SOA and use of System Requirements Design - SRD: An Era of SOA 3.0

An apparatus and method for impact response testing of materials such as magnetic discs of a disc drive. The apparatus of the present invention supports a target disc in cooperative relationship with a sub-millimeter impact test ball such that the test ball can be dropped on selected portions of the target disc from selected heights above the target disc. The apparatus permits the method of observing the characteristics of a detent made in the target disc, by use of a high resolution surface profiler, and interpolating the observed characteristics to analytical standards which, for a given test ball size and drop height, indicate the dynamic hardness of the target disc at that test location. A vacuum is used to support the test ball above the disc, and a vacuum release valve is provided to negate the vacuum and release the test ball.