HARDNESS

The hardness of a material as determined by forcing an indenter into the surface of a material under very light load; usually the indentations are so small that they must be measured with a microscope. Capable of determining hardnesses of different micro constituents within a structure, or of measuring steep hardness gradients such as those encountered in case hardening. A micro indentation hardness test using a calibrated machine to force a diamond indenter of specific geometry, under a test load of 1 to 1000 gram-force, into the surface of the test material and to measure the diagonal or diagonals optically.

Primary location: Niagara Falls United States