Author Edmund Isakov, Ph.D.
Published
January 01, 2001 - 11:00am
The author gives an overview of the most common hardness testing methods: Rockwell, Brinell, Vickers and Knoop.
Related Glossary Terms
- hardness
hardness
Hardness is a measure of the resistance of a material to surface indentation or abrasion. There is no absolute scale for hardness. In order to express hardness quantitatively, each type of test has its own scale, which defines hardness. Indentation hardness obtained through static methods is measured by Brinell, Rockwell, Vickers and Knoop tests. Hardness without indentation is measured by a dynamic method, known as the Scleroscope test.