VickersIndenter

Vickersindenter, commonly referred to as the Vickers indenter, is a pyramidal diamond tip used in the Vickers hardness test to determine the hardness of a wide range of materials, including metals, ceramics, and polymers. The indenter geometry consists of a square-based pyramid with an angle of 136° between opposite faces, which produces a characteristic indentation whose diagonal lengths are measured for hardness calculation.

The Vickers hardness value (HV) is obtained by pressing the indenter into a polished surface under a specified load, ranging from a few millinewtons to several kilograms-force, and maintaining the load for a standardized dwell time. After removal of the load, the two diagonals of the resulting impression are measured optically, and the average diagonal is used in the formula HV = 1.8544 F/d², where F is the applied load in kilogram-force and d is the mean diagonal length in millimeters. This method yields a hardness number that can be directly compared across different materials and load ranges.

The design of the Vickersindenter allows for accurate measurements over a broad scale of indentation sizes, making it suitable for both macro‑hardness testing of bulk specimens and micro‑hardness testing of thin films or small components. Its diamond construction provides exceptional durability and resistance to wear, preserving the geometry and ensuring repeatable results over extensive testing programs.

Calibration of the indenter is typically performed using reference materials with known hardness values, and periodic inspection is required to detect any tip damage or rounding that could affect measurement accuracy. The Vickersindenter remains a standard tool in materials science, quality control, and research laboratories due to its versatility, simplicity of use, and the ease with which results can be correlated to other hardness scales.