Hardness Tester

By Author: Pravinda
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A hardness tester sounds like something students use to select the courses they might want to avoid, but it is in fact a device for measuring the hardness of a material. Hardness is a characteristic of a given material defined as the resistance to indentation. We all have a conceptual definition of hardness, since we all understand when someone says that steel is harder than wood. A hardness tester allows the user to quantify this concept.

Hardness testing can be defined on a macro, micro or nano scale according to the forces applied and displacements obtained. Testing of macro-hardness of materials is a quick and simple method, wherein mechanical property data for the bulk material is obtained from a small sample. Hardness testing is also widely used for the quality control of surface treatments processes. However, where materials have a fine microstructure, are multi-phase, non-homogeneous or prone to cracking, macro-hardness testing will be highly variable and will not identify individual surface features. Therefore here micro-hardness measurements are more appropriate. Nano-indentation testing is the measure of the ...
... hardness by indenting using very small, on the order of 1 Nano-Newton, indentation forces and measuring the depth of the indention that was made on the metal.

Using a hardness tester, a person can say that material A is twice as hard as material B. There are over 12 different accepted methods of testing for hardness. The most common method is known as the Rockwell Hardness Tester, and the results are given in terms of the Rockwell hardness scale. A Rockwell Hardness Tester is used to measure the hardness of metals. There is a strictly defined method for performing a Rockwell Hardness Test and specifically built Rockwell Hardness Testers.
Metals are the most common materials for which a hardness tester is used. The reason for this is that the hardness of a metal is depending upon its composition and state. Steel is the most common metal for which hardness testing is done, and steel is an alloy, meaning that it is a mixture of different elements. The degree to which these elements are mixed together in the steel will affect its hardness. In many steels, these mixtures separate slowly over time in a somewhat similar manner to oil and water.

Hardness testers are also used to grade materials, particularly steels. Very hard steel may be required for one type of application, while milder steel may be required for a different application. The difference may be small enough that you cannot tell which is best without using a hardness tester. However, this small difference can often be the difference between success or failure.
At Techequip Australia we have a wide range of Portable Hardness Testers, with a range of products for general usage and a range of products that are for heavy duty industrial usage.For more details on Hardness Tester and Hardness Testing than please visit our website.