EN ISO 6603-1:2000

Foreword
1 Scope
2 Normative references
3 Terms and definitions
4 Principle
5 Apparatus
6 Test specimens
7 Procedure
8 Precision
9 Test report
Annex A (informative) Examples of calculations
Annex ZA (normative) Normative references to international
         publications with their relevant European
         publications

This International Standard specifies methods for the determination of puncture-impact properties of rigid plastics inthe form of flat test specimens, such as discs or square pieces, under defined conditions. Specimens may bemoulded directly, cut from sheets or taken from finished products. Different types of test specimens and testconditions are defined.These falling-dart methods are used to investigate the behaviour of plastic sheeting or mouldings under the impactof a striker applied perpendicular to the plane of the specimen.This part of ISO 6603 can be used if it is sufficient to characterize the impact behaviour of plastics by a thresholdvalue of impact-failure energy based on many test specimens. ISO 6603-2 is used if a force-deflection or force-timediagram, recorded at nominally constant striker velocity, is necessary for detailed characterization of the impactbehaviour.These test methods are applicable to specimens with a thickness between 1 mm and 4 mm.NOTE For thicknesses less than 1 mm, ISO 7765 should preferably be used. Thicknesses greater than 4 mm may betested if the equipment is suitable, but the test falls outside the scope of ISO 6603-1 and ISO 6603-2.These methods are suitable for use with the following types of material:_ rigid thermoplastic moulding and extrusion materials, including filled, unfilled and reinforced compounds andsheets;_ rigid thermosetting moulding and extrusion materials, including filled and reinforced compounds, sheets andlaminates;_ fibre-reinforced thermoset and thermoplastic composites incorporating unidirectional or non-unidirectionalreinforcements such as mats, woven fabrics, woven rovings, chopped strands, combination and hybridreinforcements, rovings, milled fibres and sheets made from pre-impregnated materials (prepregs).These methods are also applicable to specimens which are either moulded or machined from finished products,laminates and extruded or cast sheet.The test results are comparable only if the conditions of preparation of the specimens, their dimensions andsurfaces as well as the test conditions are the same. In particular, results determined on specimens of differentthickness cannot be compared with one another (see annex E of ISO 6603-2:—). Comprehensive evaluation of thereaction to impact stress requires that determinations be made as a function of impact velocity and temperature fordifferent material variables, such as crystallinity and moisture content.The impact behaviour of finished products cannot be predicted directly from this test, but specimens may be takenfrom finished products (see above) for test by these methods.Test data developed by these methods should not be used for design calculations. However, information on thetypical behaviour of the material can be obtained by testing at different temperatures and impact velocities (seeannex D of ISO 6603-2:—), by varying the thickness (see annex E of ISO 6603-2:—) and by testing specimensprepared under different conditions.Two statistical methods of test are described in this part of ISO 6603:_ Method A: staircase method (individual) (preferred)In this method, a uniform energy increment is employed during testing. The energy is decreased or increasedby the uniform increment after testing each specimen, depending upon the observed result (pass or fail) for thepreceding test._ Method B: group method (optional)In this method, successive groups of at least ten test specimens are t