A scleroscope is a device used to measure rebound hardness. It consists of a steel ball dropped from a fixed height. ... As an improvement on this rough method, the Leeb Rebound Hardness Test, invented in the 1970s, uses the ratio of impact and rebound velocities (as measured by a magnetic inducer) to determine hardness.

How does a Leeb tester work?

It is a rebound test method, i.e. the velocity of an impact body before and after the impact is measured to determine the hardness of a test specimen. The ratio of the impact velocity to the rebound velocity is the measure of the dynamic Leeb hardness of a test specimen.

How does a portable hardness tester work?

One popular device measures the frequency shift of a resonating rod with a Vickers- diamond tip, which occurs when the diamond penetrates into the test material by applying a specific test load. The frequency shift is evaluated and electronically converted to a hardness value displayed on the LCD.