Automatic scratch tester – SAAST520
Scratch tester is a measuring instrument mainly employed to assess coating hardness using scratching resistance approach. Scratch tester procedure involves the generation of a controlled scratch with an indenter on a selected area. A stylus is moved over a specimen surface with a linearly increasing load until failure occurs at critical loads. According to test procedures, constant or progressive load can be applied in order to get different levels of failure. The load at which such failure of the coating occurs is termed as the critical load. Scratch test is one of widely used methods to obtain the critical loads related to adhesion properties of coating.