A controller of a hardness tester can determine, in a condition where a driver is not in operation and when a spring displacement detector and an arm displacement detector detect an amount of displacement of respective objects (plate spring and loading arm), that a loading arm and a plate spring are deformed according to changes in environmental temperature. A favorable hardness test can be performed by the hardness tester corresponding to the environmental temperature according to the determination by carrying out an initialization process that resets the displacement amount of respective object to zero, the displacement amount detected by the spring displacement detector and the arm displacement detector respectively.

There is provided a method for estimating a hardness of a cold worked component including: preparing a test piece for hardness measurement having a dent portion of a shape corresponding to a shape of the contact surface of the punch by using a mounting base on which a test piece is mounted and a punch of which a contact surface to be in contact with the test piece is a curved surface, and compressing the test piece mounted on the mounting base using the punch; measuring hardnesses of the test piece for hardness measurement at a plurality of hardness measurement positions in a measurement direction while taking, as the measurement direction, a direction in the dent portion in which a sheet thickness changes; performing numerical analysis to calculate equivalent plastic strains of the test piece for hardness measurement, and acquiring a hardness-equivalent plastic strain curve on the basis of the hardnesses and the equivalent plastic strains at the hardness measurement positions; and specifying a hardness from the calculated value of equivalent plastic strain of an arbitrary part of the cold worked component on the basis of the hardness-equivalent plastic strain curve by performing numerical analysis to calculate a value of equivalent plastic strain of a cold worked component.

A measuring device for detection pf measurement signals during a penetrating movement of a penetrating member into a surface of a test object or during a sensing movement of the penetrating member on the surface of the test object. The measuring device includes a housing which accommodates a force generating device and on which a holding element is arranged remote from the force generating device, which holding element is movable relative to the housing at least in one direction along a longitudinal axis of the housing and which accommodates the penetrating member. The measuring device also includes at least one first measuring element for measuring the penetration depth of the penetrating member into the surface of the test object or a traversing movement of the penetrating member along the longitudinal axis relative to the housing during a sensing movement on the surface of the test object, wherein a transmission element is provided which extends between the force generating device and the penetrating member.

A method of in-situ TEM nanoindentation for a damaged layer of silicon is disclosed. Wet etching and ion beam lithography are used for preparing a silicon wedge sample. An etched silicon wedge is thinned and trimmed by a focused ion beam; thinning uses ion beam of 30 kV: 50-80 nA, and trimming uses ion beam of 5 kV: 1-6 pA; and the top width of the silicon wedge is 80-100 nm. The sample is fixed on a sample holder of an in-situ TEM nanomechanical system by using a conductive silver adhesive. The sample is indented with a tip in the TEM, so that the thickness of the damaged layer of the sample is 2-200 nm; and an in-situ nanoindentation experiment is conducted on the damaged layer of the sample in the TEM.

An indenter is made of polycrystalline diamond and has a tip having a spherical surface with a radius of 10 to 2000 μm.

A hardness tester includes an image acquirer (controller) acquiring an image of a surface (surface image) of a sample captured by an image capturer, an identifier (controller) identifying, based on the surface image of the sample, a non-conformity region inside the image that is unsuitable for the hardness test using predetermined conditions, and a test position definer (controller) defining a test position in an area outside the non-conformity region identified by the identifier.

A rock sample is nano-indented from a surface of the rock sample to a specified depth less than a thickness of the rock sample. While nano-indenting, multiple depths from the surface to the specified depth and multiple loads applied to the sample are measured. From the multiple loads and the multiple depths, a change in load over a specified depth is determined, using which an energy associated with nano-indenting rock sample is determined. From a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of the nano-indented rock sample, an indentation volume is determined responsive to nano-indenting, and, using the volume, an energy density is determined. It is determined that the energy density associated with the rock sample is substantially equal to energy density of a portion of a subterranean zone in a hydrocarbon reservoir. In response, the physical properties of the rock sample are assigned to the portion of the subterranean zone.

The present disclosure discloses a rock high-stress high-temperature micro-nano indentation test system, comprising: an X, Y, Z three-direction macroscopic adjustment module, an indentation precision loading module, an indentation test module and an indentation data processing module. The rock high-stress high-temperature micro-nano indentation test system further comprise a two-dimensional horizontal stress loading device, a temperature control device and a vacuum device 13. The rock high-stress high-temperature micro-nano indentation test system provided by the present disclosure has distinctive features of modularity and structuralization, and its test results have high accuracy. The rock high-stress high-temperature micro-nano indentation test system is easy to operate, and provides a theoretical and technical system support for testing the mechanical characteristics of the rock under the high-stress and high-temperature environment in the deep region.

An apparatus includes a holder to support an indenter relative to a sample, a depth sensor, and a controller. The operations include applying a first force on the sample with the indenter and determining a first depth of the indenter based on data generated by the sensor, moving the indenter from the first depth to a greater predetermined depth, then applying the first force on the sample with the indenter and determining a second depth of the indenter based on second data generated by the sensor, and determining a value indicative of hardness of the sample based on a difference between the first depth and the second depth. The apparatuses described can use a single scale for hardness that enables hardness values for different materials to be compared to one another.

A method of in-situ TEM nanoindentation for a damaged layer of silicon is disclosed. Wet etching and ion beam lithography are used for preparing a silicon wedge sample. An etched silicon wedge is thinned and trimmed by a focused ion beam; thinning uses ion beam of 30 kV: 50-80 nA, and trimming uses ion beam of 5 kV: 1-6 pA; and the top width of the silicon wedge is 80-100 nm. The sample is fixed on a sample holder of an in-situ TEM nanomechanical system by using a conductive silver adhesive. The sample is indented with a tip in the TEM, so that the thickness of the damaged layer of the sample is 2-200 nm; and an in-situ nanoindentation experiment is conducted on the damaged layer of the sample in the TEM.