Characterisation of the compaction response of reinforcement fabrics is an important component in the design of composite manufacturing processes. To standardise a best practice method, 22 international organisations participated in an exercise to assess the viability and reproducibility of the method discussed in this work. All participants were supplied with the same multiaxial E-glass fibre non-crimp fabric and instructed to measure the compaction stress as a function of the specimen thickness following a set of guidelines. The scatter in results between participants was quantified in terms of the coefficient of variation (CV). The CV of the maximum compaction stress determined at a target specimen thickness of 3 mm (for 10 fabric layers) was 42 % for dry specimens and 46 % for wet specimens, however this was influenced by scatter in the thickness values, which deviated from the target. The CV of the specimen thickness at a compaction stress of 105 Pa was 4 %. In addition, a power law model and a model based on bending of beams were fitted to the compaction curves. Both generally produced fits with high values of the coefficient of determination. The observed level of scatter is thought to be caused by issues with the implementation of the procedures and by variability in the specimen properties, as well as the very steep variation of the force/thickness curve at the required target. The guidelines used here aim to minimise inaccuracies in the test method and will be proposed as a test protocol for standardisation.

In the collaborative effort towards standardisation of out-of-plane permeability measurement, an international benchmarking exercise was carried out whereby 19 participants worldwide were instructed to measure the out-of-plane permeability following a number of strict guidelines, informed by the outcomes of the first international benchmarking exercise completed in 2021. This paper presents the results of the exercise and an assessment of the reproducibility of the data and the suitability of the proposed test method. The data returned were subjected to a number of statistical analysis methods, which showed that adherence to the test guidelines resulted in a high likelihood of a participant not being an outlier and therefore providing evidence that the test method proposed in this paper is a suitable way forward for a standardised test method.