Calibration Services

Mass and Related Quantities: Hardness Measurements

General

The Mass and related quantities Laboratory of SCL provide calibration services for hardness of metallic materials. The hardness of a material is, in broad terms, a measure of its resistance to local deformation by some specified disturbing force. Unlike most physical and engineering properties, therefore, hardness is not a unique property, but depends on the nature of the test concerned.

The measured hardness value is the result of a test performed under standard conditions, and is based on a convention. The process of hardness measurement generally comprises three steps:

1. a test performed under prescribed circumstances (producing the indentation);
2. the determination of a characteristic dimension of the indentation (length measurement); and
3. the determination of the hardness value from the auxiliary quantity by employing the relevant equation defining the hardness testing method.

The Laboratory can provide hardness measurement of components and indirect verification of hardness testing machines of the following scales:

1. Vickers
2. Rockwell B&C
3. Rockwell Superficial

The customer should be aware that several indentation marks will be present on the surface of the test specimen after the hardness measurement.

The indirect verification is performed by comparing the values indicated by the hardness testing machine with values of the standard hardness blocks at three points within the working range of the hardness testing machine.

Rockwell Hardness Testing Machine

Vickers Hardness Testing Machine