COMPARISON OF ROCKWELL B HARDNESS (HRB) TESTS USING STEEL AND TUNGSTEN CARBIDE BALL INDENTERS
L. Ma, S. Low, J. Song
Abstract:
Significant measurement differences occur in Rockwell B hardness (HRB) tests when using 1.588 mm diameter ball indenters made of steel and tungsten carbide (WC). In this paper, finite element analysis (FEA) is used to simulate the HRB indentation process using steel, tungsten carbide and rigid ball indenters on the same tested materials under the same testing conditions. The influence of the deformable indenters (made of steel and WC) on the HRB indentation is assessed by comparing their FEA results with those of a non-deformable rigid indenter. The deformations of both the indenters and tested materials during the loading and unloading period are analyzed. The effect of deformable ball indenters on HRB hardness measurement values is discussed and further verified by experiments.
Keywords:
Rockwell hardness, HRB, ball indenter, finite element analysis, FEA
Joint International Conference on Force, Mass, Torque, Hardness and Civil Engineering Metrology in the age of globalization
Title:
8th HARDMEKO Conference on Hardness Measurement (together with 18th TC3 Conference on Force, Mass and Torque and 1st TC20 Conference on Civil Engineering Metrology)
