The Brinell hardness tester can be used to test the hardness of castings, forgings, steel in its supplied condition, non-ferrous metals, and semi-finished steel workpieces after quenching and tempering. This is a portable instrument that can be used in the workshop; it is simple to operate, easy to carry, and can test large workpieces on-site without sampling, enabling piece-by-piece inspection of large workpieces.
The Brinell hardness tester is mainly used for testing the hardness of forged steel and cast iron with uneven microstructure. The Brinell hardness of forged steel and gray cast iron has a good correlation with tensile testing. The Brinell hardness test can also be used for non-ferrous metals and mild steel; using a small-diameter ball indenter, it can measure small and thin materials. The Brinell hardness tester is mostly used for the inspection of raw materials and semi-finished products; due to the large indentation, it is generally not used for finished product inspection.
The selection of Brinell hardness test conditions is similar to the selection of the scale in Rockwell hardness testing; the Brinell hardness test also involves the selection of test conditions, namely the test force F and the indenter ball diameter D. This choice is not arbitrary, but must follow certain rules, and attention must be paid to the proper combination of test force and indenter diameter. Its application is slightly more complex than the Rockwell hardness test.
