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Brinell, Rockwell & Vickers
An overview of hardness testing
Hardness tests have been performed on most materials, and especially metals, in one form or another for more than 250 years and provide important information about the properties of a material.
Hardness test according to Rockwell (HR)
The Rockwell hardness test was developed by Professor Paul Ludwik of Vienna as early as 1908. However, the process did not achieve commercial significance until around 1914, when the brothers Stanley and Hugh Rockwell further developed it and filed a patent application.
Rockwell is an internationally used unit of measurement for the hardness of technical materials. The abbreviation HR stands for Hardness Rockwell and is used to identify the test method. HR is followed by another letter, which indicates the scale, testing force and test specimen.
The test method measures how deeply a test specimen penetrates the material.
Hardness test according to Rockwell C (HRC)
The Rockwell hardness test C (HRC) is the most commonly used hardness test in Europe. A diamond cone exerting a force of 1471N (150kg) is pressed into the material being tested. The hardness is determined by measuring the penetration depth of the diamond cone.
- HRC for testing hard materials and large specimens (testing force 150kg)
- Standards: ASTM E18, DIN EN ISO 6508-1
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Hardness test according to Brinell (HB)
La méthode d'essai de dureté développée par l'ingénieur suédois Johan August Brinell en 1900 et présentée à l'Exposition universelle de Paris est utilisée pour les métaux doux à moyennement durs, comme l'acier de construction non allié, les alliages d'aluminium, le cuivre et les alliages de cuivre.
Une bille en carbure de tungstène est enfoncée avec une force d'essai F dans la surface de la pièce à contrôler.
Le contrôle s'effectue au moyen d'un appareil de mesure qui presse une bille de carbure de tungstène dans la surface de l'échantillon. L'impression qui en résulte est mesurée visuellement.
- Pour tester la dureté des matériaux doux à mi-durs
- Standards: ASTM E10, ISO 6506-1 à 6506 -4
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Vickers hardness test (HV)
- For testing the hardness of soft to hard materials
- Standards: ASTM E92 / E384, ISO 6507-1 to 6506 -3
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Conversion of different hardness values and tensile strength
The conversion is subject to inaccuracies and results only in approximate values.
Overview of laboratory services
A complete overview of our laboratory services and our price list can be accessed via the following link:
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Impartial expertise, metallographic or chemical investigations, and more.
In our in-house materials laboratory, our team of materials engineers will be happy to conduct hardness tests on your materials using appropriate methods. We also test materials from third-party suppliers.
Materials laboratory
Do you have questions about metal as a material?
We’re here to provide you with expert advice on the subject.
Hanspeter Grädel
Head of the Material Laboratory
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