Materials Characterization

- Microindentation -

Microindentation is a very common technique used to characterize hardness, which is a measure of a material's wear resistance and ductility. A number of ASTM standards have been developed that can be used to measure the hardness of a wide range of materials, including:

B933 - Standard Test Method for Microindentation Hardness of Powder Metallurgy (P/M) Materials.
C1327 - Standard Test Method for Vickers Indentation Hardness of Advanced Ceramics.
C1326 - Standard Test Method for Knoop Indentation Hardness of Advanced Ceramics.
D-1474 - Organic coatings
D-785 - Plastics
E-18 - Rockwell Hardness: Standard Test Methods for Rockwell Hardness and Rockwell Superficial Hardness of Metallic Materials
E-10 -Brinell: Standard Test Method for Brinell Hardness of Metallic Materials
E384 - Standard Test Method for Knoop and Vickers Hardness of Materials

Microindentation was initially created as a means of quality control during metallurgical processing. More recently, Microindentation has been adapted to measure elastic modulus, the fracture toughness of ceramics and the interfacial adhesion of thin films. CALCE uses a WILSON Series 500 Rockwell Hardness Tester.

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