Although good progress was made by two international benchmark exercises on in-plane permeability, existing methods have not yet been standardized. This paper presents the results of a third benchmark exercise using in-plane permeability measurement, based on systems applying the radial unsaturated injection method. 19 participants using 20 systems characterized a non-crimp and a woven fabric at three different fiber volume contents, using a commercially available silicone oil as impregnating fluid. They followed a detailed characterization procedure and also completed a questionnaire on their setup and analysis methods. Excluding outliers (2 of 20), the average coefficient of variation (c v) between the participant's results was 32% and 44% (non-crimp and woven fabric), while the average c v for individual participants was 8% and 12%, respectively. This indicates statistically significant variations between the measurement systems. Cavity deformation was identified as a major influence, besides fluid pressure/viscosity measurement, textile variations, and data analysis.

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This paper reports the results of an international benchmark exercise on the measurement of fibre bed compaction behaviour. The aim was to identify aspects of the test method critical to obtain reliable results and to arrive at a recommended test procedure for fibre bed compaction measurements. A glass fibre 2/2 twill weave and a biaxial (±45°) glass fibre non-crimp fabric (NCF) were tested in dry and wet conditions.All participants used the same testing procedure but were allowed to use the testing frame, the fixture and sample geometry of their choice. The results showed a large scatter in the maximum compaction stress between participants at the given target thickness, with coefficients of variation ranging from 38 % to 58 %. Statistical analysis of data indicated that wetting of the specimen significantly affected the scatter in results for the woven fabric, but not for the NCF. This is related to the fibre mobility in the architectures in both fabrics. As isolating the effect of other test parameters on the results was not possible, no statistically significant effect of other test parameters could be proven. The high sensitivity of the recorded compaction pressure near the minimum specimen thickness to changes in specimen thickness suggests that small uncertainties in thickness can result in large variations in the maximum value of the compaction stress.Hence, it is suspected that the thickness measurement technique used may have an effect on the scatter.

Three measurement techniques used to measure the glass transition temperature (T g) have been subjected to a critical comparison; dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), thermomechanical analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. A new procedure, whereby different specimens are tested over a range of heating rates, has been used in order to eliminate the effects of thermal lag and determine a T g independent of heating rate (T g(0)). It has been shown that for measurements of T g(0) for composites, the DMA thermal lag "corrected" method gave the most reliable data. The work has provided additional guidance on these techniques that could usefully be incorporated in future standards, to improve precision, comparisons, and consistency of T g measurement.