Charpy Impact Test for Metallic Materials

Charpy impact test method for metallic materials is specified by European EN 10045
standard. This specification defines terms, dimension and tolerances of test pieces, type of the
notch (U or V), test force, verification of impact testing machines etc.
The test consists of breaking by one blow from a swinging pendulum, under conditions defined
by standard, a test piece notched in the middle and supported at each end. The energy absorbed is
determined in joules. This absorbed energy is a measure of the impact strength of the material.
Charpy impact test method for metallic materials is specified by European EN 10045 standard.
This specification defines terms, dimension and tolerances of test pieces, type of the notch (U or
V), test force, verification of impact testing machines etc.
For certain particular metallic materials and applications, Charpy impact test may be the subject
of specific standards and particular requirements. The test consists of breaking by one blow from
a swinging pendulum, under conditions defined by standard, a test piece notched in the middle
and supported at each end. The energy absorbed is determined in joules. This absorbed energy is
a measure of the impact strength of the material.
The designations applicable to this standard are as indicated in the Table 1 and on the Figure1.
Table 1. Characteristics of test piece and testing machine
Reference
(Figure 1)

Designation

Unit

Length of test piece

mm

Height of test piece

mm

Width of test piece

mm

Height below notch

mm

Angle of notch

Radius of curvature of base of notch

mm

Distance between anvils

mm

Radius of anvils

mm

Angle of taper of each anvil

Degree

10

Angle of taper of striker

Degree

11

Radius of curvature of striker

mm

12

Width of striker

mm

Energy absorbed by breakage KU or KV

Joule

Degree

Figure 1. Charpy impact test

Test pieces
The standard test piece shall be 55 mm long and of square section with 10 mm sides. In the
centre of the length, there shall be a notch. Two types of notch are specified:
a. V notch of 45, 2 mm deep with a 0,25 mm radius of curve at the base of notch. If
standard test piece cannot be obtained from the material, a reduced section with a width
of 7,5 mm or 5 mm shall be used, the notch being cut in one of the narrow faces.
b. U notch or keyhole notch, 5 mm deep, with 1 mm radius of curve at the base of notch.
The test pieces shall be machined all over, except in the case of precision cast foundry
test pieces in which the two faces parallel to the plane of symmetry of the notch can be
unmachined.

The plane of symmetry of the notch shall be perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the test
piece.
The tolerances of the specified dimensions of the test piece are given by standard as well. For the
standard test piece, machining tolerance in length is 0.6 mm for both type of tests, and tolerances
in height are 0.11 mm for U and 0.06 mm for V notch test piece. Tolerances for angle between
plane of symmetry of the notch and longitudinal axis of test piece as well as for angle between
adjacent longitudinal faces of test piece are 2 only.
Comparison of results is only of significance when made between test pieces of the same form
and dimensions. Machining shall be carried out in such a way that any alternation of the test
piece, for example due to cold working or heating, is minimized. The notch shall be carefully
prepared so that no grooves, parallel to the base of the notch, are visible to the naked eye. The
test piece may be marked on any face not in contact with the supports or anvils and at a point at
least 5 mm from the notch to avoid the effects of cold working due to marking.
Testing machine
The testing machine shall be constructed and installed rigidly and shall be in accordance with
European Standard 10 045 part 2.
Standard test condition shall correspond to nominal machine energy of 30010J at the use of a
test piece of standard dimensions. The reported absorbed energy under these conditions shall be
designated by the following symbols:

KU for a U notch test piece

KV for a V notch test piece

Testing machines with different striking energies are permitted, in which case the symbol KU or
KV shall be supplemented by an index denoting the energy of the testing machine.
For example KV 150 denotes available energy of 150 J, and KU 100 denotes available energy of
100 J. KU 100 = 65 J means that:

nominal energy is100 J

standard U notch test piece is used
energy absorbed during fracture is 65 J.

For tests on a subsidiary V notch test piece, the KV symbol shall be supplemented by indices
denoting first the available energy of the testing machine and second the width of the test piece,
e.g.:
KV 300 / 7,5: available energy 300 J, width of test piece 7.5 mm
KV 150 / 5: available energy 150 J, width of test piece 5 mm
KV 150 / 7,5 = 83 J denotes:
o nominal energy 150 J
o reduced section test piece of width 7,5 mm
o energy absorbed during fracture: 83 J.
The test piece shall lie against the anvils in such a way that the plane of symmetry of the notch
shall be no more than 0.5 mm from the plane of symmetry of the anvils. If the test temperature is
not specified in the product standard, it shall be about 23C.

