SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FOR PROCESS CONTROL IN CONTINUOUS HARDNESS TESTING

Abstract

In this investigation an attempt has been made to develop a setup using an existing Brinell hardness testing machine to measure the hardness of a plate along a line. An LVDT is attached with the indenter, with the help of an extension rod to measure the depth of impression. Software has been developed to convert this depth of impression to Brinell hardness number and to store the data with respect to the co-ordinates. This software could give the variation of hardness along a line for a plate. To display the hardness over the whole surface of plate individual hardness curves have been superimposed over the whole surface of the plate by using M. S. Word (software package). This setup and software will lead to increased accuracy of measurement with faster display of the results. This can be further developed into an automatic hardness measurement system for a plate or forging etc.