Material Hardness Testers

What is Material Hardness Testing?

Material Hardness is a measure of a material's ability to withstand permanent deformation such as bending, indentation, scratching, abrasion, erosion, or cutting. Measuring hardness is a crucial element of Quality Control.

How is Material Hardness Measured?

Hardness can be measured in a variety of ways and means different things to different industries. The exact test method and hardness scale is determined by the material being tested as well as the quality expectations of clients, customers, and quality assurance programs.

Generally, some form of indentor (manufactured to a particular dimension specified by a test standard) is pressed into the material at a certain load and sometimes for a specific amount of time. The depth and/or shape of the indentation is measured and a hardness value is determined. Indentors for a Shore Hardness Durometer (left) as well as a Barcol Hardness Impressor (right) are pictured below:

When performing a Pencil Hardness Test, the pencils have a hardness scale that ranges from 6B (softest) to 6H (hardest) and act as an indentor as they are pushed across the surface by hand or with the assistance of a cart.

DeFelsko offers digital and analog hardness tests in compliance with three different recognized hardness test methods: Shore (A and D), Barcol, and Pencil (Wolff-Wilborn) Hardness.

PosiTector SHD

Digital Shore Hardness Durometer

The PosiTector SHD measures the indentation hardness of non-metallic materials such as soft rubbers, epoxies, plastics, and thick coatings. Two durometer models are available for different hardness ranges—Shore A and Shore D.

• User-adjustable measurement time with on-screen countdown to conform to national and international standards
• Auto Ignore mode disregards hardness readings below 20 and above 90 per international standards
• NEW Larger 2.8" impact resistant color touchscreen with redesigned keypad for quick menu navigation
• NEW Weatherproof, dustproof, and water-resistant—IP65-rated enclosure
• PosiTector interchangeable platform—attach any PosiTector probe to a single gage body
• USB, WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity to PosiSoft PC, Mac, and Smartphone software
• Certificate of Calibration showing traceability to NIST included (Long Form)

Conforms to ASTM D2240, ISO 48-4/868/7267/7619, and DIN 53505

If you have any kind of questions or any interests for our product, feel free to contact us here