No less than nineteen different specimens can be supported for hardness testing by a single fixture
For BAE Systems, the fixture is used for checking percussion caps, bullet tips, and cartridge cases as they are manufactured for small arms ammunition.
The first of its type, it is designed to present up to twelve surfaces simultaneously for Vickers testing.
A precision-engineered mechanism of rotating vees, spring-loading and clamping enables the multi-station tool to secure and support brass cups, tubes, formed cases, and sectioned cases of six different lengths and three diameters.
It is located on the test table of an Indentec benchtop digital Vickers tester equipped with computer measurement of the impressions made by the nose-mounted diamond pyramid indenter.
As each test is carried out, the impression is viewed by a built-in camera and the image transferred to a computer where it is measured automatically and the hardness value recorded.
According to Indentec, this automatic image measurement is much more reliable and repeatable than the old manual measurement by optical microscope, which can lead to misjudegements and inconsistencies.
To speed the process, the machine is provided with automatic focussing and an automatic X-Y positioning table.
The software is also specially adjusted to suit the application, which entails hardness testing to Vickers scales HV1 to HV30 with the load changes controlled by the computer.
