Brinell hardness test
Ensayo de dureza Brinell
- Date
- 1900 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Johan August Brinell
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
Swedish engineer Brinell presented at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition a method for measuring a material's hardness by pressing a steel (today tungsten carbide) ball with controlled force and measuring the resulting indentation. It became the first widely used, standardized hardness test in engineering and metallurgy.
Brinell developed the method in Sweden, at the Fagersta ironworks, but made it internationally known at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
What it led to
- Standardization of hardness testing in engineering
- Automated hardness measurement systems (1980s)