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Material testing

Hardness Measurements

Hardness testing

Hardness testing and hardness profile measurements of metallic components and workpieces as well as hardness testing of thin hard material layers by means of the instrumented penetration method or hardness testing on weld seams.

Do you have any questions about our hardness testings?

Contact us.

How hard is your component?

In many cases it is important to know the hardness of a component. The hardness is a total factor that depends on a material's plastic and elastic behaviour and is determined by the structure as well as by chemical composition.

In comparison with all other technological test procedures, hardness testing can be performed more quickly, less destructively and more easily. Hardness measurements are typically integral to the assessment of material quality, the heat treatment condition and the influence of different production methods.  

Hardness and tensile strength correlate to a certain extent. It is therefore possible to convert not only between individual hardness units but also from hardness to tensile strength in compliance with the applicable standards. Here, it should always be taken into account that these conversions constitute only estimates.

RUBIG has all the standardised methods at its disposal for determining hardness:

  • Traditional hardness testing (Brinell, Vickers and Rockwell)
    • Micro-hardness, small load hardness, macro-hardness (conventional hardness range)
    • Hardness profile testing
    • Determination of hardness depths CHD (Eht), NHD (Nht), SHD (Rht)
    • Hardness distribution over weld seam areas
    • Mobile hardness testing for very large or very heavy parts and/or for on-site testing
  • Instrumented penetration method for determining the hardness of thin hard material layers
  • Layer adhesion testing by means of the hardness indentation process

The selection of the suitable hardness test procedure is based on the following factors:

  • Hardness testing according to Brinell
    • For medium to large workpieces with low to medium hardness, e.g. soft, tempered steels, cast iron, aluminium alloys, copper alloys
  • Hardness testing according to Vickers
    • For very small to large workpieces with very low to very high hardness
    • For surface hardness testing of nitrided parts and of workpieces with a thin hardness area
    • For hardness profile measurements to assess hardness depths
    • For the determination of the hardness distribution over weld seam areas
  • Hardness testing according to Rockwell
    • For medium to large workpieces with medium to high hardness, e.g. through-hardened or sufficiently surface-hardened/case-hardened materials
  • Hardness testing using mobile systems
    • For particularly large or very heavy workpieces that cannot be tested using stationary testing machines due to their size or weight
    • For on-site hardness testing
  • Hardness testing using instrumented penetration testing
    • For thin hard material layers