Portable Hardness Testing
For hardness testing of large work pieces that cannot be moved, portable units are available to measure hardness in place. We use the  telebrineller and pin Brinell methods for portable hardness testing.  Both hardness testers employ the Brinell principle of indentation size.  An indentation is made in the work piece and then measured with a calibrated optical scale.  The average of the horizontal and vertical measurements corresponds to a specific Brinell number.  The process is fairly accurate, quick and does minimal damage to the work piece.
In carbon steels the Brinell number also can be used to estimate approximate tensile strength.