Impacted Notch Bend Specimens

The proposed test procedure for instrumented impact testings is evaluated by the experimental and numerical dynamic fracture results obtained for Homalite-100, polycarbonate, A533B steel and 6061 aluminum notched bend specimens. As expected, brittle fracture of the polymeric, steel and aluminum impacted notch bend specimens considered in this paper cannot be predicted by the static stress intensity factors at the instant of crack propagation. The fracture energy was only a fraction of the total energy and was equally unsuitable for dynamic fracture characterization of these specimens. This evaluation suggests that despite the enormous correlation studies which justify the use of static analysis for specific specimens under specified loading conditions, the proposed procedure should not be used to evaluate fracture data of impacted notch bend specimens of other configurations and loading rates.