Round Robin Assessment of the Single Fiber Fragmentation Test

Published

October 21, 2002

Author(s)

M J. Rich, L T. Drzal, Donald L. Hunston, Gale A. Holmes, Walter G. McDonough

Abstract

The Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards (VAMAS) was established following an economic summit meeting in 1982 held at Versailles by the Heads of State of the seven leading industrial nations and representatives from the Commission of the European Communities. The objective of the VAMAS coalition is to promote world trade in high technology areas which includes the assessment and development of test methods for advanced materials. In 1998, Technical Work Area 5, Polymer Composites, established a program to measure the fiber-matrix interfacial behavior with an initial focus on the single fiber fragmentation test (SFFT). The National Institute of Standards and Technology 9NIST), in dialogue with Michigan State University, developed a set of protocols for conducting the single fiber fragmentation test which included coupon size, coupon fabrication, testing parameters, data analysis, etc. Seven laboratories participated in the round robin with each laboratory supplied with 10 coupons to be tested in compliance with the NIST protocols. The results of the round robin found that five of the laboratories produced data that were in close agreement while two of the participating laboratories had results that were 20% variant from the population mean. A review of the coupons returned by the two laboratories with the variant data showed that one laboratory incorrectly measured the critical length and the other laboratory incorrectly measured the fiber diameter. When corrected for these errors, the outlying data are shifted to be in statistical agreement with the population mean. The results of the round robin show that the fragmentation test generates a consistent measurement of the aspect ratio when the test is executed in accordance to test protocols.

Citation

American Society for Composites. Technical Conference

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

composites, fragmentation, interface, round robin, standards, test methods

Citation

Rich, M. , Drzal, L. , Hunston, D. , Holmes, G. and McDonough, W. (2002), Round Robin Assessment of the Single Fiber Fragmentation Test, American Society for Composites. Technical Conference, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860441 (Accessed October 2, 2025)