Removing doubts from Brinell testing

Using a computerised optical scanner, the automatic hardness measuring system solves an age old problem by doing away with the reading microscope that can lead to different interpretations of the same Brinell hardness impression by different operators.

PBA believes the unequivocal measurements will be of benefit in proving component hardness and will, as a result, help enhance process capability.

Supplied by Indentec, the system is equipped with a handheld scan head, which projects an image of the impression onto a monitor screen.

The operator presses a button on the head to measure the diameter of the impression automatically.

Software calculates the Brinell value, which is displayed on screen along with the diameter.

The related test data is stored automatically at the same time.

PBA employs the system for sample testing the output from the seven furnaces used for annealing, case hardening, tempering, stress relieving, normalising, etc.

One of the UK's leading annealers, the company says it has found the system so easy to operate that Brinell measurements are now made in a tenth of the time taken by the manual method.

For process monitoring and traceability, the system logs hardnesses against specimen, batch number and customer part number.

According to Indentec it is capable of providing extensive SPC information, from hardness averaging, in and out of tolerance and scale conversions to histograms, X-bar and R charts and specimen identifying data.

Test parameters can be preset for any number of test files along with test loads and indenter sizes.

PBA says that the SPC facility is likely to be increasingly used as experience with the system grows and customers become more demanding.

In use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Indentec system joins a broad portfolio of measuring equipment including a tensile testing machine and Rockwell, Vickers and Micro Vickers hardness testers.