What this workflow helps you do
Summarize an existing set of hardness measurements while preserving the hardness scale and test conditions that make the numbers comparable. NotyPlot provides descriptive statistics and confidence intervals; it does not infer indentation dimensions from images in this workflow.
Use this workflow when
- Reporting repeated Vickers, Rockwell or other hardness measurements already obtained by a valid test method.
- Checking spread and consistency across repeated indents or specimens.
- Comparing groups only after confirming that scale, load and test conditions are compatible.
What you need before you start
- A numeric hardness table with sample labels.
- The hardness scale and test conditions associated with each value.
- A defensible rule for which measurements belong in the same summary.
Step-by-step workflow
- Import the hardness values and label the sample or group represented by each dataset.
- Confirm that values being summarized share the same hardness scale and comparable test conditions.
- Run the statistics workflow and inspect n, mean, median, standard deviation, CV, range and confidence interval.
- Check unusual values against the original indentation or test record.
- Keep different scales or materially different loads separate unless a justified conversion exists.
- Export the statistics and report the scale, load, dwell time and sampling information required by the test method.
What to review in the result
- Hardness values use the same scale within a summary.
- Test load and method are comparable.
- Outliers are investigated using the original test record.
- Sample size and spread are reported with the mean.
Before you report or export
- Include the hardness designation and test conditions in the report.
- Do not mix converted and directly measured values without documenting the conversion.
- Use appropriate group-comparison statistics separately when testing differences between materials.
Limitations and interpretation
- This workflow summarizes numeric hardness measurements; it does not measure indentation diagonals from an image.
- Different hardness scales are not directly interchangeable without validated conversion relationships.
- Surface preparation, indent spacing, thickness and test conditions can affect the measured values.