Conclusions
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1.
A departure from geometric similarity, associated with the variation of the ball's angle of impression with increasing load, leads to a drop in the numerical hardness value, while a departure from structural similarity (work hardening of metal) causes the hardness to increase.
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2.
In metals not responsive to cold working the hardness value at the initial moment may remain unchanged, or it may even decline, but ultimately the effect of cold work is greater than that of the geometric factor, and the numerical hardness value increases as greater loads are applied to the ball.
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3.
With increasing load on the ball, the hardness of the ductile metals increases more rapidly and becomes higher than the hardness value of a number of harder metals. The difference in the hardness of steels diminishes as the load applied to the ball continues to increase.
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4.
The tendency of the soft steels to work harden in the process of testing is higher, and in order of their susceptibility to cold working the investigated metals range in a succession inversely propertional to their hardness value.
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Pogodin-Alekseyev, G.I., Dolmatov, Y.G. Variation of steel properties during hardness tests by ball indentation. Met Sci Heat Treat 3, 448–450 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00812608
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00812608