Patent ID: 8621903

Claim:
A device for continuous or instrumented indentation of a material, comprising: an indentor; means for supporting the material to be indented; means for displacing at least one of the indentor or the means for supporting the material, for putting said indentor in contact with said material and driving the material into the indentor; and means for measuring the force and the displacement of the indentor while the indentor is pressed into the material, wherein: (a) said means for supporting the material comprises a convex surface along a longitudinal axis of said indentor for receiving said material, the convex surface being oriented towards the indentor so that said material is capable of resting on the convex surface in a point-like or quasi point-like manner; (b) said means for supporting the material is free of other means for retaining the material in place; (c) said indentor is a one-piece indentor and comprises an indentation tip which is formed as a single piece with a body of said indentor; and (d) said means for measuring the displacement of the indentor while the indentor is pressed into the material comprises at least three displacement sensors angularly positioned equidistant from one another around said indentor, and positioned along a fictitious circle centred on the longitudinal axis of the indentor.