Hardness is a qualitative characteristic of a material that measures how resistant it is to penetration by an indenter. Hardness testing is an important aspect of enabling us to differentiate different materials which is a crucial aspect in evaluating the quality assurance of a material. There are several methods of hardness testing and Rockwell hardness testing is one of the frequently used methods. It uses a Rockwell tester and a scale which is denoted by different letters.
How is the test carried out?
The method is used on many different type of metals except where the material would be too big or too small to be used. It uses the principle of indentation of the test material by an indenter. One has to first prepare the surface of the sample material to be used. A preload test is then carried out for a specified amount of time to a sample to help in measuring the baseline indentation. The major load is then added to attain the required test load for some time until it come down. The Rockwell hardness value is then obtained by measuring the difference between the preload and load adapt that is how much indentation is made past the preload.
The importance of hardness testing
Hardness testing is very important as it helps in determining the breaking point which is the strength and durability of a material. This information helps us in choosing the correct material to be used for a certain purpose. Rockwell method is quite quick and easy to use therefore it is mostly used in most quality assurance tests.