The indenter used in the Brinell test method is made of a hard metal ball of diameter D = 10; 5; 2.5 or 1 mm. It is applied to the specimen with a test force (to standard from 1 kg to 3000 kg) and held according to the holding time.
To calculate the Brinell hardness, two perpendicular diameters of the test indentation are measured on the specimen surface. In addition, the test force N and the diameter of the spherical indenter are required.
Advantages of Brinell hardness testing
- Suitable for hardness tests on inhomogeneous materials (owing to large indentations), provided the extent of the inhomogeneity is small in relation to the indentation.
- Suitable for hardness tests on large unfinished components such as forgings, castings, hot-rolled, hot-pressed and heat-treated items.
- No measuring errors due to specimen compliance in effective test force direction.
- Simple, robust indenter.
