MBEYA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY

TESTING OF METALS

Lecture series 5

CEB 2104:CIVIL ENGINEERING MATERIALS I

Hashimu 2019/20
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 Objective
This chapter provides fundamental knowledge of

• Hardness of materials along with different methods

of hardness measurements normally used.
• Relationships between hardness and tensile
properties will be made.
• Impact strength measurement
• Tensile strength measurement

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 Hardness
• Commonly used property which gives
indication of the strength and resistance
to scratch and wear of a
material/specimen.
– Resistance to permanent indentation.
– Hardness is not a fundamental
property because indentation depends
on shape of indenter and load applied.

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Hardness

Deeper or larger
impression

Softer materials

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5
6
 Brinell Test

• J. A. Brinell 1900
• Involves pressing a steel
or carbide ball of 10mm
against a surface with
various loads.
– 500, 1500, or 3000 kg
• Measures diameter of
indentation.
• Harder surfaces have
small indentation while
softer surfaces have
larger indentation.

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 Brinell Test Conditions

• Brinell Test Method (continued)

– Method
• Specimen is placed on the anvil and raised to contact the ball
• Load is applied by forcing the main piston down and presses the
ball into the specimen
• A Bourbon gage is used to indicate the applied load
• When the desired load is applied, the balance weight on top of the
machine is lifted to prevent an overload on the ball
• The diameter of the ball indentation is measured with a
micrometer microscope, which has a transparent engraved scale
in the field of view

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• Brinell Test Method (continued)
– Units: pressure per unit area
– Brinell Hardness Number (BHN) = applied load divided by
area of the surface indenter
2P
BHN 

D D  D 2
 d 2


Where: BHN = Brinell Hardness Number
P = applied load (kg)
D = diameter of the ball (10 mm)
d = diameter of indentation (in mm)


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Class Discussion
What is the Brinell hardness for a specimen with an
indentation of 5 mm, produced with a 3000 kg applied load.

•Ans:

2(3000kg)
BHN 

 (10mm) 10mm  (10mm) 2  (5mm) 2   142.6kg / mm2

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 Rockwell Test

• S. P. Rockwell 1922
• Test measures depth
rather than diameter of
indentation.
• Diamond indenter
presses against surface
with minor load and then
major load.
– The difference in depths of
penetration is a measure
of the hardness of
material.

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 Rockwell hardness test

• Shape of indenter: Cone shaped

•Measurement: Depth of
indentation

Limitation:
Can not be used to test
the hardness of brittle
materials.

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 Rockwell Test
• Hardness is a function of the degree of
indentation of the test piece by action of an
indenter under a given static load (similar to the
Brinell test)
• Rockwell test has a choice of 3 different loads
and three different indenters
• The loads are smaller and the indentation is
shallower than the Brinell test
• Rockwell test is applicable to testing materials
beyond the scope of the Brinell test
• Rockwell test is faster because it gives readings
that do not require much calculation.
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 Rockwell Test Description
• Specially designed machine that applies load
through a system of weights and levers
– Hardness number is an arbitrary value that is inversely
related to the depth of indentation
– Scale used is a function of load applied and the
indenter
• Rockwell B- 1/16in ball with a 100 kg load
• Rockwell C- Brale is used with the 150 kg load
– Operation
• Minor load is applied (10 kg) to set the indenter in material
• Dial is set and the major load applied (60 to 150 kg)
• Hardness reading is measured
• Rockwell hardness includes the value and the scale letter

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Rockwell Hardness

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 Rockwell Hardness Scales

Scale Code Load Indenter Use

Tungsten
A HRA 60 kgf 120° diamond cone carbide
Al, brass, and
B HRB 100 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere soft steels

C HRC 150 kgf 120° diamond cone Harder steels

D HRD 100 kgf 120° diamond cone
E HRE 100 kgf 1/8 in diameter steel sphere
F HRF 60 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere
G HRG 150 kgf 1/16 in diameter steel sphere

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 Rockwell and Brinell Conversion
• For a Rockwell C values between -20 and 40, the
Brinell hardness is calculated by
1.42x106
BHN 
100  HRC 
• For HRC values greater than 40, use

