Swedish
engineer who devised the Brinell hardness test, for measuring the hardness
of substances, in 1900.
Brinell was born in Småland and received a technical education in
Borås. As chief engineer at an ironworks, he became interested in
metallurgy. While studying the internal composition of steel during heating
and cooling, he devised the hardness test, which was put on trial at the
Paris Exhibition 1900. It is based on the idea that a material's response
to a load placed on one small point is related to its ability to deform
permanently. Brinell also carried out investigations into the abrasion
resistance of selected materials. |