PTB’s young scientist, Mutaib Zackaria, member of the research staff of the working group of hardness metrology, has won the IХ International Competition "The Best Young Metrologist of COOMET” in the field of applied metrology. His work on an automated approach to perform Rockwell hardness test convinced the distinguished scientific committee of the competition which included the representatives of international (BIPM, BIML) and regional (COOMET, AFRIMETS, EURAMET, SIM) metrology organizations.
The participation in the biennial competition is restricted to young metrologists under the age of 35 who work in national or other metrological institutes. This year’s competition was held online on 21-22 April 2021 and drew 18 participants from all over the world, including, COOMET (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Germany, Russia, Ukraine), EURAMET (Italy) and SIM (Colombia, Mexico).
Summary of the presented work
The Rockwell hardness test is one of the most popular methods to characterize the hardness of metals. However, it is challenging to calibrate hardness reference blocks in compliance with the prevailing standards without performing time-consuming preliminary measurements. A new method developed at the PTB uses data obtained during the preload phase of a Rockwell hardness measurement to automate the test cycle, thus eliminating the need for preliminary measurements. The new approach accelerates the overall calibration process and increases the user-friendliness of the Rockwell hardness testing machine. In the framework of a TransMeT project (Transfer of Metrological Technology), this method is being extended with the aim of developing a universal and machine-independent automation strategy. Important factors such as machine stiffness, surface detection and indenter geometry are being investigated for multiple hardness testing machines. Consequently, the developed method can be implemented on other designs of Rockwell hardness testers as well.
https://www.coomet.net/activities/international-competition-the-best-young-metrologist-of-coomet/competition-2021
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