).
5. Rotate hand wheel counterclockwise, drop down specimen table, remove specimen.
6. Measure the indentation diameter with reading microscope, and determine the hardness value via
using the standard formula.
7. The magnification factor of reading microscope of this hardness tester is 20, and the minimal scale
interval of drum wheel is 0.01 mm.
8. Please utilize light source reasonable when it is used.
 EXPERIMENT – TABLE & DATA

• Indenter: Tungsten Carbide Ball

Indenter Ball
Test Force Diameterof Indentation, Di Hardness Symbol Brinell Hardness Value
Diameter, D
Material Wight Combination

N kgf mm mm (HBW /HBS) Calculated Standard Form

Aluminium 2452 10 2

Mild Steel 29420 10 3.3

Mild Steel 29420 10 5.5

*NOTE: When calculating the BHN, take care

that the Diameters used are in mm.
 LAB REPORT

• The lab report should include the following:

• Filled Table
• Discussion
• Learning experience from the experiment
• Commentary on the behavior of the specimen undergoing Brinell Hardness Test
• Comments on the Brinell Hardness Test
 ATTENTION!
• Please go through the Lecture Videos and Slides provided.
• Lab Reports can be made and submitted in the form of lab groups.
• Take special care regarding UNITS, so as not to mess up your calculations.
• The Lab Report should be of 2 pages:
• 1 Page for Calculations and Table
• 1 Page forDiscussion

• The Lab Report can be typed or hand-written:

• The graph can be hand-drawn or made in software.
• Hand-written report must be neat, legible and well-scanned.
• For typed report, the font size should be 12 (14 for Headings).

• Your lab report must include a Title Page.

• The lab report should be submitted as a PDF.
 CONCLUSION

• Thank you!

• Any Questions?