Metrological characterization of the Primary Hardness Standard Machine realised by LTF Spa for INMETRO (Brazil) - Part II

The work consists in the metrological characterization of the Primary Hardness Standard Machine (PHS Machine) and Gal-Vision Measuring System realized by LTF S.p.A. for the INMETRO (Brazil). The work described in the report was carried out in February 2006, by the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (I.N.RI.M.) of Italy (formerly Istituto di Metrologia "G. Colonnetti" (IMGC) of the National Research Council (CNR)) at INMETRO laboratory (Xerém, Duque de Caxias, RJ, Brazil), as part of the work specified in the Annex A of the Contract nr. 02/05 in date 10/02/2005 between LTF and IMGC-CNR. A previous characterization has been carried out at the LTF Laboratory in Italy before the shipment of the machine; the results have been reported in the IMGC Technical Report nr. 143, December 2005. PHS Machine has been realized by LTF with the INRiM know-how. The Gal-Vision measuring system derives from the measuring system developed in IMGC, now used in INRIM hardness laboratory, based on the CNR patent algorithm. The metrological characterizations consists in the direct and indirect verification of the PHS machine; in the direct verification, the main verified parameters are the forces generated by the PHS machine, the depth measuring system and the geometry of the indenters. The indirect verification consists in the comparison of the performances of the indenters with the so called “National Indenters” and in the comparison of the hardness scales generated by the PHS machine with the national scales maintained by I.N.RI.M.\ud The results have been compared with the technical specifications of the PHS machine to verify the quality of the LTF construction