It is a hardness measurement that is typically done using a Vickers hardness tester. The Hv number is the Vickers Pyramid number. In this case the test is on nickel or nickel-aluminum based material, which I assume is the nickel plating. A good reference for the test is ASTM E92. You should verify the load required, ie, the measurement requirement should be stated as Ni 450Hv 30, which is my guess at the proper load for a nickel finish in the 450 Hv range. -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Harris Dy Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 4:08 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Plating Hardness of Ni 450Hv or more Hi, I encountered a requirement from customer drawing saying "Plating Hardness to be Ni 450Hv or more". Is this a standard on most of the PCB shops? If not, please advise what in your opinion is the standard parameter. Thanks, Harris --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------