National standards corresponding to EN 10045-2 are DIN 51306 (1983), NFA 03-508 (1985), BS
131 Part 4 (1972) and international ISO 442 (1965).

Charpy impact test

An Impact test machine.

The Charpy impact 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 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.
But a major disadvantage is that all results are only comparative.[1]
The qualitative results of the fracture may be used to determine the toughness of the material.
Also, this test may be done with the material at various temperatures to determine the brittleductile transition temperature.

Definition
The apparatus consists of a pendulum hammer swinging at a notched sample of material. The
energy transferred to the material can be inferred by comparing the difference in the height of the
hammer before and after a big fracture.
The notch in the sample affects the results of the impact test,[2] thus it is necessary for the notch
to be of a regular dimensions and geometry. The size of the sample can also affect results, since
the dimensions determine whether or not the material is in plane strain. This difference can
greatly affect conclusions made.[3]

Quantitative results
The quantitative result of the impact testthe energy needed to fracture a materialcan be used
to measure the toughness of the material and the yield strength. Also, the strain rate may be
studied and analyzed for its effect on fracture.
The ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) may be derived from the temperature where
the energy needed to fracture the material drastically changes. However, in practice there is no

sharp transition and so it is difficult to obtain a precise transition temperature. An exact DBTT
may be empirically derived in many ways: a specific absorbed energy, change in aspect of
fracture (such as 50% of the area is cleavage), etc.[1]

Qualitative results
The qualitative results of the impact test can be used to determine the ductility of a material.[4] If
the material breaks on a flat plane, the fracture was brittle, and if the material breaks with jagged
edges or shear lips, then the fracture was ductile. Usually a material does not break in just one
way or the other, and thus comparing the jagged to flat surface areas of the fracture will give an
estimate of the percentage of ductile and brittle fracture.[1]

Sample sizes
According to ASTM A370, standard specimen for Charpy impact test is 10mm10mm55mm.
Subsize specimen are: 10mm7.5mm55mm , 10mm6.7mm55mm , 10mm5mm55mm ,
10mm5mm55mm , 10mm3.3mm55mm , 10mm2.5mm55mm. Details of specimen as per
ASTM A370 (Standard Test Method and Definitions for Mechanical Testing of Steel Products).

Notes
1. ^ a b c Meyers and Chawla. Mechanical Behaviors of Materials. Prentice Hall, Inc.
(Pearson Education). (1999).
2. ^ Kurishita, H et al. Effects of V-Notch Dimensions on Charpy Impact Test Results for
Differently Sized Miniature Specimens of Ferritic Steel. Materials Transactions, JIM
(Japan). 34, No. 11, 10421052 (1993).
3. ^ Mills, N. J. The mechanism of brittle fracture in notched impact tests on polycarbonate.
J. of Mater. Sci., 11, No. 2, 363375 (1976)
4. ^ Mathurt, KK et al. 3D analysis of failure modes in the Charpy impact test. Modeling
Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng., 2, 617635 (1994).

See also

Izod impact strength test

Ductility
Brittle
Impact force

Size Effects in the Charpy V-Notch Test

Journal

International Journal of Fracture

Publisher

Springer Netherlands

ISSN

0376-9429 (Print) 1573-2673 (Online)

Issue

Volume 116, Number 3 / August, 2002

DOI

10.1023/A:1020112028641

Pages

275-296

Subject Collection

Chemistry and Materials Science

SpringerLink Date

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

A.A. Benzerga1, V. Tvergaard2 and A. Needleman3

Abstract Issues related to the size dependence of the upper shelf energy (USE) and the ductileto-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) in the Charpy V-notch test are investigated. Emphasis is
placed on the interplay between inertial, strain rate hardening, strain hardening, thermal
softening and material length scale effects. Geometrically similar specimens are considered first.
For such specimens, the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature is found to increase with
specimen size, with the amount of the increase depending on the material properties. To model
available experiments, calculations are also carried out for Charpy specimens where only the
ligament size is varied and two classes of pipe steels are considered. For a relatively high
strength pipe steel, the experimental results exhibit no size dependence of the DBTT. On the
other hand, a significant shift in the DBTT is obtained for a low strength steel. The numerical
studies are used to understand the difference between these two classes of steels. The extent to
which the size effect is material dependent is investigated.
Impact loading - high strain-rate - adiabatic heating - ductile-brittle transition