Designing for Toughness: How to Specify & Achieve the Right IK Rating

It's episode 300! Host Adrian and Sofeast head of NPD Paul Adams dig into IK ratings, what they measure (impact energy in joules), why they matter for real-world product abuse (drops, kicks, tool strikes), and how to connect use-case, environment, materials, and system-level design choices (wall thickness, ribs, radii, gate location) to hit targets like IK06–IK10. You’ll hear practical examples (from light switches to job-site drills), polymer options (PP, HIPS, ABS, PC/ABS blends), and environment trade-offs (temperature, UV, chemicals, cost) so your spec says more than “make it rugged.”   Episode Sections: 00:12 – Introduction: designing for toughness via IK rating 01:58 – IK vs IP: ingress ≠ impact toughness 05:16 – What is IK? Impact energy (J); Izod/Charpy context 08:33 – IK scale overview: IK00 → IK10 (~20 J) 09:18 – Start with real-world use before materials 10:15 – Low-impact examples (e.g., light switches) 11:56 – Mid-impact examples (bench drops, tools falling) 12:50 – High-impact / IK10: sledgehammer territory 14:02 – Specify toughness explicitly: choose an IK level 17:02 – Mapping joules to IK (≈0.35 J to 20 J) 19:34 – Materials at IK06 (~1 J): PP, HIPS, ABS, PA 21:47 – Materials at IK09 (~10 J): high-impact ABS, PC/ABS, modified PA 25:51 – Designing for IK: thickness, ribs, radii 27:18 – Molding realities: gate location, weld lines 29:26 – Environment trade-offs: temperature, UV, chemicals, cost 33:14 – Same IK, different designs: oil vs building site 35:16 – Key takeaway: IK is a system rating 35:40 – Wrapping up   Related content... Power Tool Plastics (ABS vs PC/ABS vs PA66-GF) Plastic Enclosures for Electronics Projects (Plastics Sourcing Guide) What type of reliability testing is helpful pre-production? How Many Samples To Test for Reliability & Compliance Do You Need a Customized Reliability Test Plan? Drop Testing: 3 Tests That Can Save You Money How Reliability Testing Is Critical To Obtaining Great Mass-Produced Products Test To Failure: Why You Need This Reliability Test How Many Prototype Iterations & Tests Do We Need? Get in touch with us Connect with us on LinkedIn Contact us via Sofeast's contact page Subscribe to our YouTube channel Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB