Abstract: Percussive drilling shows excellent potential for promoting the rate of penetration (ROP) in drilling hard formations. Polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits account for most of the footage drilled in the oil and gas fields. To reveal the rock failure mechanisms under the impact load by PDC bits, a series of drop tests with a single PDC cutter were conducted to four kinds of rocks at different back rake angles, drop heights, drop mass, and drop times. Then the morphology characteristics of the craters were obtained and quantified by using a three-dimensional profilometer. The fracture micrographs can be observed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The distribution and propagation process of subsurface cracks were captured in rock-like silica glass by a high-speed photography system. The results can indicate that percussive drilling has a higher efficiency and ROP when the rock fractures in brittle mode. The failure mode of rock is related with the type of rock, the impact speed, and the back rake angle of the cutter. Both the penetration depth and fragmentation volume get the maximum values at a back rake angle of about 45°. Increasing the weight and speed of falling hammer is beneficial to improving the rock breaking effects and efficiency. The subsurface cracks under the impact load by a single PDC cutter is shaped like a clamshell, and its size is much larger than the crater volume. These findings can help to shed light on the rock failure mechanisms under the impact of load by a single PDC cutter and provide a theoretical explanation for better field application of percussive drilling.