Scratch tests of polypropylene injection moldings were conducted with a progressive load scratch test according to ISO 19252. Effect of scratch velocity on scratch visibility and damage initiation was investigated. The results showed that the critical normal load for onset of scratch visibility was independent of scratch velocity in the range from 1 to 10 mm/s. However, the critical normal load decreased with increase of scratch velocity higher than 10 mm/s. The other scratch damage transitions such as onset of fish-scale and cutting pattern, the critical normal load also decreased with increase of scratch velocity. A correlation between scratch behavior and subsurface deformation was observed by polarized optical microscope. The formation of yielded zone under scratch groove was clearly observed at onset of scratch visibility. It was found that the yielded zone size becomes shallower at higher scratch velocity. The results suggested that localized stress was generated near the surface at higher scratch velocity. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012