Hardness testers are compliant with international standards to be suitable for use in national measurement laboratories and for the calibration of hardness test blocks
Indentec has released a range of standardising Rockwell, Vickers and Brinell hardness testers compliant with Part 3 of the relevant ISO standards 'Calibration of reference blocks'.
The requirements for such equipment are significantly more stringent than normal everyday hardness testers.
The specifications for the test force, indentation measuring system and indenter dimensional tolerances are such that the instrument provides long term stability, repeatable performance and significantly reduced levels of uncertainty.
In 1985 Indentec designed and built its first standardising machine which is in use in its ISO 17025 calibration laboratory.
The friction free, dead weight design ensures the long term stability of the test force.
With depth measurement capability of 10nm resolution, combined with the nose mounted indenter, it is said to be ideally suited to the calibration of test blocks.
This type of device is typically supplied to national measurement laboratories (NMIs) around the world.
They are used essentially as the national reference standard against which industrial hardness testers can be compared.
Because of the high levels of accuracy and long term stability associated with these machines, their primary function is the calibration of hardness test blocks.
Large companies with hardness testers at different locations also rely on standardising instruments to monitor the performance of their production testers and ensure that performance is in line with national and international standards. The tester is supplied with a Ukas accredited calibration certificate for the machine, indenter and the test blocks.
In the case of the machine, certificates for both indirect and direct verification at Indentec's works are included.
