Worldwide Comparisons of Rockwell Hardness Scales that Use a Diamond Indenter

Published

July 1, 2002

Author(s)

Samuel R. Low III, Jun-Feng Song

Abstract

The United States has participated in two major worldwide comparisons of Rockwell hardness scales over the past twenty years. In 1983, fourteen countries participated in a comparison of the Rockwell C scale. The latest worldwide comparison was completed in 1999, covering all Rockwell hardness scales that use a diamond indenter. Although the 1999 comparison showed improved agreement between the world's national hardness standardizing laboratories as compared to the 1983 study, there continues to be significant differences. This has led the Working Group on Hardness (WGH) of the International Bureau for Weights and Measures (BIPM) to work towards reducing these differences by better defining Rockwell hardness test parameters and by initiating a new key-comparison of the capabilities of National Metrology Institutes to measure geometrical parameters of Rockwell diamond indenters.

Proceedings Title

NCSL International Workshop and Symposium Conference Proceedings | | |

Conference Dates

July 1, 2002

Conference Title

National Conference of Standards Laboratories International

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

diamond indenter, hardness, HRC, intercomparison, Rockwell hardness, WGH

Citation

Low, S. and Song, J. (2002), Worldwide Comparisons of Rockwell Hardness Scales that Use a Diamond Indenter, NCSL International Workshop and Symposium Conference Proceedings | | | (Accessed February 12, 2026)