Drop Weight Impact Testers

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Drop Weight Impact Testers
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A drop weight impact tester lifts a hammer of known mass to a set height and lets it fall onto a specimen, so the impact energy is set by the mass and the height rather than read from a swing. The method suits tests that a small notched bar cannot represent: the nil-ductility transition of thick ferritic steel plate, finished conduit and enclosures, composite laminates, rigid sheet and assembled components. Steel plate is tested to ASTM E208, which determines the nil-ductility transition temperature, while electrical products follow UL safety standards that fix the hammer, anvil and drop height for each product.

NextGen drop weight testers are PLC-controlled, with motorized lifting, automatic release and a safety enclosure around the impact zone. Software calculates the energy from the hammer mass and the drop height, and on the DWT-1800 a device that prevents a second strike keeps the specimen to a single impact. The range runs from a heavy industrial frame with energies up to 1800 J to vertical low-capacity systems up to 2000 J that can be fitted with instrumentation and temperature conditioning. Foundation, power and compressed-air requirements are confirmed before delivery. Machines are installed on site, operators are trained, and support continues for the life of the equipment.

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What Drop Weight Testing Measures

In a drop weight test the operator chooses a hammer, sets the drop height or the target energy, and the machine delivers a controlled single impact. The result may be a pass or fail at a given energy, a damage assessment, or a temperature. For ferritic steel the goal is the nil-ductility transition temperature, found by repeating the test at stepped temperatures rather than at one point. For plastics, composites and components the test compares impact resistance, energy absorption and damage tolerance across materials and production batches, and simulates drops, collisions and repeated impacts.

Standards for Drop Weight Testing

ASTM E208 covers the drop-weight test for the nil-ductility transition temperature of ferritic steels in a defined thickness range. The DWT-1800 also runs impact tests to UL standards for conduit, tubing, enclosures and cable, including UL 651, UL 1, UL 360 and UL 1569, using the hammer and anvil set each standard calls for. The NG-FWT series can be configured for methods such as ISO 6603-2, ASTM D3763, ASTM D7136 and ASTM D2444. The current edition of each standard governs the test.

What Affects Drop Weight Results

Hammer mass and shape, the anvil, the accuracy of the drop height and the alignment of the specimen under the hammer decide what energy is delivered. The rebound has to be caught so the specimen is struck only once, and specimens tested at low temperature need controlled cooling times; the NG-FWT software includes programmable cooling cycles aligned with EN ISO 148-1 and ASTM E23. On the DWT-1800 a pull-wire encoder measures the drop height with a precision of 0.5 percent, and the NG-FWT systems position to within 0.5 mm. NG-FWT weights can be certified by an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory.

Drop Weight Testers from NextGen

The DWT-1800 delivers up to 1800 J and tests as low as 3.72 J, with a hammer lifting height of 100 to 3350 mm, WinImpact software and hammer sets for UL tests. The NG-FWT1 and NG-FWT2 systems cover energies from 0.3 J up to the 2000 J class across six models, with touchscreen control, optional 4 MHz force measurement, optional cooling to -90°C and optional robotic operation. Read more in the DWT-1800 review and the NG-FWT article.

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Impact testing is one station of a metals quality control laboratory. NextGen equips the rest of it too, from notching and specimen preparation to tensile testing, hardness and metallography, and stays responsible for it after delivery.

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FAQs

A pendulum swings from a fixed height and measures the energy a notched bar absorbs. A drop weight tester sets the energy itself: you enter the hammer mass and either the drop height or the target energy, and the software calculates the other value. That makes it suited to plate, pipe, conduit, composites and components. Request a quote to match a machine to your test.

Yes. The DWT-1800 is commonly used to assess the nil-ductility transition (NDT) temperature of ferritic steel plates, profiles, forged steel and cast components. ASTM E208 defines the method, which is run as a series of tests at stepped temperatures, so the specimens must be conditioned to each temperature before the drop.

With the matching hammers and anvils, the DWT-1800 performs impact tests for UL 651, UL 1, UL 360, UL 1660, UL 797, UL 6, UL 1242, UL 1569, UL 514C, UL 514D and UL 2239. Each standard sets the hammer, anvil, drop height and specimen conditioning, for example UL 651 for rigid PVC conduit.

The NG-FWT systems deliver controlled drop weight impacts up to 2000 J on plastics, rigid sheet, composite laminates, structural metals and finished parts. Options include instrumented force measurement at up to 4 MHz, cooling down to -90°C, a temperature chamber or furnace, and robotic operation. Tell us the energy range and specimen type for a recommended configuration.

The customer prepares a concrete foundation for the main unit and the winch to the foundation drawing, a 3-phase, 220 V, 60 Hz supply rated for 16 A, a compressed-air supply, a hoist for the 2,000 kg main unit and a room at least 6,000 mm high. The site should be free of vibration and dust, at 15 to 25°C and below 70 percent humidity.