Alloy hardness

[bcr]

If I combine four equal ingots of BHN 10, 10, 10 and 20, will the resulting alloy be BHN 12.5?

I can't imagine why it wouldn't, but wanted to check with you guys.

[lwknight]

Since the hardness scale is not linearly scalable it would not work out accurately to simply average the numbers.
I'm just guessing but I thinnk around 14 would be closer.

I just try to figure out the alloy content and mix accordingly.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
If all things are equal then that could be an somewhat close assumption...as long as that #20 was not hardened in a stove or water dropped.
Combinations of additives may not have the same influence in hardness as they are diluted down. But there really is not a whole lot of difference in hardness from 12.5 to 14. 10 to 14 BHN would make some difference depending on velocity and impact speed on flesh versus bone. So in the end it all a matter of what you want to accomplish at the desired impact velocity with it all getting started with what kind of kick out the barrel.
But hey... If all I am doing is popping cans, cactus petals, rocks or clangy targets I do not get real concerened about a few points of BHN... I just want it to shoot straight and not cause any cleaning problems. Hunting and preditor termination call for other parameters.

[sqlbullet]

As lwknight said, BHN is a property of the alloy, not a constituent. Therefore you can't calculate BHN using averages.

If you don't know the constituents of your alloy (lead, antimony, tin percent) then the only real option is to mix it and test the hardness.

If you do, then calculate the new alloy constituents, and post those. From there we can give you an idea of the hardness of the new alloy.