2.5x104
BHN 
100  HRC 
• For HRB values between 35 and 100 use
3
7.3x10
BHN 
130  HRB  17
 Group Work

Convert the Rockwell hardness number HRc 60 to BHN

4
BHN 
2.5x10 BHN  625
100  60
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 Vickers Test

• Developed in 1922.
• Comparable to Brinell
Test except using a
pyramid shaped
diamond to make
indentation.
• Lighter loads than
Brinell Test
– From 1 to 120 kg

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 Knoop Test
• Developed in 1939.
• Comparable to Brinell and Vickers test.
• Uses an elongated pyramid shaped diamond to make
indentations.
• Uses very light loads.
– From 25 g to 5 kg.
• Known as a micro-hardness test because of the lights
loads.
– Suitable for very small or very thin specimens.
• Test also used for measuring the hardness of individual
grains and components in a metal alloy.

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Conversion of
Hardness Scales

Also see: ASTM E140 - 07

Volume 03.01
Standard Hardness Conversion
Tables for Metals Relationship
Among Brinell Hardness, Vickers
Hardness, Rockwell Hardness,
Superficial Hardness, Knoop
Hardness, and Scleroscope
Hardness
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Correlation
between
Hardness and
Tensile
Strength
• Both hardness and tensile
strength are indicators of
a metal’s resistance to
plastic deformation.
• For cast iron, steel and
brass, the two are roughly
proportional.

• Tensile strength (psi) =

500*BHR
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 Correlation between Hardness and
Tensile Strength

For steels
The relationship between the minimum ultimate strength and the
Brinell harness number is 200  H B  450
0.495H B kpsi
Su  
3.41H B MPa
Cast Iron
The minimum strength, as defined by the ASTM, is found to be
0.238H B  12.5kpsi
Su  
1.58H B  86 MPa 23
 Impact strength

• Materials such as ceramics have

low resistance to breakage when a
load is applied by impact.

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Denture mid-line fracture Porcelain bridge fracture

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 Impact strength

• The impact strength is defined as

the energy required to fracture a
material under an impact force.

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 Impact
• Impact Toughness -- The energy
dissipated in breaking the specimen may
be obtained from the amount of swing in
the pendulum.

• High Impact Resistance – High

Strength – High Ductility – High
Toughness

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 Impact Fracture Testing

In an impact test;
a notched specimen is fractured by an impact blow, and
the energy absorbed during the fracture is measured.

There are two types of tests –

 Charpy impact test and
Izod impact test.

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Impact Test: The Charpy Test

The ability of a material to

withstand an impact blow is
referred to as notch toughness.
toughness.
The energy absorbed is the
difference in height between initial
and final position of the hammer.
The material fractures at the notch
and the structure of the cracked
surface will help indicate whether it
was a brittle or ductile fracture.

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 Impact Test (Charpy) Data for some of the Alloys

In effect, the Charpy test takes the tensile test to completion very rapidly. The
impact energy from the Charpy test correlates with the area under the total stress-
strain curve (toughness)

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 Impact Test: The Izod Test

Generally used for polymers. Izod test is different from the Charpy
test in terms of the configuration of the notched test specimen

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Impact Test (Izod) Data for various polymers

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TENSILE STRENGTH
TESTING

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 Introduction
Mechanical properties that are important to a
design engineer differ from those that are of
interest to the manufacturing engineer.
• In design, mechanical properties such as elastic
modulus and yield strength are important in order
to resist permanent deformation under applied
stresses. Thus, the focus is on the elastic
properties.
• In manufacturing, the goal is to apply stresses
that exceed the yield strength of the material so
as to deform it to the required shape. Thus, the
focus is on the plastic properties.
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 Introduction
• The yield behavior of a material is determined
from the stress-strain relationship under an
applied state of stress (tensile, compressive or
shear).

