Category: Hardness Testing

Hardness testing for welding joint integrity is vital for guaranteeing the structural integrity of the metal pieces being joined. It’s not always the same types of metal that are being welded together. The weld itself might be of the same material as the welded workpieces or might be of a different material (alloy) compared to the welded components. Because welding uses high heat, it can change the surrounding metal properties. At the joint of the two metals, there could be micro-cracks or delaminations that make the joint brittle.  There’s no use having an ultra-strong joint if the surrounding metal is... Continue reading

If you are looking to test the hardness of your manufactured part for quality testing, your need an hardness tester. METSUCO has been providing companies and universities with hardness testers and hardness testing equipment for over 30 years. In those 30 years, as we have talked to purchasing departments, engineers and others, an interesting question keeps coming up, which should we go with, a benchtop or portable hardness tester? Because of this, we want to cover Benchtop versus portable hardness testers. We are going to assume those that reading this know what a hardness test is. If you need a... Continue reading

METSUCO has been based here in Houston, TX for over 30 years. For Houston and Texas in general, there has been one industry that stands out above others, oil and gas. METSUCO has partnered with many oil and gas companies over the years to provide them their hardness testing supplies and metallurgical testing supplies. Yet, how does the oil and gas industry use hardness testing? How important is hardness testing to a vital national industry such as oil and gas? What is a Hardness Test? The hardness of material refers to its ability to resist wear, tear, scratching, and abrasion... Continue reading

Microhardness testing is a method of determining a material’s hardness or resistance to penetration when test samples are small, thin, or dealing with composite samples in small regions. Microhardness testing can provide precise and detailed information about surface features of materials that have a fine microstructure. However, there are some common problems that can arise when microhardness testing. We are going to go over common problems with microhardness testing, and their causes. For a lot of engineers, scientists, and testers, three terms often come into their minds when talking about microhardness testing: finicky, subjective, and time-consuming. Now, advances in computer... Continue reading

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is used to analyze material properties and/or the structural integrity of a material without causing any damage to the material that is being tested. It is used in a wide variety of industries and fields including oil and gas, aerospace, automotive, structural engineering, university test labs, etc. Metsuco has been supplying these industries with non-destructive testing supplies for over 30 years. With that being said, we wanted to introduce to you a few of the manufacturing companies whose NDT products we carry. Each one of these companies has made a name for themselves in the industry and... Continue reading

Since 1900, there have been widely accepted methods of hardness testing metal and other materials using hardness testers. The different scales and methods include Vickers, Brinell, Rockwell, Shore, and nondestructive methods of ultrasonic hardness testing.  Hardness testers and hardness testing equipment have been one of our staple product offerings here at Metsuco for over 30 years. With that being said, we wanted to introduce to you a few of the manufacturing companies whose hardness testing products we carry. Each one of these companies has made a name for themselves in the industry and we are proud to carry their products.... Continue reading

In previous posts, we have talked about the differences between the different hardness tests, such as Vickers, Rockwell and Brinell. However, we haven’t talked as much about comparing the scales and what makes them different. Here we want to go more into comparing the hardness scales themselves. First though, a quick word about testing methodology. These different scales are measured by using different hardness testing equipment and methodology, but Vickers, Rockwell and Brinell and even Shores have one thing in common, they are all measuring the hardness by indentation. Whether it’s the carbide ball of a Brinell Test or the... Continue reading

Hardness in manufacturing and engineering is defined by resistance to indentation, and it is determined by measuring the permanent depth of the indentation; which is known as a hardness test. Brinell Hardness Test was the first used and is a widely accepted hardness test. In this article we are going to dig a little deeper into explaining the Brinell Hardness Test. J.A. Brinell proposed first proposed the hardness test in 1900. Brinell's desire to have a consistent and fast means of determining material hardness grew during his involvement in several Swedish iron companies. The concept he proposed was a steel... Continue reading