Date: February 17, 2018

To: Dr. Terry Xu and Dr. Crikenberger

From: Muayad Alhilal (MEGR 3152 Section L04)

Subject: Charpy Impact Test on Steel and Aluminum

Abstract

The purpose of this lab was to study the ductile-brittle transition and how the materials behave
under different temperatures for both steel and aluminum using Charpy impact test. The materials
were tested under nine different temperatures and three samples of the same material were tested
under each temperature. The test was conducted where the dimensions of the samples were
consistent. Moreover, one goal was to determine the critical temperature in which the ductile-
brittle transition occurred. Small furnace was used to heat the samples while liquid nitrogen and
alcohol were used to cool the samples to the low degrees. A digital laser distance meter was used
to measure the distance from the resting point of the sample to the point where the sample dropped
after the impact if a fracture occurred. All the data was collected to calculate the material impact
toughness vs. temperature. It was observed that the steel tends to have a ductile-brittle transition
between -50C and 50C. As a result, the critical temperature was determined to be 0C. in other
words, the steel has a brittle behavior below this critical temperature while it has a ductile behavior
above it. However, the aluminum tends to have no ductile-brittle transition. In fact, the aluminum
had a higher impact toughness in low temperatures comparing with high temperatures.

Introduction

Impact test is used to study how the materials behave when temperature is varied. It was found
that some of the materials had both ductile and brittle characteristics based on different
temperatures. This phenomenon is called Ductile to Brittle Transition where the material tends to
have different mechanical properties under and above a critical temperature. The phenomenon was
a significant reason of engineering failures in history before material scientists found an
explanation of those failures. A known example is the sinking of the Titanic. The hull of the chip
was constructed using steel. At low temperatures, the steel is transited from ductile to brittle
behavior where a small impact could cause a brittle fracture.1

The principle of Charpy Impact Toughness

The impact toughness is defined as the difference between the direct energy readout from the
charpy test and the kinetic energy 2. The Charpy reads how much energy the sample absorbed
during the fracture. In order to calculate the kinetic energy, the distance between the resting point
and the final point after the impact should be known. A laser distance meter was used to determine
this distance. In addition, the weight of the sample after the fracture was measured after each test.
Also, the height from the ground to the rest point was given and it was constant.
 𝑊𝑑2
𝐾𝐸 = (1)
4ℎ∘

where KE is the kinetic energy in Joule

W is the weight of the sample in Newton and
d is the distance between the resting point and the final point after the impact in meter and
ℎ∘ is the height from the ground to the resting point in meter.

Results and discussion

Figure 1 Charpy impact toughness vs. temperature

Figure 1 shows the impcat toughness vs. temperature for both 1018 steel and 7075-T651
aluminum. It indicates that that there was a transition in toughness for the steel between -50 ℃ and
50 ℃. The material had a ductile behavior above the 0 ℃ while it had brittle behavior below 0 ℃.
As a result, the material was classified having a ductile to brittle transition. This caused by the
crystal structure of the steel which is BCC. The BCC term refers to how the atoms are arranged in
a cubic. Figure 2 illustrates the body-centered cubic crystal structure.

Figure 2 body-centered cubic crystal structure 3

The ductile to brittle transition was found more on BCC and HCP crystal structures. These
materials like the steel have a higher stress required to move the dislocation and the stress required
is temperature dependent. In other words, the BCC and HCP materials have different properties
between high and low temperatures. Brittleness occurs at low temperatures while ductility occurs
at high temperatures. 4

2
However, the graph in figure 1 indicates that the aluminum had no ductile to brittle transition. The
graph shows that the impact toughness is relatively high in low temperatures. Also, the aluminum
remained ductile when the temperature varied between low and high temperatures. The aluminum
is classified as FCC crystal structure. Figure 3 shows how the atoms are arranged in face-centered
cubic structure.

Figure 3 face-centered cubic crystal structure 3

In general, the stress that is required to move the dislocation is not temperature dependent in the
FCC crystal structure. As a result, the material remains ductile even when the temperature varies
and that matches the results was observed on the aluminum. 4

The test was not excluded from error. The kinetic energy term has possible human errors when the
distance was determined. The pendulum when strikes the sample, the sample breaks into two parts
in seconds. It was hard to watch these parts where it first hit the ground. In addition, the real
temperatures vary from the targeted temperatures due to the time required to insert the sample. In
this time, the temperature tends to reach the room temperature. However, the error was calculated
based on the standard deviation for both impact toughness and temperature.

Conclusion
In summary, the experiment was conducted successfully. The charpy impact test was able to test
the mechanical performance of the materials under different temperatures. The ductile to brittle
transition does not occur on all materials. Instead, it occurs in some materials that they share the
same crystal structure like the BCC. The crystal structure of the material plays a significant role
on the mechanical performances and properties for the materials. A scientific explanation of the
ductile to brittle transition was obtained. A transition temperature for the 1018 steel was
determined to be 0℃ while the 7075-T651 aluminum was found that has no ductile to brittle
transition.

3
References
1- UNSW Sydney. n.d. “2: Ductile to Brittle Transition | School of Materials Science and
Engineering.” Accessed February 16, 2017.
http://www.materials.unsw.edu.au/tutorials/online-tutorials/2ductile-brittle-transition.
2- Terry Xu, Garry Hodgins and Xiaoxue Chen. 2018. “Lab 2: Charpy Impact Tests of
Metals.” Accessed February 16, 2017.
https://uncc.instructure.com/courses/77275/files/3266793?module_item_id=1215412.
3- Callister, William D., and David G. Rethwisch. Fundamentals of materials science and
engineering: an integrated approach. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015.
4- Jordan, Jeremy. "Ductile to brittle transitions in materials." Jeremy's Blog. November 11,
2016. Accessed February 16, 2018.
https://www.jeremyjordan.me/ductile-to-brittle-transitions-in-materials/