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Vickers Hardness 

Description

The Vickers hardness test uses a square-based pyramid diamond indenter with an angle of 136° between the opposite faces at the vertex, which is pressed into the surface of the test piece using a prescribed force, F. The time for the initial application of the force is 2 s to 8 s, and the test force is maintained for 10 s to 15 s. After the force has been removed, the diagonal lengths of the indentation are measured and the arithmetic mean, d, is calculated. The Vickers hardness number, HV, is given by:

HV = Constant × Test force / Surface area of indentation

Calculation

Vickers Hardness Tester
Vickers Hardness Tester
Standard Vickers Scales
Micro-hardness
scales
Test force
F (N)
Low-force
hardness scales
Test force
F (N)
Macro-hardness
scales
 
Test force
F (N)
HV 0.01 0.09807 HV 0.2 1.961 HV 5 49.03
HV 0.015 0.1471 HV 0.3 2.942 HV 10 98.07
HV 0.02 0.1961 HV 0.5 4.903 HV 20 196.1
HV 0.025 0.2452 HV 1 9.807 HV 30 294.2
HV 0.05 0.4903 HV 2 19.61 HV 50 490.3
HV 0.1 0.9807 HV 3 29.42 HV 100 980.7
Standards
BS EN ISO 6507-1:2018 (BS 427:Part 1:1961)Metallic materials. Vickers hardness test. Test method
ASTM E92-17Standard Test Method for Vickers Hardness of Metallic Materials