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Tensile Test- Basic Principles
• An axial force applied to a
specimen of original length
(lo) elongates it, resulting in
a reduction in the cross-
sectional area from Ao to A
until fracture occurs.
• The load and change in
length between two fixed
points (gauge length) is
recorded and used to
determine the stress-strain
relationship.
• A similar procedure can be
adopted with a sheet
specimen.
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Basic Principles
• Step 1: Original shape and
size of the specimen with
no load.
• Step 2: Specimen
undergoing uniform
elongation.
• Step 3: Point of maximum
load and ultimate tensile
strength.
• Step 4: The onset of
necking (plastic instability).
• Step 5: Specimen
fractures.
• Step 6: Final length. 37
 Basic Principles
Primary Test Output:
The primary output from a tensile test is the load vs. elongation
curve of the specimen, which is recorded in real-time using a
load cell and an extensometer. This curve is then used to
determine two types of stress-strain curves:
– Engineering stress-strain.
– True stress-strain.

Lu

L
Lf
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 Tensile Strength, TS
• After yielding, the stress necessary to
continue plastic deformation in metals
increases to a maximum point (M) and
then decreases to the eventual fracture
point (F).
• All deformation up to the maximum
stress is uniform throughout the tensile
sample.
• However, at max stress, a small
constriction or neck begins to form.
• Subsequent deformation will be
confined to this neck area.
• Fracture strength corresponds to the
stress at fracture.
Region between M and F:
• Metals: occurs when noticeable necking starts.
• Ceramics: occurs when crack propagation starts.
• Polymers: occurs when polymer backbones are aligned and about to break.
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 Terminology
Engineering Stress and Strain:
• These quantities are defined relative to the
original area and length of the specimen.
• The engineering stress (e) at any point is
defined as the ratio of the instantaneous load or
force (F) and the original area (Ao).
• The engineering strain (e) is defined as the ratio
of the change in length (L-Lo) and the original
length (Lo).
F L  L0
e  e
Ao L0
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 Terminology
Engineering Stress Strain Curve:
• The engineering stress-strain curve
(e- e) is obtained from the load-
elongation curve.

• The yield point, called the yield

strength (Y), signifies the start of
the plastic region.

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Terminology–Perfectly Elastic

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Terminology –Perfectly Plastic

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 Terminology
• It is very difficult to find the actual yield strength
experimentally. Instead, we use a 0.2% offset
yield strength.
• 0.2% offset yield strength is the point on the
curve which is offset by a strain of 0.2% (0.002)
[the intersection of the curve with a line parallel to
the linear elastic line and is offset by a strain of
0.002]
• The stress at maximum (Fmax/Ao) is referred to as
the Ultimate Tensile Strength (TS) and signifies:
– the end of uniform elongation.
– the start of localized necking i.e. plastic instability.
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 Terminology: Ductility, %EL
Ductility is a measure of the plastic
l f  lo
deformation that has been sustained
at fracture:
% EL  x100
lo
smaller %EL
Engineering (brittle if %EL<5%)
tensile Ao
stress,  larger %EL Lo Af Lf
(ductile if
A material that %EL>5%)
suffers very
little plastic Engineering tensile strain, 
deformation is
Ao  A f
brittle. • Another ductility measure: % AR  x100
Ao
• Ductility may be expressed as either percent elongation (% plastic strain at
fracture) or percent reduction in area.
• %AR > %EL is possible if internal voids form in neck.
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 Terminology
True Stress and Strain:
• The true stress () uses the instantaneous or actual area
of the specimen at any given point, as opposed to the
original area used in the engineering values.
F

A
• The true strain (ε) is defined as the instantaneous
elongation per unit length of the specimen.
L
dL L
   ln
Lo
L Lo
• The relationship between the true and engineering values
is given by:
  e (1  e)   ln(1  e)
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 Terminology
True Stress and Strain:

Note: For a given value of the load and elongation, the true
stress is higher than the Eng. Stress, while the true strain
is smaller than the Eng. Strain.
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Stress-Strain Results for Steel Sample

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 Tensile Test
Tensile testing machine:

Load indicator

Clamps to hold
the specimen

Machine dial

Unload Lever

Load Lever

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 Tensile Test
Extensometer:
• The elongation during testing is
measured with respect to the
gauge length using an
extensometer.
• As the specimen elongates, the
extensometer reading (elongation
of the specimen) is recorded, either
real-time or at discrete time
intervals.

Analog Digital

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Go for lab experience

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