Mechanical Impact Testing.

Overview

Mechanical impact testing verifies that an enclosure or product withstands the knocks, blows and shocks it will meet in handling, transport and use without exposing hazardous parts or losing function. The result is often expressed as an IK rating, the impact-resistance counterpart to the IP rating.

Whether a product is hit by a tool, dropped, or struck in normal service, its housing must protect what is inside. Mechanical impact testing reproduces these impacts with defined energy in a controlled, repeatable way so a product's robustness can be rated and certified.

What Mechanical Impact Testing Covers

The checks deliver a controlled mechanical energy to the product and assess the result:

• Impact resistance — a hammer delivers a defined energy to the enclosure (the IK rating, expressed in joules), and the surface and guards are examined to confirm hazardous parts stay protected.
• Mechanical shock and bump — single or repeated shocks reproduce the forces of transport and rough handling.
• Integrity after impact — the enclosure is rechecked to confirm it still protects against access and ingress and that the product remains safe to use.

Related Standards

Impact resistance is rated using the IK code defined in IEC 62262, while the mechanical shock and bump methods follow the IEC 60068-2 environmental-test series. The equipment is configured to the energy level and the standard the product is being assessed to.

Equipment & Configuration

Testing uses impact apparatus matched to the energy and the standard:

• Impact hammers — pendulum, spring-operated and vertical drop-hammer rigs that deliver a precise, repeatable energy to the test point.
• Shock and bump rigs — for the mechanical shock and bump sequences of the environmental-test methods.

ULMEKA Mechanical Impact Testing Equipment

ULMEKA Mechatronics designs and manufactures impact test apparatus — pendulum, spring and drop-hammer rigs and shock fixtures — configured to the energy level and standard each customer needs. The equipment below covers this category; for a specific testing need, the requirements are confirmed at the proposal stage.