A thermal balance for hardness testing

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A technique for the measurement of hardness, through the observation of thermal contact resistance, is described. A heated copper-tipped probe with a small mechanical load is brought down on the test material at the same time as a similar heated probe with a diamond-tip. The load on the diamond-tipped probe is varied until the thermal contact resistances are the same. This condition is indicated by a null measurement from two thermocouples connected in opposition. Experimental results on a range of steel samples show that the load required for balance is approximately proportional to the Vickers hardness number.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: