The Charpy impact test is rapidly being upgraded to include instrumentation for revealing the load history of the specimen while it is being fractured in three-point bending. Unfortunately, similar interest in upgrading the Izod test (cantilever bending) has been notably lacking. The first part of this paper discusses the results of a recent study of techniques for instrumenting the Izod test. Results from both standard and nonstandard Izod specimen tests are compared with similar results from instrumented Charpy tests. Also included are the results of instrumented Izod tests of tubular specimens of aluminum, steel, and composite materials.

Instrumented low-blow testing and three-point bend testing of ring-shaped specimens are typical variations of the instrumented Charpy impact test. These two test techniques are also discussed in this paper. There is hope that these and other variations in test techniques will lead to new inexpensive methods of evaluating material and small structure behavior under adverse loading conditions.