620.178.15 We study the causes of the errors of the method of indentation of materials by statically applied loads used for the evaluation of the characteristics of Vickers hardness. The influence of the anisotropy of sheet materials on the accuracy of the method is investigated. It is shown that the orientation of indentations relative to the axes of anisotropy of the material must remain invariable in the course of the tests and that the orientation of the sides of indentations is preferable as compared with the orientation of its diagonals.Keywords: hardness, subjective and objective estimates of the errors, anisotropy, orientation of indentations.Introduction. Numerous load-carrying structures operate under severe conditions and, therefore, their serviceability should be continuously monitored. As one of possible methods of monitoring, one can mention the analysis of the mechanical characteristics of materials readily measured in the course of hardness tests [1]. In this case, it is not necessary to violate the integrity of structures and prepare specimens. The procedure of determination of some mechanical characteristics according to the hardness parameters is standardized [2]. The characteristics of hardness are also used for the evaluation of the degree of damage to the metal.At present, a new method of monitoring (the so-called LM-hardness method) is extensively introduced in the engineering practice. According to this method, the degree of damage to the metal is estimated not according to the absolute value of hardness but by using the parameter of spread of its values in the case of mass measurements [3,4]. In view of the sensitivity of this method to various types of structural transformations, i.e., to the degradation of the material, high requirements are imposed on the correctness of the procedure of hardness testing of the material. As one of the main methods for measuring hardness, parallel with the Rockwell and Brinell method of indentation of the metals by statically applied loads, one can mention the method of evaluation of hardness by using a Vickers diamond pyramid in which the angle between the opposite faces is equal to 136°[5].Note that the independence of hardness of the load applied to the indenter in the course of the tests is an important advantage of the Vickers method of measuring hardness over the other two mentioned procedures. This is especially valuable for the comparative estimates of the degrees of damage to different materials (from hard materials to materials with elevated plasticity whose plastic properties impose restrictions on the magnitude of the load applied to the indenter and the thickness of tested sheets). Moreover, we should additionally emphasize that these tests are identical as far as the constancy of the rate of application of loading and its duration are concerned and that this method enables one to study thin sheets of plastic materials.Statement of the Problem. Note that, for all well-known methods used for the evaluation of hardness of the materials, in...