John S.

Donaldson Technical Institute

THE UNIVERSITY OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO COURSE: MAPR 210D Materials and Processes SEMESTER 3 Lab#3 Charpy Testing INSTRUCTOR: Mr. Asim Abdullah

SUBMITTED BY: Carlin Sylvester

DATE DUE: 27th June, 2011

THEORY
Toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing. 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. Therefore, 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 used throughout 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 since this type of testing is destructive. One noteworthy fact however, is that material toughness requires a balance of both strength and ductility.

OBJECTIVES
Use the mechanical equipment available to observe the experimental results and complete a laboratory report based on the Charpy Impact testing of materials. Describe the principles of the Charpy Impact test and determine material properties.

PRINCIPLE of OPERATION
In this method of testing, a pendulum is allowed to fall from a fixed height and, in so doing develops kinetic energy. Part of this energy is absorbed in fracturing the specimen so that the pendulum rises to a reduced height after it has broken the specimen. The energy absorbed by the specimen is thereby indicated on the machine. Therefore, the higher the energy, the tougher the specimen. The Charpy machine can be loaded quickly, which is an advantage when carrying out a series of tests over a range of temperatures. This avoids changes in the specimen temperature which would otherwise occur as the test is being performed. It should be noted that the Charpy machine uses notched square specimens having precise dimensions. These dimensions are critical, especially at the root of the notch where the stress concentration is created. This type of stress concentration occurs in many poor designs and should be avoided whenever possible.

Diagram of Charpy impact tester and specimen position

EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS
Maximum Impact Energy Drop Angle Pendulum Weight Scale Graduation Striking velocity Pendulum Radius 50 kJ 160 0 6.6 kg 0.5 J 3.9 m/s 400 mm

TEST RESULTS
Sample Mild Steel Aluminium Brass Test Temperature (0C) Measured Toughness (J) Actual Toughness (J) 20 20 20 36 14 8 35.5 13.5 7.5

NOTE: Energy loss due to bearing friction and air resistance = 0.5 J, hence we minus this value

from measured toughness to obtain actual toughness of sample.

CONCLUSIONS
Since the Charpy impact test is a measure of the amount of energy a material can absorb during fracture, from analyzing the data obtained we can clearly see that the mild steel sample proved to be most capable of doing so, absorbing 35.5 J of energy. This was followed by the aluminium sample which absorbed 13.5 J while the least tough material was brass, only capable of withstanding 7.5 J.