Universal Hardness Tester - QualiUniversal™

Force is applied to press an indenter into the surface of the material. The depth and size of the indentation and the force applied to provide a measurement of the material hardness.

Hardness is the property that governs a material’s resistance to deformation such as scratching, indentation or penetration. The material hardness provides the designer with an indication of a material’s resistance to wear and exposure to ablative influences such as water, steam, oil, sand, etc. Several tests exist for determining material hardness.

The Rockwell hardness test applies a preload to an indenter to establish a baseline, and then applies and removes a major load. The difference in the depth of the indentation before and after the major load determines the Rockwell hardness value. Various scales exist for Rockwell hardness depending on the indenter and major and minor loads. Superficial Rockwell scales are used for parts that are too small or thin to be measured using the standard Rockwell loads without causing damage to the samples.

Brinell hardness testing utilizes an indenter with a ball tip and a known force. The ball makes an indentation in the material, and a calculation is performed based on the force, ball diameter, and indentation diameter (the larger the indentation, the lower the hardness). Brinell hardness is generally indicated along with the indenter size and test force utilized.

Vickers hardness utilizes a diamond-shaped indenter with defined corners that allows for easy measurement of the indentation size and calculation of the hardness value. Macro Vickers hardness measurements are useful for large parts and utilize test loads from 1 to 120 kgf.

Universal hardness testers such as the QualiUniversal™ and QualiUniversal™ Lite provide increased flexibility by allowing measurement in any of the different scales depending on the application, sample, and user preference. There is no need to purchase a hardness tester of each type.