MIE270 Lab 2: Impact Testing of Engineering Materials

Lab Location: Room MC215 (Mechanical Building)

Lab TA: Sasan Rezaie
Email: srezaei@mie.utoronto.ca
Office: RS104 (Rosebrugh Building)

1. Background Information
In addition to the material parameters of strength and hardness, toughness is an
important parameter in designing and predicting the failure of materials and
components. Toughness is the material’s ability to withstand impact prior to failure
and is related to the mode of fracture (e.g. ductile vs. brittle). Ductile materials are
capable of absorbing a large amount of energy by plastic deformation prior to
failure and therefore have a high toughness; brittle materials have a very low
toughness because they fail by cleavage and absorb very little energy upon fracture.
Most materials exhibit ductile/brittle transition temperature.
Impact tests measure the notch toughness of a material, resistance to brittle fracture
in the presence of a notch and fast loading conditions. There are two primary impact
tests, the Charpy V-Notch (CVN) and Izod, typically used for metals and plastics,
respectively. The tests are based on ASTM standards, CVN is detailed in ASTM E23
and Izod is detailed in ASTM D256.
A common impact testing rig is used for both CVN and Izod. A specimen is mounted
on an anvil near the base of the testing machine (Figure 1). The specimen is then
struck with a weighted pendulum hammer released from a height, h. Upon release,
the pendulum strikes and fractures the specimen at its notch and continues to swing
to a final height, h’. The amount of energy absorbed in fracturing the specimen (or
the change in kinetic energy of the pendulum) can be measured and calculated from
the difference in pendulum height, h and h’; this is the impact energy (or notch
toughness) of the sample.

Figure 1 - Impact Testing

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The impact energy of a sample reflects the amount of energy absorbed by the
sample prior to failure. A material with high toughness deforms plastically,
therefore absorbing a large amount of impact energy; a material with low toughness
fails by brittle fracture and absorbs a smaller amount of energy. As seen in Figure 1,
the Izod test mounts the specimen vertically, whereas the specimen spans the anvil
in the CVN tests. Izod is used for mainly for plastics; the hammer is lighter than the
one used in CVN to impact with a lower amount of energy.
Many materials can exhibit temperature dependent strength; this is most notable in
plastics and certain metals such as carbon steel. Polymers will experience a glass-
transition temperature (Tg). Below Tg, the polymer tends to behave in a hard and
brittle fashion; above Tg, the polymer behaves more rubbery and ductile. In
addition, the specific volume and viscoelastic behavior also undergo changes. Note
that Tg is different from the melting temperature. Carbon steel undergo a “ductile-
to-brittle transition” in which the fracture mode changes from ductile to brittle with
decreasing temperature. The transition temperature can be determined by
performing impact testing over a range of temperatures on similar samples, and
plotting the absorbed energy versus temperature. Within the ductile-to-brittle
transition temperature range, the mode of fracture is mixed, exhibiting properties of
both ductile and brittle fracture.
The fracture surface of the specimens is indicative of the type of fracture that a
material undergoes. In ductile materials, there may be severe plastic deformation, a
fibrous and dull surface. Brittle materials often contain a shiny surface with granular
texture.
2. Experimental Details
Charpy impact test will be demonstrated on V-notched cylindrical samples
 Steel – 1) mild and 2) high strength
 Brass – 1) Cold rolled and 2) cold rolled and annealed
 Aluminum – 1) tempered
The Izod impact test will be demonstrated using rectangular notched specimen of
Nylon 6/12 samples. The samples will be held at the following temperatures:
 Low Temperature (Approximately 25°C)
 High Temperature (Approximately 90°C, boiled in water)
The lab TA will perform the Charpy impact test and fracture the seven samples, and
the students will record the data obtained. Students will then analyze the fractured
samples via optical microscope. Observations will be made concerning the
description of the surface, and sketches of the sample surfaces will be drawn.
3. Pre-lab
A. Explain the objectives of this lab and the role of impact testing.
B. What’s the general relationship between hardness and Impact strength?
C. Briefly describe the procedures of this lab.
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4. Data Analysis
The following must be included in the final lab report based on the data obtained:
1. Briefly describe the surface morphology of each sample. Include a sketch of each
type of fracture surface using the attached sketch template. Indicate the notch,
fracture direction, and the brittle/ductile fracture surfaces.
2. On a single graph, plot the energy absorbed for the nylon samples vs.
temperature. Indicate where the glass transition temperature should occur.

5. Discussion Questions
Discuss the following questions in the “Results and Discussion” section of the
laboratory report.
1. What are the key features of and the differences between Izod and CVN?
2. Discuss the shape of notches and their significances in the impact test.
3. What is the practical use of the impact tests? Why are the tests considered more
qualitative than quantitative even with numbers involved?
4. Briefly explain the phenomena of Ductile to Brittle Transition.
5. What are the failure mechanisms in the materials? Relate your answer to the
morphology of the sketched fractured surfaces.

6. Lab Report Requirements

The report is to be completed in accordance with the MIE 270F laboratory report
guidelines. Include the raw data in the results section of the lab report. Students are
encouraged to consult resources in addition to the course textbook. All references
must be cited properly.
7. Useful References
 W.D. Callister, Jr., 2005. Materials Science and Engineering – An Introduction, 7th ed., John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
 ASTM E23 - Standard Test Methods for Notched Bar Impact Testing of Metallic Materials
 ASTM D256 - Standard Test Methods for Determining the Izod Pendulum Impact
Resistance of Plastics
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Charpy
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IZOD
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