Rockwell hardness testers are used to measure the hardness of stamped metal parts. Small, complexly shaped stamped parts often have testing surfaces too small to be accommodated by standard benchtop Rockwell hardness testers.
Stamped part processing involves operations such as blanking, bending, deep drawing, forming, and finishing. The materials used are primarily hot-rolled or cold-rolled (predominantly cold-rolled) metal sheets and strips, including carbon steel, alloy steel, spring steel, galvanized sheet, tinplate, stainless steel, copper and copper alloys, and aluminum and aluminum alloys.
PHP series portable superficial Rockwell hardness testers are ideally suited for testing the hardness of these stamped parts. Stamped alloy parts are among the most common components in metalworking and mechanical manufacturing. Stamped part processing is a method that utilizes dies to separate or shape metal sheets and strips; it has a wide range of applications.
The primary purpose of hardness testing for stamped part materials is to determine whether the purchased metal sheet has undergone the appropriate degree of annealing for the subsequent stamping process, as different stamping techniques require sheets of varying hardness levels. Aluminum alloy sheets used for stamping can be tested with a Webster hardness tester; however, if the material thickness exceeds 13 mm, a Barcol hardness tester may be used instead. Pure aluminum sheets or low-hardness aluminum alloy sheets should be tested using a Barcol hardness tester.
In the stamping industry, the process is sometimes referred to as "sheet metal forming," though there are subtle distinctions. "Sheet metal forming" is a collective term for plastic forming processes that utilize raw materials such as sheets, thin-walled tubes, and thin profiles; in these processes, deformation in the thickness direction is generally not a primary consideration.
