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MATERIALSSCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY(CTM)

HANDSONACTIVITYWITHHARDNESSTESTER201314Q2
StatementofWork(SoW)

Through this handson activity the students will learn the fundamentals of the operation of a
hardness tester while performing tests on several samples. The students will also recall the
theoreticalknowledgeonmaterialshardnessthattheyacquiredintheframeofCTM.

a) Activitiestobeperformedwhileinthelaboratory

1. Selectthemostsuitedhardnesstestforeachmaterialaccordingtothetablesinthe
usersguideofthehardnesstester(seeSection11,Table1,andSection10.1.8.):
MATERIAL MOSTSUITEDHARDNESSTEST
Al
brass
ceramic
Cu
Fe
laminatedwood
methacrylate
Teflon

2. Notedowntheresultsofthehardnesstestsperformedinthelaboratory:
SAMPLE HR,TEST1 HR,TEST2 HR,TEST3 HR,TEST4

b) Activitiestobeperformedashomework

1. ComputetheRockwellhardnessHRfromthefollowingvaluesofdepthtachievedby
theindentatorduringseveraltests.Forthispurpose,usetheformulaintheusers
guideofthehardnesstester,consideringthatHRHiscomputedlikeHRF.Disregard
thevaluesofHRthatfalloutofatolerancerangeof10%respecttotheaverage:
DEPTHt[mm] HR Variationrespecttoaverage Disregarded?
0.098

0.093

0.115

0.095

0.074

0.093

0.095

0.094

0.090

averageHR

notapplicable notapplicable

2. ConvertthepreviousaverageHRvalueintoBrinellhardnessHBS(500kgf,10mm
ball)andintoVickershardnessHV(15kgf)usingappropriatetablesand/or
conversionsfactorslikethosepresentedinreferences[1,2]:

3. ComputetheultimatetensilestressUTSofthestudiedmaterialfromthepreviousHB
resultandusingthesameempiricalformulathatappliesformoststeels[1]:

4. ComputethecorrespondingVickershardnessHVfromthefollowingprintsleftbythe
indentatorafterseveralHVtestswithaload15kgf.Forthispurpose,usethe
appropriateformulaintheusersguideofthehardnesstesterand/orother
referencesaboutmaterialsscienceandtechnologylike[1]:

OPTICALMICROSCOPYIMAGES HV

5. DrawaplotofHRvs.timeintheovenat200C(useHRvaluesobtainedfromtests,in
thetableinSectiona)2.).WhichmaybethecauseforthisvariationinHRvs.time?

6. Normalizethecurvesuchthatordinatevaluesrangeonlybetween0and1.Now,
assumethatthecurveissigmoidalandfitswelltheAvrami(JMAK)model.Compute
thevaluesoftheAvramiindexnandconstantkfortheassociatedAvramiEq.:

7. HowlongshouldweleavethesampleintheovenifwewanttoachieveHR63?

8. Ifweleavethesample285minintheoven,whichwillbethehardnessofthesample?

9. MakeahypothesisandexplaintherelationshipbetweenthebehaviourofHRvs.
time(asshowninSectiona)2.andSectionb)5.)andthemicrostructureobservedin
thefollowingTEMimages,consideringthatthematerialisAlCuMgand[3]:

TRANSMISSIONELECTRONMICROSCOPY(TEM)IMAGES OBSERVATIONS
After200minat200C

After250minat200C

After300minat200C

References

[1]CALLISTER,W.D.,Materialsscienceandengineering:anintroduction.NewYork:JohnWiley
&Sons,1985.

[2] ASTM E14002 or ASTM E140 12be1 Standard hardness conversion tables for metals,
AmericanSocietyforTestingandMaterials(ASTM).

[3]MACCHI,C.E.,SOMOZA,A.,DUPASQUIER,A.,andPOLMEAR,I.J.,Secondaryprecipitationin
AlZnMg(Ag)alloys.ActaMaterialia,51,2003,51515158.

Next follow interesting references for those of you that want to have a look at scientific
investigations on mechanical properties of aluminium alloys. These references are not
necessarytocompletetheexercisesproposedinthisSoW:

[4]FERRAGUT,R.,SOMOZA,A.andDUPASQUIER,A.,Onthetwostepageingofacommercial
AlZnMg alloy; A study by positron lifetime spectroscopy. Journal of PhysicsCondensed
Matter,8(45),1996,89458952.

[5] LYMAN, C.E. and VANDERSANDE, J.B., Transmission ElectronMicroscopy Investigation of

early stages of precipitation in an AlZnMg alloy. Metallurgical Transactions APhysical
MetallurgyandMaterialsScience,7(8),1976,12111216.

[6]REDA,Y., ABDELKARIM,R.andELMAHALLAWI,I.,Improvementsinmechanicalandstress
corrosioncrackingpropertiesinAlalloy7075viaretrogressionandreaging.MaterialsScience
and Engineering AStructural Materials Properties Microstructure and Processing, 485(12),
2008,468475.

[7] SHAW, W.J.D., FRASER, M.A. and NIJJAR, T.S., Effects of reaging 2024T3 and 7075T6
aluminium alloys on the microstructure and mechanical properties. Analysis of InService
FailuresandAdvancesinMicrostructuralCharacterization,26,1999,269276.

[8] SHIH, H.C., HO, N.J. and HUANG, J.C., Precipitation behaviors in AlCuMg and 2024
aluminum alloys. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions APhysical Metallurgy and
MaterialsScience,27(9),1996,24792494.

[9]YANNACOPOULOS,S.,KASAP,S.O.,HEDAYAT,A.andVERMA,A.,Anexperimentalstudyof
phasetransformations in an AlZnMgZr alloy DSC and hot microhardness measurements.
CanadianMetallurgicalQuarterly,33(1),1994,5160.