Plastic Hardness Testing Equipment – Bench Top, Portable & Automated Solutions

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Plastic Hardness Testing Equipment - Bench Top, Portable & Automated Solutions
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Shore hardness is the routine check on plastic and rubber parts and foams, and it is quick only when the durometer, the stand and the dwell time are controlled. NextGen supplies hardness systems for plastics and rubber, working to ASTM D2240 and DIN EN ISO 868, and to ASTM D531 for plastometer tests on rubber rollers.

The range covers portable and analogue durometers on manual or automatic stands, automatic Shore and IRHD systems, an automated hardness and density station, and a plastometer. Specialty instruments measure the hardness of capsules and soft gels and the firmness of fruit. Systems are installed and calibrated on site, your team is trained on them, and support continues for the life of the instrument.

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What Hardness Testing Measures on Plastics

Hardness testing presses an indenter into the material under a fixed load and reads how far it goes in. On plastic and rubber parts and foams the usual method is Shore durometer hardness, where the scale decides the load, the spring force and the shape of the indenter. Shore A covers soft and flexible grades and Shore D covers rigid ones, while the softer 00 and 000 scales are used on foams and gel-like materials.

IRHD is the second method used on rubber and soft elastic materials, and it is run on its own measuring head. Hardness is quick to measure, which is why it is a routine check on plastic and rubber parts and foams.

Standards for Plastic Hardness Testing

ASTM D2240 is the North American durometer method, and DIN EN ISO 868 covers indentation hardness of plastics and ebonite by durometer. ISO 7619-1 covers vulcanized or thermoplastic rubber, and ISO 48 covers the IRHD method. ASTM D531 covers the plastometer test used on rubber rollers. The standard also sets the specimen: on the HP durometer the minimum thickness for scales A and D is 4 mm under DIN EN ISO 868 and 6 mm under other standards, and 6 mm for the other scales.

What Affects Hardness Results

The durometer, the stand and the dwell time all have to be controlled. Held by hand, the angle and the force applied depend on the operator, which is why test stands are used: the BSA stand removes the human error factor from HP and HPE III durometers. Automatic systems program the dwell time, from 1 to 99 seconds on the Digi Test II.

Specimen thickness and surface shape matter as well. The Digi Test II detects curved surfaces automatically, and the HPE III records temperature and humidity next to each hardness reading, so a result can be traced to the conditions behind it.

Plastic Hardness Testing Equipment from NextGen

Portable options include the HP analogue durometer, which covers eleven scales with 0.5 Shore unit accuracy, and the HPE III, a one-handed durometer that also reads temperature and humidity. The Digi Test II is an automatic Shore, IRHD and VLRH system with interchangeable measuring units, and the HDA 120 measures hardness and density on up to 20 samples in one pass.

The category also holds the Pusey and Jones tester, the Gelomat capsule hardness tester and a fruit firmness tester for specialty applications.

For Laboratories

One partner to equip your complete plastics laboratory

Hardness testing is one station of a plastics laboratory. NextGen equips the rest of it too, from tensile and flexural testing to impact, melt flow, HDT and Vicat systems, and stays responsible for it after delivery.

  • Equipment, fixtures and software
  • Installation, training, calibration
  • Lifetime technical support

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Products

7 products
1 Core plastic hardness systems Shore, IRHD and plastometer testing on plastics and rubber 5
Portable Shore Durometer System with Test Stand Hardness testing Portable Shore Durometer System with Test Stand HPE III is an advanced portable Shore durometer system for hardness testing of rubber, plastics, and related… View product Get quote Most requested Automatic Shore, IRHD and VLRH Hardness Testing System Hardness testing Automatic Shore, IRHD and VLRH Hardness Testing System Digi Test II is an automatic Shore, IRHD, and VLRH hardness testing system for rubber, plastics, foams, elastomers,… View product Get quote Analogue Shore Durometer with Test Stand Hardness testing Analogue Shore Durometer with Test Stand The Classic Analogue Shore Durometer is a German-manufactured hardness tester for rubber and plastic materials,… View product Get quote HDA 120 – Hardness and Density Automation System Hardness testing HDA 120 – Hardness and Density Automation System HDA 120 is a semi-automatic hardness and density automation system for rubber and plastic sample characterization. View product Get quote Pusey and Jones Tester Hardness testing Pusey and Jones Tester Pusey & Jones Tester is a portable plastometer system for measuring hardness and indentation behavior of rubber and… View product Get quote
2 Specialty hardness and firmness Capsules, soft gels and fresh produce 2
Most requested Capsule and Soft Gel Hardness Tester 20 N Hardness testing Capsule and Soft Gel Hardness Tester Gelomat is an automatic capsule and soft gel hardness tester for gelatin capsules, softgels, plasticine, edible… View product Get quote Most requested Fruit Firmness Tester Hardness testing Fruit Firmness Tester NextGen’s Fruit Firmness Tester is a portable German-manufactured device for measuring firmness in fruits,… View product Get quote

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FAQs

Shore A suits soft and flexible grades and Shore D suits rigid ones, and ASTM D2240 is the durometer method. Foams and gel-like materials use the softer 00 and 000 scales. The HP analogue durometer covers eleven scales, and its minimum specimen thickness for scales A and D is 4 mm under DIN EN ISO 868 and 6 mm under other standards.

A handheld durometer is quick for checks away from the bench, but the angle, the force and the dwell time depend on the operator. A test stand removes that variation. The BSA stand works with the HPE III and HP durometers to ASTM D2240, and the Digi Test II applies the load automatically with a programmable measuring time from 1 to 99 seconds.

The Digi Test II detects the surface automatically, so it measures flat, concave and convex parts, and its indenter length can be customized. Standard positioning devices hold tubes and O-rings, an automatic centering ring supports IRHD, and a centering device handles hoses. Custom sample holders can be made for other shapes.

Send us a drawing of the part and we will confirm the holder.

The Digi Test II takes interchangeable measuring units. The IRHD N, H and L head is for plastically deformable materials, highly elastic materials and soft rubbers 6 to 10 mm thick. The Shore 00/000 head covers foam rubber, silicone, sponge and gel-like materials at 6 mm, and the VLRH head covers the same soft materials at 1 mm. The electronic unit recognizes the fitted head and its measuring time automatically.

Choose the HDA 120 when a laboratory reports hardness and density on the same samples. Its rotating table holds up to 20 samples and takes three hardness readings on each. It then weighs each sample in air and in water to give density at a resolution of 0.001 kg/dm³. Hardness runs as IRHD N or Shore A, density follows ISO 2781, DIN EN ISO 1183-1 and ASTM D1817, and sample data moves over Ethernet.

They are the specialty instruments in this category. The Pusey and Jones plastometer tests rubber and rubber-like materials and paper-industry rollers under a 2.2 lbf load for 60 seconds, the method of ASTM D531. The Gelomat measures capsule and soft gel hardness over 0 to 2 N or 0 to 20 N, and the fruit firmness tester reads fruit and vegetables without breaking them.