Hardness Conversion Chart

There are several hardness scale conversion systems, including BS 860 and ASTM E140.

The table shows a set of values that has been used for stainless steel and also includes a tensile strength (Ultimate Tensile Strength) comparison. The Rockwell B values are superimposed on this table using an approximation from ASTM E140 Table5, which compares Rockwell B and Brinell.

For the indentation methods the different measurements in HV, HRC and HB can also be compared without too much of insecurity. However, for the rebounding methods like Shore and Equotip the errors when making conversions are larger as the individual measurements are highly influenced by the material properties such as internal stresses. Forged rolls have higher internal superficial compression than cast rolls. This creates a higher rebound so the conversion can not be done based on the same tables.

Brinell Hardness (HB)	Vickers Hardness (HV)	Rockwell (HRB)	Rockwell(HRC)	Ultimate Tensile Strength (N/mm2)
–	640	–	57	–
–	615	–	56	–
–	591	–	54.5	–
–	569	–	53.5	–
–	547	–	52	–
–	528	–	51	–
–	508	–	49.5	–
–	491	–	48.5	1539
444	474	–	47	1520
429	455	–	45.5	1471
415	440	–	44.5	1422
401	425	–	43	1363
388	410	–	42	1314
375	396	–	40.5	1265
363	383	–	39	1236
352	372	–	38	1187
341	360	–	36.5	1157
331	350	–	35.5	1118
321	339	–	34.5	1089
311	328	–	33	1049
302	319	–	32	1020
293	309	–	31	990
285	301	–	30	971
277	292	–	29	941
269	284	–	27.5	912
262	276	–	26.5	892
255	269	100	25.5	873
248	261	99	24	853
241	253	98	23	824
235	247	97	22	794
229	241	96	20.5	775
223	235	–	–	755
217	228	95	–	745
212	223	94	–	716
207	218	93	–	696
197	208	91	–	667
187	197	89	–	637
179	189	87	–	608
170	179	85	–	559
163	172	83	–	539
156	165	81	–	530
149	157	79	–	500
143	150	77	–	481
137	144	74	–	471
131	138	72	–	461
126	133	69	–	451
121	127	67	–	431
116	122	64	–	422
111	117	61	–	402
107	113	–	–	382
103	108	–	–	373