Hardness Testing

Hardness testing is one of the fastest and most economical ways to check heat treatment, coatings and compliance with drawing requirements. UAB „Matavimo technologijos“ offers four manufacturers for different tasks: QATM (Austria) – laboratory and production benchtop hardness testers; CISAM-Ernst (Italy) – benchtop, portable and automatic Rockwell, Brinell and Esatest® testers; Foerster (Germany) – SONODUR UCI hardness testers, both portable and for automated lines; and NOVOTEST – portable hardness testers for on-site testing.
Which method to choose:

Rockwell (ISO 6508, ASTM E18) – fast production control: the result is read directly from the indentation depth and a cycle takes seconds. Suitable for heat-treated parts, tubes and series testing.
Vickers / Knoop (ISO 6507, ISO 4545, ASTM E92, ASTM E384) – micro and macro hardness from 0.25 gf: coatings, case hardening depth (CHD), nitriding hardness depth (NHD), weld zones, metallographic sections.
Brinell (ISO 6506, ASTM E10) – castings, forgings, coarse-grained and inhomogeneous materials, large samples; the indentation is evaluated optically (XLED objectives, Qmobile EVO).
UCI method (ASTM A1038) and Leeb method (ASTM A956, ISO 16859) – on-site testing with a portable instrument: UCI for thin-walled, small and complex parts, Leeb for massive parts with rough surfaces.

Benchtop or portable? A benchtop tester gives a standardised, traceable result, automated test series and reports; a portable one gives a quick check where the part cannot be moved.
What to include in your enquiry: the material and expected hardness range, the required methods and load range, sample size / weight / height, whether you need CHD/NHD series, 2D/3D hardness maps and automation (multi-sample stage, remote control, LIMS/ERP connection), and calibration certificates (DAkkS, ILAC ISO/IEC 17025).