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Experiment No. 1 Impact Strength of A Material

The document describes an experiment to test the impact strength of different materials using a Charpy impact tester. The experiment involves breaking notched specimens of mild steel, carbon steel, and tooling steel using a heavy pendulum. Mild steel was found to undergo ductile fracture and absorb more energy, while carbon steel underwent brittle fracture. Impact strength is an important characteristic for materials used in applications subjected to heavy loads or temperature fluctuations. The document provides objectives, apparatus description, test procedures, calculations, results, observations, sources of error, and conclusions.

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Mansoob Bukhari
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549 views

Experiment No. 1 Impact Strength of A Material

The document describes an experiment to test the impact strength of different materials using a Charpy impact tester. The experiment involves breaking notched specimens of mild steel, carbon steel, and tooling steel using a heavy pendulum. Mild steel was found to undergo ductile fracture and absorb more energy, while carbon steel underwent brittle fracture. Impact strength is an important characteristic for materials used in applications subjected to heavy loads or temperature fluctuations. The document provides objectives, apparatus description, test procedures, calculations, results, observations, sources of error, and conclusions.

Uploaded by

Mansoob Bukhari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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You are on page 1/ 7

EXPERIMENT NO.

IMPACT STRENGTH OF A MATERIAL

Lab Report No.: IST-ARO-SITM-N01-00/00

DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS


INSTITUTE OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY
ISLAMABAD
OBJECTIVES
To test the ability of a material to withstand a severe impact by breaking notched specimen using
a heavy pendulum.

APPARATUS

LR
F

a1

a2

LR= Reduced length of pendulum


& distance to centre of impact

Fig. 1 Impact angle displacement Fig. 2 Impact tester Fig. 3 Specimen placement

INTRODUCTION
In mechanics, an impact is a high force or shock applied over a short interval of time when two
or more bodies collide. Such a force or acceleration usually has a greater effect than a lower
force applied over a proportionally longer period of time. The effect depends critically on the
relative velocity of the bodies to one another.

Impact Tests
Impact tests are designed to measure the resistance to failure of a material to a suddenly applied
force. The test measures the impact energy, or the energy absorbed prior to fracture. The most
common methods of measuring impact energy are the:
a. Charpy Test
b. Izod Test

a) Charpy Impact test


The Charpy impact test, also known as the Charpy v-notch test, is a standardized high strain-rate
test which determines the amount of energy absorbed by a material during fracture. This
absorbed energy is a measure of a given material's toughness and acts as a tool to study
temperature-dependent brittle-ductile transition. It is widely applied in industry, since it is easy
to prepare and conduct, and results can be obtained quickly and cheaply. However a major
disadvantage is that all results are only comparative.

b) Izod Impact test


In this test, an arm held at a specific height (constant potential energy) is released. The arm hits
the sample and breaks it. From the energy absorbed by the sample, its impact strength is
determined. The Izod impact test differs from the Charpy impact test in that the sample is held in
a cantilevered beam configuration as opposed to a three point bending configuration.

Standard Dimension of Charpy Test Specimens


Charpy test specimens normally measure 55x10x10mm and have a notch machined across one of
the larger faces. The notches may be:

i. V-notch – A V-shaped notch, 2mm deep, with 45-degree angle and 0.25 mm radius along
the base.

ii. U-notch or keyhole notch – A 5mm deep notch with 1mm radius at the base of the notch.

Product summary
MT 3016 is a robust, easily handled bench impact tester (Charpy) made to standard
specifications. It demonstrates in a simple and reliable manner how the impact strength
characteristics of a material are affected at, for example, low temperature. This is of great
importance for the choice of material in applications subjected to heavy temperature fluctuations.
It is also useful to demonstrate how the impact strength of a material is affected by different
kinds of heat treatments, e.g. hardening, tempering, and normalizing.

Technical data of Apparatus and Specimen


Max. Impact energy =15 joule (1 J = 1 Nm)
1 Scale graduation = 0.1 joule
Dimensions of test pieces = 6x6x44 mm
Dimensions of the machine = 170x290x615 mm
Weight of the machine = 30 kg

PROCEDURE
1. Adjust the Zero point
2. Raise the pendulum to a height where it is locked in a position making an angle a1 (angle of
displacement) with vertical.
3. Fit the notched specimen in position as shown in Fig.3.
4. Release the pendulum by pressing the lever to unlock. The pendulum strikes the notched
specimen from behind breaking the specimen in two pieces.
5. The pendulum then swings up to a maximum height making angle a2 (angle of rise) with the
vertical as shown in Fig.2.
6. The scale on the apparatus showed the amount of energy in joules of the pendulum after
impact.

Angle of displacementa = Test piece seen from the


side
Indicator
b = Pendulum
c = Angle of disp.
d = Angle after test
Angle after test
Pendulum

Test piece seen


from the side

Fig. 4 Impact Mechanism

Indicator arm shows


deflection after test
Scale

Pendulum

Ridge for test


specimen

Fig. 5 Description of Impact Testing Machine


CALCULATIONS
Potential Energy of the system when released: K = FL (1+sin (a1-90))
Potential Energy after impact: T = FL (1-cos a2)
Energy consumed in breaking the specimen (Neglecting Friction/wind resistance losses) E = K-T
Impact strength is given by KCU = E / fractured Area
F = 2.1 x 9.8 = 20.5 N
L = 38.5 cm
Fracture Area = 18 mm2

RESULTS
Results are tabulated as follows:

TABLE: Data obtained during the experiment


Fracture
E (Joules) E (Joules) KCU
Specimen a1 a2 K (joules) T (Joules) Area
Theoretical Practical (J/mm2)
mm2
Red
Constructio
n Steel
Yellow
Engineering
Steel
Green
Tooling
Steel

OBSERVATIONS
From the results obtained, it can be seen that the specimen fracture differently. The mild steel
fracture but did not break completely and some part of the steel still attached therefore it behaves
in the ductile manner. The carbon steel behaves in brittle manner although it is harder. The
carbon specimen broke completely into two parts and the broken surfaces looks smoother than
the mild steel.
Carbon steel has lower ductility compared to the mild steel but the carbon steel is more brittle
than the mild steel. This is because carbon steel has high percentage of carbon (percentage of
carbon in mild steel is less than 0.2%) that lower the ability to absorb energy when sudden load
is applied.
The ‘grayish and fibrous’ broken surfaces of the mild steel shows that it undergoes plastic
deformation and acts in the ductile manner. The carbon steel experience less plastic deformation
and the surfaces looks smoother and shinny.
Ductile fracture is better because of the following reasons:
a) More energy is needed in the ductile fracture because it is a tough material
b) Brittle fracture happens quickly without warning while the ductile fracture take a longer time
before the whole process to happen. Notched impact strength is an important characteristic for
applications in pipeline construction and shipbuilding. The fractured specimen is shown in Fig.6
Fig. 6 The broken specimen after Impact testing

SOURCE OF ERRORS
a. Level of machine. (it should not be inclined)
b. Air resistance
c. Machine resistance

CONCLUSIONS
From the Charpy impact test, carbon steel undergoes brittle fracture while the mild steel
undergoes ductile fracture. More energy is absorbed by mild steel which shows that it is more
suitable to be use in the structural construction that expose to high load for example: car bodies

REFERENCES
1. Handouts and Manuals of Machine/Apparatus
2. www.terco.se
3. Foundation of Material Science and Engineering – 4th Ed- William F. Smith
4. Workshop Technology (Manufacturing Process) – 6th Ed- R.S Khurmi, J.K. Gupta
5. http://www.wmtr.com/Content/charpy.htm
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_force

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