The Vickers test has demonstrated overall respectable performance throughout the past 90 years in a wide range of applications, some of which the creators never even considered. The Vickers hardness test has limits, much like every other test method. The Vickers test has a speed restriction. Most international test procedures have time constraints in place to ensure repeatable results. Additionally, it is usually necessary to prepare the surface in some way so that it is easy to see the diagonal lengths needed to compute the area. Most crucially, the test method’s definition requires the operator to “read” the diagonals, which leaves potential for error.

The operator must measure the horizontal and vertical diagonals for each indentation they make. This places the burden of accurate measurement on the measurer. Poor measuring practices will produce poor results, regardless of how accurate the tester is. Numerous attempts have been made to automate the measurement procedure in an effort to reduce the possibility of human mistakes.

NextGen’s Universal Hardness Tester for Vickers / Knoop, Rockwell and Brinell Vickers Repeatability is ≤2.5

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