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Information about Brinell Hardness Test

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The Brinell scale characterises the indentation hardness of materials through the scale of penetration of an indenter, loaded on a material test-piece. It is one of several definitions of hardness in materials science.

Brinelling refers to surface fatigue caused by repeated impact or overloading. It is a common cause of roller bearing failures, and loss of preload in bolted joints when a hardened washer is not used. Engineers will use the Brinell hardness of materials in their calculations to avoid this mode of failure. Fretting corrosion can cause a similar-looking kind of damage and is called false brinelling since the mechanism is different.

Proposed by Swedish engineer Johan August Brinell in 1900, it was the first widely used and standardised hardness test in engineering and metallurgy. The large size of indentation and possible damage to test-piece limits its usefulness.

The typical test uses a 10 mm diameter steel ball as an indenter with a 3,000 kgf (29 kN) force. For softer materials, a smaller force is used; for harder materials, a tungsten carbide ball is substituted for the steel ball. The indentation is measured and hardness calculated as:



where:
P = applied force (kgf)
D = diameter of indenter (mm)
d = diameter of indentation (mm)



Common values

When quoting a Brinell Hardness Number (BHN or, more commonly, HB), the conditions of the test used to obtain the number must be specified. The standard format for specifying tests can be seen in the example "HBW 10/3000". "HBW" means that a tungsten (chemical symbol W, from the German Wolfram) carbide ball indenter was used, as opposed to "HBS", which means a hardened steel ball. The "10" is the ball diameter in millimeters. The "3000" is the force in kilograms force.

Brinell Hardness Numbers (standard test conditions unless otherwise stated)
Material Hardness
Softwood (e.g., pine)1.6 HBS 10/100
Hardwood2.6 to 7.0 HBS 1.6 10/100
Aluminium15 HB
Copper35 HB
Mild steel120 HB
18-8 (304) stainless steel1250 HB
Glass1550 HB
Hardened tool steel1500 - 1900 HB

Standards

  • International (ISO) and European (CEN) Standard
* EN ISO 6506-1 : Metallic materials - Brinell hardness test - Part 1 : test method.
* EN ISO 6506-2 : Metallic materials - Brinell hardness test - Part 2 : verification and calibration of testing machine.
* EN ISO 6506-3 : Metallic materials - Brinell hardness test - Part 3 : calibration of reference blocks
*ASTM E10 : : Standard method for Brinell hardness of metallic materials.

See also

Hardness refers to various properties of matter in the solid phase that give it high resistance to various kinds of shape change when force is applied. Hard matter is contrasted with soft matter.
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Hardness refers to various properties of matter in the solid phase that give it high resistance to various kinds of shape change when force is applied. Hard matter is contrasted with soft matter.
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Materials science or materials engineering is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. This science investigates the relationship between the structure of materials and their properties.
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A bearing is a device to permit constrained relative motion between two parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation.
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Bolted joints are one of the most common elements in construction and machine design. They consist of cap screws or studs that capture and join other parts, and are secured with the mating of screw threads.
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Bolted joints are one of the most common elements in construction and machine design. They consist of cap screws or studs that capture and join other parts, and are secured with the mating of screw threads.
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Brinelling, or true brinelling, is surface damage caused by repeated overload, reminiscent of the damage caused by the Brinell hardness test; false brinelling is damage caused by fretting corrosion that causes similar-looking damage via a different mechanism.
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Swedish people or Swedes (Swedish: svenskar) are members of an ethnic group who regard themselves as Swedes or are identified as Swedish. This may be due to inclusion in Swedish culture, speaking the Swedish language, or being of Swedish descent.
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engineer is someone who is trained or professionally engaged in a branch of engineering.[1] Engineers use technology, mathematics, and scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.
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Swedish engineer John August Brinell (1849–1925) is the creator of the Brinell hardness test and namesake of the failure mechanism known as brinelling.

(b. Nov. 21, 1849, Bringetofta, d. Nov.
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Engineering is the applied science of acquiring and applying knowledge to design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development, also known as ECPD,[1] (later ABET [2]
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Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their compounds, which are called alloys.
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1 millimetre =
SI units
010−3 m 0 cm
US customary / Imperial units
010−3 ft 010−3 in
The millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm
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diameter (Greek words diairo = divide and metro = measure) of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle.
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Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.02% and 1.7 or 2.04% by weight (C:1000–10,8.67Fe), depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese and
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The unit kilogram-force (kgf, often just kg) or kilopond (kp) is defined as the force exerted by one kilogram of mass in standard Earth gravity.
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Monotungsten carbide, WC, or Ditungsten Carbide, W2C, is a chemical compound containing tungsten and carbon, similar to titanium carbide.
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KGF may refer to:
  • Keratinocyte Growth Factor
  • King George's Fields A UK set of 471 memorial playing fields and recreation grounds
  • Kolar Gold Fields

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6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, −1
(mildly acidic oxide)
Electronegativity 2.36 (scale Pauling)
Ionization energies 1st: 770 kJ/mol
2nd: 1700 kJ/mol
Atomic radius 135 pm
Atomic radius (calc.
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Softwood is a generic term used in woodworking and the lumber industries for wood from conifers (needle-bearing trees from the order Pinales). Softwood-producing trees include pine, spruce, cedar, fir, larch, douglas-fir, hemlock, cypress, redwood and yew.
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Pinus
L.

Subgenera
  • Subgenus Strobus
  • Subgenus Ducampopinus
  • Subgenus Pinus
See Pinus classification for complete taxonomy to species level.
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hardwood designates wood from broad-leaved (mostly deciduous, but not necessarily, in the case of tropical trees) or angiosperm trees. Hardwood contrasts with softwood, which comes from conifer trees.
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Aluminium (IPA: /ˌæljʊˈmɪniəm/, /ˌæljəˈmɪniəm/) or aluminum (IPA: /əˈluːmɪnəm/
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2, 1
(mildly basic oxide)
Electronegativity 1.90 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies
(more) 1st: 745.5 kJmol−1
2nd: 1957.9 kJmol−1
3rd: 3666 kJmol−1

Atomic radius 135 pm
Atomic radius (calc.
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Carbon steel, also called plain carbon steel, is a metal alloy, a combination of two elements, iron and carbon, where other elements are present in quantities too small to affect the properties. The only other alloying elements allowed in plain-carbon steel are manganese (1.
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stainless steel is defined as an iron-carbon alloy with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content.[1] The name originates from the fact that stainless steel does not stain, corrode or rust as easily as ordinary steel (note: it "stains less", but is not actually "stainless").
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Glass is a noncrystalline material that can maintain indefinitely, if left undisturbed, its overall form and amorphous microstructure at a temperature below its glass transition temperature.
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Tool steel refers to a variety of carbon and alloy steels that are particularly well-suited to be made into tools. Their suitability comes from their distinctive toughness, resistance to abrasion, their ability to hold a cutting edge, and/or their resistance to deformation at
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The term International Standard may refer to
  • International standard
  • International Standard (dance), a category of ballroom dance


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International Organization for Standardization (Organisation internationale de normalisation), widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations.
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