Department of Mechanical & Manufacturing

Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UPM

Course: STRENGTH OF MATERIAL 1

Course Code: EMM 3108
Session: Semester 2 (2014/2015)
Report Title: Impact Test
Group Members: J1
Name
Abdul Azim Aqil Bin Abdul Halim
Khairul Rifly Bin Jailani

Matric No.
180298
180072

Signature

Date: 3/3/2015
Date Submitted: 10/3/2015
Lecturer Name: Dr. Che Nor Aiza Jaafar
Demonstrator Name: Madam Riadatul Akmal Binti Mohamad Rushdi

Content
Pages
i.

Introduction............................................................................................

ii. Objective................................................................................................

iii. Specimen and Equipment......................................................................

iv. Procedure................................................................................................

v.

Result......................................................................................................

vi. Discussion..............................................................................................

vii. Conclusion.............................................................................................

viii. Appendix................................................................................................

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ix. References..............................................................................................

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1.0 Introduction
A test designed to give information on how a specimen of a known material will respond to
a suddenly applied stress, e.g shock. The test ascertain whether the materials is tough of brittle.
A notched test piece is normally employed and the two methods in general use are either the Izod
or Charpy test.(3) The results is usually reported as the energy in ft.lbs or KJ required to fracture
the test piece. Impact is very important phenomenon in governing the life of a structure. In the
case of aircraft, impact can take place by the bird hitting the plane while it is cruising, during
take of and landing there is impact by the debris present on the runway. An arm held at a specific
height is released. (1)
The impact test involve a pendulum (figure 1) swinging down from a specified height h to
hit the specimen and fracture it. The height h to which the pendulum rises after striking and
breaking the specimen is a measurement of the energy used in the breaking.

Starting position
Pointer
Pendulum
End of swing
h0

Specimen

Anvil

Fig. 1 : Schematic of an impact test

The greater the energy used in the breaking, the greater the loss of energy and so the
lower the height to which the pendulum rises. If the pendulum swings up to a height h after
breaking the specimen, then the energy used to break it is
E mgh
0 mgh

[Nm or J]

Eq

(1)
This energy value called impact toughness or impact value.
The average friction loss ARm must be determined before starting the experiment. The value of
ARm is calculated as
A Rm i 1 A Ri / n
n

[Nm or J]

Eq(2)

After fracturing the notched specimen, the notched bar impact work Akabg is read off from the
indicator unit. In order to obtain the effective notched bar impact work Ak, the friction loss ARm
must be subtracted from the read off value.

A k A kabg A Rm
[Nm or J]

Eq (3)

The impact value ak is calculated by dividing the value of effective notched bar impact work A k,
by the unnotched cross-section area of the specimen S0.
ak A k / S0

[Nm/cm2 or J/cm2]

Eq(4)

Fig. 2 : G.U.N.T WP400 Pendulum Impact Tester

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2.0 Objectives
The objectives of this experiment are
1. To develop an understanding of fracture toughness.
2. To investigate the notched bar impact work and strength of various engineering materials.
3. To investigate the influence of notch shape on the notched bar impact work.

3.0 Specimen and Equipments

1. Pendulum impact tester G.U.N.T.WP400
2. Vernier caliper
3. Impact specimens :

Mild steel ( V - and U notch)

Carbon steel ( V and U notch )

4.0 Procedures
1. The thickness of the specimen and dimensions of the unnotched length were measured.
2. Pendulum was raised to the left until it indicates the maximum energy range on the upper
indicator unit.
3. The specimen was placed horizontally across supports with notch away from pendulum
4. The specimen was placed center with respect to pendulum.
5. Pendulum was released by pushing up on the hand release.
6. The pendulum had dropped and stroke the specimen.
7. The indicator had moved and stopped when peak swing through was registered.
8. The indicated value was reading and recorded from the indicator unit.
9. The brake was applied until pendulum had returned to its stable hanging vertical position.
10. The specimen was removed from the testing area.
11. The failure surface of specimen was observed.
12. The test for specimens of other material and notch were repeated.

