Standardisation in FormPlanet project
UNE, the Spanish standardisation organisation, is leading the activities related with standards in FormPlanet. UNE’s main objective is to increase the visibility and impact of the project, as well as to contribute to the acceptance and utilisation by the market of the developed solutions. It is also expected that the standardisation activities help ensure the quality and generate confidence among the future users of the FormPlanet Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) services and related metallic products.
Related to these goals, and as a main result of the standardisation activities in FormPlanet, a CEN Workshop (CEN/WS) “Innovative testing in support of the sheet metal forming industry” was launched through a Kick-Off meeting on 02-12-2020 with the participation of 34 attendees from 17 European organisations, including several FormPlanet partners, and representatives from the EC and CEN/CENELEC.
In this meeting, the FormPlanet CEN/WS defined its main objective being this “to develop novel testing methodologies that allow to characterise metal sheet properties and predict part performance, in order to prevent production loses to the sheet forming industries to tackle the upcoming challenges in formability of processing sensitive materials”.
Development of CEN Workshop Agreements (CWAs) as a result of FormPlanet
During this event it was defined the CEN Workshop’s Work programme, corresponding to two CWAs (CEN Workshop agreements), a kind of standardisation document developed under the umbrella of CEN that allows a quick development within the lifetime of the H2020 projects. One CWA, entitled “Determination of fracture toughness in thin metal sheets”, defines a test procedure for the characterisation of the fracture toughness in thin metallic sheets, being this procedure based on the Essential Work of Fracture (EWF) methodology.
The other CWA, entitled “Measurement of diffusible hydrogen in metallic materials – HELIOS 4 HOT PROBE method” specifies a test procedure for the measurement of diffusible hydrogen content in metallic materials by means of the HELIOS 4 HOT PROBE equipment.
Two CEN Workshops Agreements are in development within FormPlanet project to standardise two sheet metal characterisation test procedures
The elaboration of the CWAs follows several stages, through a consensus-based process that always ensures openness, transparency and participation, and that involves all CEN/WS FormPlanet participants in a first step, and all other interested European organisations in a second phase. In this way, since the launching of the FormPlanet CEN/WS, the partners responsible for the CWAs drafting have been working to adapt some of the FormPlanet results into the programmed standardisation documents according the European standardisation common practice and rules.
On March 2021 a first version of the CWAs was circulated to the workshop members. The final documents are at this moment being circulated to the CEN/WS FormPlanet for final approval and to the relevant CEN Technical Committees for information. Once approved, the draft CWAs will be announced and made available in the CEN website for information of any interested European organisation, allowing their consultation and commenting during a period, after which they will be finally published and made freely available in the CEN/CENELEC website.
The European standardisation system supports research and innovation
Standardisation is a highly-valued activity as part of research and innovation projects, acting as an ally that helps to disseminate results to the industry, society and public administrations. It also enables interoperability and compatibility of innovative solutions with existing products, services or processes, and facilitates trade by reducing technical barriers. Standards generate trust, since they ensure that a product, service or system complies with expectations and requirements of the market or public procurement.
In the case of FormPlanet, among all great project results, the consortium will soon count on two of these useful tools, represented by both CWAs. Thanks to these documents, the impact and visibility of the FormPlanet project and its partners will be increased, boosting its knowledge by the market, and at the same time, providing trust to future Test Bed users through the use of standardised test methods during the test bed services implementation.
Javier López-Quiles
Architect and Building Engineer (Technical University of Madrid), Master degree on Engineering applied to Cooperation (Open University of Catalonia). Currently programme manager at the Spanish Association for Standardisation (UNE), where he provides support to national and European technical committees for the development of standards related to construction products, managing several secretariats, and providing expertise to international cooperation projects.
