Plastic Impact Testing Equipment

  1. Home
  2. Plastic Testing Equipment
  3. Plastic Impact Testing Equipment
Plastic Impact Testing Equipment
Request Quote Get Catalogue

Plastics absorb an impact very differently from metals, and the energies are small enough that the notch and the conditioning of the specimen dominate the result. NextGen supplies pendulum, falling weight and notching equipment for polymer specimens, working to ISO 179 for Charpy, ISO 180 for Izod and ASTM D2444 for falling weight tests on pipes and fittings.

The pendulum tester covers the low energy range polymers call for, with interchangeable hammers for Charpy and Izod on one frame. The falling weight tester drops interchangeable weights and strikers onto pipes, fittings and boards, and a motorised notching machine cuts several specimens at a time to the profile the method specifies. Equipment is installed and verified on site, your team is trained on the notch and the conditioning, and support continues for its life.

Read More...

What Plastic Impact Testing Measures

An impact test breaks a specimen with one swing or one drop and records the energy it absorbs. For plastics the energies are small, so the pendulum has to suit the material, and the result depends heavily on how the specimen was notched and conditioned. In a Charpy test the specimen rests on two supports across a set span. In an Izod test it is clamped in a vise and struck above the clamp. In a tensile impact test it is clamped between the pendulum head and a crosshead and pulled apart, which is how film and sheet are tested.

Falling weight tests suit pipes, fittings and boards. A hammer of selected mass is released from a set height onto the specimen, which is then examined for rupture. These tests deliver more energy than a plastics pendulum, up to 300 J on the NG-ImpactFall against 50 J on the Class J, and they are used on finished products.

Standards for Plastic Impact Testing

ISO 179 covers Charpy and ISO 180 covers Izod, while the North American methods are ASTM D6110 for Charpy and ASTM D256 for Izod. Tensile impact is covered by ISO 8256 and ASTM D1822, and Charpy tests on plastic pipe by ISO 9854-1. For falling weight tests on pipes, ISO 3127 and ASTM D2444 set the hammer, the striker and the drop height.

The methods differ in more than name. For Charpy on plastics, ISO 179 uses an 80 x 10 x 4 mm bar and a 40, 60 or 70 mm span, while ASTM D6110 uses a 127 x 12.7 mm bar and a 95.3 mm span. The striking velocity differs too, so the standard is reported with every result.

What Affects Plastic Impact Results

The notch comes first. It decides where the specimen breaks, so its angle and its root radius are set by the method, and consistent notching is what makes results repeatable. Temperature and conditioning come next, because impact results are sensitive to both. Pendulum choice matters as well: each standard has its own pendulum set, the ranges overlap, and carrying more than five pendulums on one machine complicates calibration.

Plastic Impact Testing Equipment from NextGen

The Class J pendulum tester covers Charpy from 1 J to 50 J, Izod from 1 J to 22 J and tensile impact from 7.5 J to 25 J on one frame. A shaftless encoder with an angle resolution of 0.045 degrees keeps friction losses low. The GenNotch 3000 notches 20 specimens in a setup, with A, B and C knives for the root radius the standard calls for. The NG-ImpactFall falling weight tester delivers up to 300 J onto pipes, fittings and boards.

For Laboratories

One partner to equip your complete plastics laboratory

Impact testing is one station of a plastics laboratory. NextGen equips the rest of it too, from tensile and flexural testing to melt flow, HDT and Vicat systems, and stays responsible for it after delivery.

  • Equipment, fixtures and software
  • Installation, training, calibration
  • Lifetime technical support

Build My Plastics Lab

Products

3 products

Nothing matches that filter. Show all products

FAQs

Follow the method your specification names. Charpy rests the specimen on supports and is covered by ISO 179 and ASTM D6110. Izod clamps the specimen in a vise and is covered by ISO 180 and ASTM D256. On the Class J, switching tests means changing the pendulum and its fixtures, not the frame.

Each standard has its own pendulum set on the Class J. Charpy pendulums for ISO 179 run at 1, 2, 4, 7.5, 15, 25 and 50 J, and Izod pendulums for ISO 180 run from 2.75 to 22 J. The ranges overlap, so one energy can often be reached from two pendulums, and one machine should carry fewer than five pendulums because more of them complicate calibration.

The GenNotch 3000 cuts the notch for ISO 179 and ISO 180 specimens at a 45 degree angle. The A knife supplied as standard has a 0.25 mm root radius, and the optional B and C knives have 1.0 mm and 0.1 mm. It holds 20 specimens in a setup and notches 60 in ten minutes.

The NG-ImpactFall drops a hammer onto plastic pipes, fittings and boards, and the specimen is then examined for rupture. It is built to ISO 3127, ISO 4422 and ASTM D2444, with up to 300 J of energy, hammers from 0.5 to 16 kg and drop heights up to 3,000 mm, depending on the configuration. The ISO 3127 and ASTM D2444 versions use different strikers.

Yes, with a tensile impact pendulum. The specimen is clamped between the pendulum head and a crosshead, and the Class J covers this with 7.5, 15 and 25 J pendulums for ISO 8256 and ASTM D1822. That brings film and sheet within reach of the frame that also runs Charpy and Izod.

Impact results are sensitive to specimen preparation and temperature, so the notch and the conditioning matter as much as the machine. The standard also fixes the striking velocity, the span and the specimen: for Charpy, ISO 179 uses an 80 x 10 x 4 mm bar and ASTM D6110 a 127 x 12.7 mm bar. Results from the two methods are therefore reported separately.