IK Rating is representative of the protection provided by the enclosures of electrical systems against mechanical impacts in accordance with IEC 62262:2002 and IEC 60068-2-75:1997. It is on a scale of 0 – 10, with 10 representing the largest rated protection against actions such as dropping tools onto the enclosure, dropping the enclosure and hitting the enclosure. The table below outlines the qualities of each degree of protection.
| IK Rating | Degree of protection |
| IK00 | No protection |
| IK01 | Protected against 0.14 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 0.25 kg mass dropped from 56 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK02 | Protected against 0.2 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 0.25 kg mass dropped from 80 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK03 | Protected against 0.35 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 0.25 kg mass dropped from 140 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK04 | Protected against 0.5 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 0.25 kg mass dropped from 200 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK05 | Protected against 0.7 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 0.25 kg mass dropped from 280 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK06 | Protected against 1 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 0.25 kg mass dropped from 400 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK07 | Protected against 2 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 0.5 kg mass dropped from 400 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK08 | Protected against 5 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 1.7 kg mass dropped from 300 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK09 | Protected against 10 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 5 kg mass dropped from 200 mm above impacted surface. |
| IK10 | Protected against 20 joules impact. Equivalent to impact of 5 kg mass dropped from 400 mm above impacted surface. |
If you wish to calculate kinetic energy of other masses, the kinetic energy of a dropped object is:
Ek = m∆yg
Where:
- Ek = kinetic energy measured in joules
- m = mass in kilograms
- ∆y = distance above the ground the object is dropped measured in metres
- g = acceleration due to gravity measured in ms-2. In the above chart it is assumed to be 10ms-2 but it is more accurate to use 9.8ms-2