5.0 Results:
Mild steel
Unnotched
length (mm)
Thickness
(mm)
So(mm2)

Carbon steel

V-notch

U-notch

V-notch

U-notch

8.26

5.40

7.54

5.92

41.3

27

37.7

29.6

Table 1: Unnotched length, thickness and area of specimen

Material
Notch type
S0 (mm2)
ARi (J)
Arm (J)
Akabg(J)
Ak(J)
ak(J/cm2)
Material
Notch type
S0 (mm2)
ARi (J)
Arm (J)
Akabg (J)

Mild Steel
V-notch
U-notch
41.3
27
i=1
i=2
i=3
i=1
i=2
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.7
4.8
4.8
4.8
More than 25
More than 25
Table 2: Experimental results of mild steel

i=3
4.9

Carbon Steel
i=1
4.7

V-notch
37.7
i=2
4.8
4.8
9.6

i=3
4.9

i=1
4.7

U-notch
29.6
i=2
4.8
4.8
9.1

i=3
4.9

Ak (J)
ak (J/cm2)

4.8
4.3
12.73
14.53
Table 3: Experimental results of carbon steel

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6.0 Discussion:
1) Compare and discuss on the impact work values for each specimen with the theory.
In this experiment, the amount of impact energy to fracture the tested specimens are affected by
the type of material of the specimens and the shape of notch.
Type of material of the specimen
This experiment use two type of materials which is mild steel and carbon steel. The material with
high impact energy reflects its high ductility and low yield strength. Those with more carbon
content in steel will increase the yield strength and make it more brittle. So, by comparing the
two specimens, mild steel with low carbon content should has higher impact energy. In the end
of experiment, mild steel does not broke while carbon steel broke into 2 pieces. This show that
type of material of specimen affected the results of this experiment.
Shape of notch
From the measurement we found that V notch of the carbon steel has an unnotched length of
7.54mm and V notch of the mild steel has an unnotched length of 8.26, but U notch of
carbon steel has only 5.92mm and U notch of mild steel has only 5.40mm. The higher the
unnotched length, the more impact energy it can absorb before break. Therefore, the mild steel
V-notch will have the highest impact energy.
2) Discuss on the fracture surface of the tested specimens.

For a ductile material, extensive plastic deformation takes place before fracture. Rather than
cracking, the material "pulls apart," generally leaving a rough surface. In this case there is slow
propagation and an absorption of a large amount energy before fracture. The fracture surface is
usually rougher and irregular. For a brittle material, no apparent plastic deformation takes place
before fracture. The specimen crack rapidly at the point of highest stress. Thus, brittle material
will result a more flat fracture surface. Referring to the experiment data, mild steel which has
higher ductility is showing less plastic deformation and a rougher fracture surface.
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3)

Discuss on the factors that can be affected to the experimental result.

(a) Specimen
i.
Results can be affected by the type of material use. Different type of material has different
yield strength and ductility. For mild steel it has less yield strength than carbon steel. Mild
ii.

steel also more ductile while carbon steel is more brittle.

The placement of the specimen on the Pendulum Impact Tester will affect the result if the

iii.

notch of the specimen is not located at the center of tester.

The depth and tip radius of the notch are important in this experiment which is the point

serves as a stress concentration zone.

(b)Equipment
i.
The measuring range of Pendulum Impact Tester is limited to 25Nm which is not enough to
measure. Thus the impact energy of some specimens is undefined.

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7.0 Conclusion:
As the conclusion, an understanding of fracture toughness is developed. For a ductile
material, extensive plastic deformation takes place before fracture. The cracks grow slowly. For a
brittle material, the specimen crack rapidly at the point of highest stress with a little or even no
plastic deformation. Besides that, the notched bar impact work and strength of various
engineering materials is investigated. Mild steel with lower carbon content have higher impact
energy. The lower the carbon content, the lower is its yield strength and will reflect a higher
ductility. The influence of the notch shape on the notched bar impact work is also investigated.
Therefore, the V-notch steel will have the highest impact energy compare to U-notch.
The applications of the experiment:
a) Acts as a tool to study temperature-dependent ductile-brittle transition.
b) Used to determine material behavior at higher deformation speeds.
c) Metal industry sectors include Oil and Gas, Aerospace, Power Generation, Automotive, and
Nuclear.

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9.0 Appendix
A) Hand release of pendulum striker.

Fig. 3 GUNT WP400

B) The specimens strike by pendulum.

Fig. 4 : Before

Fig. 5 : After

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8.0 Reference
Internet :
1. http://www.zwick.com/en/applications/plastics/thermosetting-thermoplasticmaterials/impact-test.html
2. http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2763
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fracture#Ductile_fracture
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charpy_impact_test

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