Impact characterization of sub-size Charpy V-notch specimens prepared from full-size certified reference Charpy V-notch test pieces

To investigate the feasibility of the production of sub-size Charpy reference test pieces, tests were performed on sub-size samples (3 × 4 × 27 mm³) carefully machined from full-size (10 × 10 × 55 mm³) Charpy V-notch certified reference test pieces. The measured absorbed energy (KV) values indicate a highly satisfactory homogeneity of the sub-size specimens. Sub-size specimens were prepared from full-size reference test pieces of 30, 60, 80, 120, and 150 J nominal absorbed energy; and values between 2 J and 7.2 J were obtained, covering almost fully the range of interest for sub-size Charpy tests. A linear relationship is observed between the KV values of sub-size and full-size samples of the same material.