thehistoryandimportanceofimpacttesting.docVIP

The History and Importance of Impact Testing* T. A. Siewert,1 M. P. Manahan,2 C. N. McCowan,3 J. M. Holt,4 F. J. Marsh,5 and E. A. Ruth6 Reference: Siewert, T. A., Manahan, M. P., McCowan, C. N., Holt, J. M., Marsh, F. J. and Ruth, E. A., The History and Importance of Impact Testing, Pendulum Impact Testing: A Century of Progress, ASTM STP 1380, T. A. Siewert and M. P. Manahan, Sr., Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA, 1999. Abstract: Charpy impact testing is a low-cost and reliable test method that is commonly required by the construction codes for fracture-critical structures such as bridges and pressure vessels. Yet, it took from about 1900 to 1960 for impact-test technology and procedures to reach levels of accuracy and reproducibility such that the procedures could be broadly applied as standard test methods. This paper recounts the early history of the impact test and reports some of the improvements in the procedures (standard specimen shape, introduction of a notch, correlation to structural performance in service, and introduction of shrouds) that led to this broad acceptance. Keywords: absorbed energy, Charpy impact testing, history, impact testing, pendulum impact 1 Supervisory Metallurgist, Materials Reliability Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80303. 2 President, MPM Technologies, Inc., 2161 Sandy Drive, State College, PA 16803. 3 Materials Research Engr., Materials Reliability Division, NIST, Boulder, CO 80303. 4 Alpha Consultants Engineers, Pittsburgh, PA. 5 Retired (Bethlehem Steel), San Marcos, CA. 6 Tinius Olsen Test Machine Co., Willow Grove, PA. * Contribution of NIST; not subject to copyright. Further details on the economic impact of Charpy impact testing are included in a previous version of this report published in Standardization News, February 1999. The History and Importance of Impact Testing Without uniformity of test results from day