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Leaving Cert Engineering: Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep

How often Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep comes up on the Engineering papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 9 of the last 9 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

June 2028 is the first exam on the new Engineering course. These come from the 2016–2025 papers, so read them as a guide.

Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep.

(a)Indenter used in the Brinell hardness test?
  1. Square-based diamond pyramid (136°)
  2. Hardened steel or tungsten carbide ball
  3. Round-tipped diamond cone (120°)
(b)Main cause of fatigue failure?
  1. Constant load at high temperature
  2. A single overload above the UTS
  3. Repeated cyclic stress below the UTS
(c)Indenter used in the Vickers hardness test?
  1. Square-based diamond pyramid (136°)
  2. Round-tipped diamond cone (120°) indenter
  3. Hardened steel ball (10 mm)
Show the answers

(a) Hardened steel or tungsten carbide ball

(b) Repeated cyclic stress below the UTS

(c) Square-based diamond pyramid (136°)

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep.

Higher Level

Asked on 9 of the last 9 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q3
2024Q1(j), Q3
2023Q1(l), Q3
2022Q3
2021Q3
2019Q2
2018Q1(g), Q1(i)
2017Q1(j), Q2
2016Q2

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep questions

Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep, 3 marks

A steel absorbs far less energy in a Charpy test at -40 °C than at 20 °C. This shows?

  1. Creep at low temperature
  2. Work hardening in the cold
  3. A ductile-to-brittle transition
Show the answer

A ductile-to-brittle transition

Many steels (BCC) turn brittle below a transition temperature. This caused brittle failures of ships in cold seas, so impact tests are done at service temperatures.

Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep, 3 marks

After the initial strain, the three stages of a creep curve are?

  1. Nucleation, growth (steady) and necking
  2. Primary, secondary (steady) and tertiary
  3. Elastic, plastic (yield) and final fracture
Show the answer

Primary, secondary (steady) and tertiary

Primary creep slows down; secondary creep runs at a steady minimum rate; tertiary creep speeds up as necking and voids lead to rupture.

Hardness, impact, fatigue & creep, 3 marks

The Shore scleroscope measures hardness by?

  1. The rebound height of a diamond-tipped hammer
  2. The depth of a dent made by a round-tipped diamond cone
  3. The diagonal of a dent made by a pyramid
Show the answer

The rebound height of a diamond-tipped hammer

A small hammer drops onto the surface. The harder the material, the higher it bounces. It is portable and leaves almost no mark, so suits large finished parts.

Other Engineering topics

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