Instrumented Impact Test: Impact Machine Variables and Specimen Position

Published

January 5, 2009

Author(s)

Christopher N. McCowan

Abstract

An investigation has been conducted on the influence of impact machine variables and specimen positioning on characteristic forces and absorbed energies from instrumented Charpy tests. Brittle and ductile fracture behavior has been investigated by testing NIST reference samples of low, high and super-high energy levels. Test machine variables included tightness of foundation, anvil and striker bolts, and the position of the center of percussion with respect to the center of strike. For specimen positioning, we tested samples which had been moved away or sideways with respect to the anvils. In order to assess the influence of the various factors, we compared mean values in the reference ("unaltered") and "altered" conditions; for machine variables, t-test analyses were also performed in order to evaluate the statistical significance of the observed differences. Our results indicate that the only circumstance which resulted variations larger than 5% for both brittle and ductile specimens is when the sample is not in contact with the anvils. This should be taken into account in future revisions of instrumented Charpy test standards.

Citation

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) -

Volume

37

NIST Pub Series

NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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Keywords

Instrumented Charpy tests, impact machine variables, specimen positioning, t-test analysis

Citation

McCowan, C. (2009), Instrumented Impact Test: Impact Machine Variables and Specimen Position, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=854175 (Accessed April 19, 2024)