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3. Hardness testing
3.1 Historical interest
They are used to classify materials according to their resistance to deformation by penetration with a harder material.
The first hardness scale was established arbitrarily by Mohs in 1820, for use by mineralogists. It comprises a list of 10 minerals ranked in order of increasing hardness, from talc "1" to diamond "10" to quartz "7", each crossing out the previous one and being crossed out by the next.
This scale is of no interest to the metallurgist. The hardest steel (quenched high-speed steel) would rank at around 8.5, while extra-hard steel would rank at around 3.5.
The experimental difficulties are great, and the precision relatively low. The...
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Hardness testing
Bibliography
Standards and norms
NF EN 1090, which defines the requirements for the manufacture, inspection and certification of steel and aluminum products used in construction.
NF EN ISO 6892-1, which describes the method for tensile tests on metals.
NF EN ISO 6506-1, which describes the Brinell hardness test method for metallic materials.
NF EN ISO 6507-1, which describes...
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The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference