Scratch Tester

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Features of the Scratch Tester

• Affordable & proven scratch testing method to quantify the adhesion of your coatings
• Unique Z automatic motorized approach
• Integrated Video Microscope with Turret for easy determination of optical failure
• Frictional force, acoustic emission & penetration depth measurements. 
• Also performs Vickers, Knoop and spherical indentation
• Upgreadable to Instrumented Indentation (see Micro Hardness Tester for information)
• Wear testing with multi-pass technique
• Easy upgrade to full non-contact profiling system
• Very high throughput and reproducibility
• Works for both hard and soft coatings and substrates
• Upgreadable to Micro and Nano level on same base
• Complies with ASTM C 1624

Laboratory services available. Call 1-866-333-4674 for more information.

See our full range of scratch testers

Introduction to the Scratch Tester

The Nanovea Scratch Tester is the ideal instrument for characterizing the adhesive properties of thick coatings and the resistance of bulk materials, offering a range of 0.3 to 200 N. Scratch-testing with a Nanovea Scratch Tester is a comprehensive method of quantifying the adhesion properties of a wide range of coatings from the ceramic coatings in the tooling industry, to plasma processed layers used in paint technology.

The ability to characterize the film-substrate system and to quantify parameters such as friction force and adhesion strength, using a variety of complementary methods, makes the tester an invaluable tool for research, development, and quality control.

The technique involves generating a controlled scratch, with a diamond tip, on the sample under test. The tip, either a Rockwell C diamond or a sharp metal tip, is drawn across the coated surface with a constant or progressive load. At a certain critical load, the coating will start to fail. The critical loads are detected very precisely by means of an acoustic sensor attached to the indenter holder, the frictional force, and optical microscopy. Once known, the critical loads are used to quantify the adhesive properties of different film-substrate combinations that constitute a unique signature of the coating system being tested.

• Real time display of Acoustic Emission, Depth, Frictional Force versus Load (or displacement for constant load)
• Images incorporated directly into the scratch file for easy reference
• Precise correlation (Integrated Video Camera System) between measurement data and optical observation
• Associated load automatically indicated on the picture for easy identification
• Multi-pass scratch testing for the characterization of the wear properties of the coating
• Constant and progressive loads
• Control of all the parameters including speed, loading rate, and scratch length
• Zoom Functions
• Data export in ASCII format
• Latest Windows OS software
• User-friendly with free software updates