HARDNESS MEASUREMENTS OF COATINGS

摘要

This paper summarizes various hardness measurement techniques used in the coatings industry, especially for organic coatings. Traditional techniques such as Pencil hardness or Tukon Hardness rank coatings in the same order as micro- or nano- hardness tester. However, the micro- and nano-hardness testers are less operator dependent and have lower coefficient of variation, which is very useful for measuring incremental changes during product development stage. The micro- and nano-hardness testers provide additional physical properties such as Young's modulus, viscoelastic properties and depth profile that further allows to predict performance of coatings. Lastly, micro- and nano- hardness testers have been modified for specific testing in electronic and polymeric applications such as such as scratch testing of automotive topcoats.