50 Years of Quality: History of Hardness Testing

Hardness testing plays an important role in materials testing, quality control and acceptance of components.

Hardness, as applied to most materials, and in particular metals, is a valuable, revealing and commonly employed mechanical test that has been in use in various forms for more than 250 years. Certainly, as a material property, its value and importance cannot be understated. The information from a hardness test can complement and often be used in conjunction with other material verification techniques such as tensile or compression to provide critical performance information.

How important and useful is material and hardness testing? Consider the information provided and its significance in structural, aerospace, automotive, quality control, failure analysis and many other forms of manufacturing and industry. Determining these material properties provides valuable insight to the durability, strength, flexibility and capabilities of a variety of component types from raw materials to prepared specimens and finished goods.

Over the years, various methods for determining the hardness of materials have been developed and employed at varying levels of success. From early forms of scratch testing to sophisticated automated imaging, hardness testing has evolved into an efficient, accurate and valued material test method.

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Trivia: The PaperSchmidt paper roll hardness tester is the first rebound hammer designed specifically for paper roll hardness testing.