Impact strength / Impact resistance

High strength means great resistance to plastic deformation. High toughness means great resistance to crack growth and fracture because the material is deformable.

Impact toughness is determined in the notched bar impact test and provides information on how resistant a material is to an impact load. It tells how well a material can withstand a blow or impact without breaking. The impact strength is given in J/cm².

Impact strength is usually measured by various tests that simulate a material's ability to withstand a sudden blow. For example, a common test is the Charpy V test, in which a specially shaped impactor is dropped onto a sample of the material being tested. Impact strength is then measured by the energy required to break or indent the sample.