Abstract
This work is devoted to an experimental characterisation of materials damage by using a new approach. Microhardness techniques have been used in this investigation in order to determine damage parameters that appear in the formulation developed by Lemaître in 1985. Measurements were performed on four steel types and two aluminium alloys. Theoretical modelling is presented and curves of microhardness of virgin and damaged materials are presented. Damage parameters obtained by applying the proposed procedure are compared to those presented in the literature. The agreement between parameters that are measured by the new approach and those found in the literature are good.