SIST EN ISO 4498:2010 PDF

Overview

EN ISO 4498:2010 - Sintered metal materials, excluding hardmetals - Determination of apparent hardness and microhardness (ISO 4498:2010) - is a CEN-adopted international standard for hardness testing of sintered (powder metallurgy) metals. It defines two complementary procedures: Procedure 1 for apparent (macro) hardness of the material as a whole, and Procedure 2 for microhardness of the metallic phase. The standard is intended for quality control, material specification and evaluation of surface or bulk heat treatments and coatings.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Two test procedures
  • Procedure 1 (Apparent hardness): Determines macrohardness (Vickers HV, Brinell HBW, Rockwell HR) of sintered parts where hardness is essentially uniform to a depth ≥ 5 mm or for surface‑hardened parts where surface hardness is non‑uniform to 5 mm (e.g., carburizing, carbonitriding, nitrocarburizing, sulfidizing, induction hardening). Usual test forces: 10 N to 2 000 N.
  • Procedure 2 (Microhardness): Measures Vickers or Knoop microhardness of the metal phase only; applies to all sintered materials and to surface‑treated parts (electroplating, chemical coatings, CVD, PVD, laser, ion bombardment). Typical microhardness forces: 0.147 N to 1.960 N (Vickers) and 0.981 N (Knoop).
• Apparatus and methods: Uses hardness machines per referenced ISO tests - ISO 6506-1 (Brinell), ISO 6507-1 (Vickers), ISO 6508-1 (Rockwell), and ISO 4516 (microhardness).
• Sampling & sample preparation: Surface must be clean, flat and smooth; light grinding/polishing or etching may be required. For parts with >8% open porosity, impregnation with resin is recommended. Test-piece thickness should exceed 1.5× impression diagonal. Surface curvature and non‑perpendicularity must be accounted for (corrections per ISO 6507-1 / ISO 4516).
• Reporting & precision: Standard prescribes expression of results, repeatability/reproducibility guidance and test-report requirements.

Applications and who uses it

• Powder metallurgy manufacturers for batch acceptance and process control.
• Metallurgical labs and QA/QC testing services performing hardness and case-depth profiling.
• Design engineers and component suppliers validating mechanical properties and surface treatments.
• Surface‑treatment providers (carburizing, carbonitriding, PVD/CVD, plating) for verifying hardness profiles and coating integrity.
• R&D teams evaluating new PM materials, heat treatments and coatings.

Related standards

• ISO 4507 - case‑hardening depth by micro‑hardness
• ISO 4516 - Vickers and Knoop microhardness tests
• ISO 6506-1 - Brinell hardness test
• ISO 6507-1 - Vickers hardness test
• ISO 6508-1 - Rockwell hardness test

Keywords: EN ISO 4498:2010, sintered metal materials, apparent hardness, microhardness, hardness testing, powder metallurgy, Vickers, Knoop, Brinell, Rockwell, case hardening, surface treatments.