Measuring the resistance of different materials to permanent indentation is the hardness of the materials. To measure the same different hardness measurement instrument is used to explain the different measurement. The hardness testers such as Shore Hardness Tester and Durometers are used mainly to measure the hardness in polymers, rubbers, and elastomers.
Types of Scale for Hardness Measurement
Many scales are provided to measure the properties of the materials. The two most common scales that are used for different measurement systems are Shore A Hardness Tester and Shore D Hardness Tester. The “A” Scale is used to measure the hardness of soft plastics, and “D” scale is used to measure the hardness of harder plastics. As per the given standards, there are total 12 number of scales that are provided to measure the hardness of the materials such as A, B, C, DO, D, E, O, M, OO, OOO-S, OOO, and R. Each scale is provided with the values between 0 – 100. The higher the value of the material more will be the hardness of the material.
Shore Hardness Tester for Hardness Determination
The Shore Hardness Tester is used to measure the depth of the indentation in the material which is created by providing required amount of force with standardized pressure foot. This depth can be measured on the basis of the hardness of the material, the shape of the presser foot, its viscoelastic properties, and many more to measure the initial hardness after a given period of time. The basic of the test requires applying the force in a reliable manner without measuring the hardness of the indentation.
