What is the difference between IRHD and Shore A hardness?
Emily Wilson
Updated on March 18, 2026
What is the difference between IRHD and Shore A hardness?
The IRHD test is usually non-destructive, and as such has to be the preferred method for final product inspection; the test takes 35 seconds. In contrast, the Shore method is often destructive (leaving a permanent indentation), but the test only takes 1 or 3 seconds.
What is Shore A hardness scale?
The Shore A Hardness Scale measures the hardness of flexible mold rubbers that range in hardness from very soft and flexible, to medium and somewhat flexible, to hard with almost no flexibility at all. Semi-rigid plastics can also be measured on the high end of the Shore A Scale.
What is Shore A and Shore D hardness?
A high number means a large hardness. Shore A is specified for softer elastomer measurements using a needle with a blunted point. Shore D is specified for harder elastomer measurements using a needle that ends with a 30° point angle and is not blunted.
Is Shore A harder than Shore D?
The higher the number on the scale, the harder the material. The major differentiation between the Shore A and Shore D is that Shore A is specified to measure flexible rubbers while Shore D is specified for harder, rigid materials. However, the ranges do tend to overlap at higher levels.
What does Irhd stand for?
IRHD is the abbreviation for “International Rubber Hardness Degree”.
What is Shore hardness in rubber?
Rubber shore hardness is the measure of the resistance a rubber material (like Silicone or EPDM) has to indentation, or quite simply, the hardness of the rubber.
What is 50 Shore A hardness?
There are other Shore hardness scales, such as Shore O and Shore H, but they are rare within the plastics and rubber industry….Rubber hardness examples and applications – A rated.
| 25 – 35 Shore A | Rubber bands |
| 50 Shore A | Rubber stamps |
| 55 Shore A | Door seals and Pencil erasers |
How do you choose Shore hardness?
The more the cone deforms the rubber material, the lower the hardness measurement. The less the cone deforms the rubber material, the higher the hardness measurement.
What does 70 Shore A mean?
The Hardness of elastomer O Rings is measured by the Shore A durometer mentioned above. The higher the durometer, the harder the material. Commonly, 70-durometer hardness presents the superior blend of properties for the majority of O Ring installations, therefore it should be used whenever possible.
How hard is 60A durometer?
Tough, Yet Flexible Although this 60A general-purpose rubber sheet is a fairly hard rubber material, it will still allow for a moderate degree of flexibility and pliability.
What is Irhd hardness tester?
International Rubber Hardness Degrees (IRHD) test method provides a highly repeatable measurement on rubber parts of various shapes and sizes. It is especially important in determining the hardness of rubber O-rings. The distance between the two applied forces is measured and coverted to an IRHD hardness value.
How hard is 90 Shore?
90 Shore A is very stiff. The hardness of an elastomer is measured based on the depth of indentation by a standard size and shape impacting gauge.
What is the difference between shore a and IRHD m?
The IRHD-M (micro) is mainly used, where the test material has a standard thickness of 2 mm. The main advantage of the IRHD-M method is that the hardness of the rubber can also be measured on the end product, in contrast to the Shore A measurement.
How is the hardness of shore a measured?
Therefore the hardness in Shore A is measured on specially produced test plates. These test plates are manufactured from the same material as the articles themselves. This is done by means of special laboratory equipment with a standard production method. In this way, the data from different recipes can be easily compared with each other.
How to measure the hardness of rubber with an IRHD meter?
When measuring by means of an IRHD meter, using the unit IRHD, a sphere is pressed into the surface of the rubber by loading it with a certain mass. The two measurement methods are hardly related to each other. In this article, you can read more about measuring the hardness of rubber.
What is the difference between shore a and Shore D?
In the US, Shore A is the most common method of measuring rubber hardness. Shore D is typically used for very hard rubber compounds and plastics (50 Shore D is approximately 90 Shore A). Shore M is specialized for use on O-rings. IRHD is a fully automated measuring procedure preferred in Europe.