Steel hardness

In the metal industry, the “steel hardness” is called the mechanical resistance of steels and this is measured by tests using different methods and scales to determine the hardness.

Some of the steel hardness test methods are: Brinell hardness, Knoop hardness, Rockwell hardness, Rosiwal hardness, Vickers hardness, among others.

One of the most widely used tests is Rockwell (it is considered a non-destructive test due to the small footprint it leaves on the surface). The test consists of first applying a preload of less than 10 kg (directly to the material to be evaluated), basically to eliminate elastic deformation and obtain a much more precise result. Subsequently, a load is applied to it for about 15 seconds, a force that varies from 60 to 150 kgf under compression. The load is de-applied and using a Rockwell durometer the value of the hardness is obtained directly on the screen.