Correlation between Rockwell and Brinell Hardness Measurements

Abstract There exist various types of experimental measurement of hardness, yet a unified understanding of various hardness measurements lacks. Here, by testing the hardness of a wide range of materials, we show that Rockwell and Brinell hardness tests, the two most used hardness measurements, are closely related. The experimental measurements agree well with the theoretical prediction of such a correlation, which is further validated by finite element simulations. The findings of the correlation between Rockwell and Brinell hardness help address the challenges in measuring the hardness of certain materials.