The present work intends to point out some of the advantages of using instrumented impact testing over conventional non-instrumented methods in the failure analysis of plastics. In this method, force-displacement diagrams are obtained in "real-time" and used to calculate partial energies of initiation and complete fracture of the specimens. The diagrams yield important information on fracture mechanisms and main characteristics of the failure process. Variations of impact energy with temperature can be used in the determination of brittle-ductile transitions or alternatively for evaluation of material susceptibility to stress concentrations, i.e. depth and crack tip radii. The load and energy diagrams were used to illustrate the calculation of the brittle-ductile transition temperature of an acrilonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer by the new method. Analysis of the specimens fractured surfaces by scanning electron microscopy, allowed important correlations between the mode of failure and the main features observed on the load and energy diagrams.
Toughness; instrumented impact test; brittle-ductile transitions; fracture; scanning electron microscopy; ABS
