Hardness

Measure of a material's resistance to localized plastic deformation. Most hardness tests involve indentation, but hardness may be reported as resistance to scratching (file test), or rebound of a projectile bounced off the material (scleroscope hardness). Some common measures of indentation hardness are Brinell Hardness Number, Rockwell Hardness Number, ASTM Hardness Number, Diamond Pyramid Impact Test Hardness Number, Durometer Hardness, Knoop Hardness, and Pfund Hardness. A table relating various types of hardness values of metals is given in ASTM E-140. Hardness often is a good indication of tensile and wear properties of a material.
Related Content

3400 Series - Affordable Testing Solutions

Instron 3400 Series Universal Testing Systems for Tensile, Compression, Bend, and other material property tests.

6800 Series Premier Testing Systems Brochure

Instron 6800 Series Universal Testing Systems provide unparalleled accuracy and reliability. Built on a patent-pending Operator Protect system architecture with an all-new Smart-Close Air Kit and Collision Mitigation features, the 6800 Series makes materials testing simpler, smarter, and safer than ever before.

Bluehill Universal Brochure

Bluehill Universal Software is built from the ground-up for touch interaction and an intuitive user experience. Discover simpler and smarter testing with features such as pre-loaded test methods, QuickTest in seconds, enhanced data exporting: and Instron Connect – a new feature that provides a direct communication link to Service. Users of previous versions of software such as Bluehill 2 and Bluehill 3 can easily upgrade to the newest version of Bluehill.