Impact test (Toughness testing)

Toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing; Material toughness is defined as the amount of energy per volume that a material can absorb before rupturing. It is also defined as the resistance to fracture of a material when stressed.

Importance of toughness test:

Selection of a material: if we know the size of material & maximum stress applied, we can select a
material that has enough toughness and can prevent fracture.

Design of a component: if we know the size of material then we can calculate the maximum
stress that can withstand. Then we can size, shape and design appropriately.

Design of manufacturing & testing method: if the material has been selected, applied stress
is known, size is fixed, and we can calculate the maximum size of a flaw that can be tolerated. A NDT testing ensures that it will function safely.

Specification:
Izod Impact Testing (Notched Izod) ASTM D256, ISO 180

Impact test:
The impact toughness (AKA Impact strength) of a material can be determined with a Charpy or Izod test. These tests are named after their inventors and were developed in the early 1900s before fracture mechanics theory was available. Impact properties are not directly used in fracture mechanics calculations, but the economical impact tests continue to be used as a quality control method to assess notch sensitivity and for comparing the relative toughness of engineering materials.

The two tests use different specimens and methods of holding the specimens, but both tests make use of a pendulum-testing machine. For both tests, the specimen is broken by a single overload event due to the impact of the pendulum. A stop pointer is used to record how far the pendulum swings back up after fracturing the specimen. The impact toughness of a metal is determined by measuring the energy absorbed in the fracture of the specimen. This is simply obtained by noting the height at which the pendulum is released and the height to which the pendulum swings after it has struck the specimen . The height of the pendulum times the weight of the pendulum produces the potential energy and the difference in potential energy of the pendulum at the start and the end of the test is equal to the absorbed energy. Since toughness is greatly affected by temperature, a Charpy or Izod test is often repeated numerous times with each specimen tested at a different temperature. This produces a graph of impact toughness for the material as a function of temperature. Impact toughness versus temperature graph for a steel is shown in the image. It can be seen that at low temperatures the material is more brittle and impact toughness is low. At high temperatures the material is more ductile and impact toughness is higher. The transition temperature is the boundary between brittle and ductile behavior and this temperature is often an extremely important consideration in the selection of a material.

Specimen size:
The standard specimen for ASTM is 64 x 12.7 x 3.2 mm (2 x x 1/8 inch). The most common specimen thickness is 3.2 mm (0.125 inch), but the preferred thickness is 6.4 mm (0.25 inch) because it is not as likely to bend or crush. The depth under the notch of the specimen is 10.2 mm (0.4 inches). The standard specimen for ISO is a Type 1A multipurpose specimen with the end tabs cut off. The resulting test sample measures 80 x 10 x 4 mm. The depth under the notch of the specimen is 8mm.

Data:
ASTM impact energy is expressed in J/m or ft-lb/in. Impact strength is calculated by dividing impact energy in J (or ft-lb) by the thickness of the specimen. The test result is typically the average of 5 specimens. ISO impact strength is expressed in kJ/m2. Impact strength is calculated by dividing impact energy in J by the area under the notch. The test result is typically the average of 10 specimens. The higher the resulting numbers the tougher the material.