Harmonised standards for mechanical testing of composites

The long awaited harmonisation of international standards for composite materials is being achieved. Six new EN ISO Standards (EN ISO 527-4; 527-5; 14 125; 14 126; 14 129; and 14 130) have been extensively harmonised with equivalent ASTM standards for mechanical properties. In the drafting of these standards, a common format was adopted to aid understanding and by using a common procedure for, for example, end tabbing, data quality can be improved and costs reduced. Considerable savings can be achieved by the use of a single evaluation based on international test methods, compared with undertaking 10 similar evaluations. In addition, the data are available earlier and to a wider audience. For European countries these standards are particularly important as they will replace equivalent national standards. However, for all users the cost savings, improved databases, and earlier availability of data will have significant commercial and technical benefits. Future refinements to the harmonised test standards can be referenced against the new standards. Further methods arc in progress to provide improved databases.