The R&D project FormPlanet, part of Horizon 2020, has led to the publication of two new European CEN Workshop Agreements (CWA) on novel testing methodologies to characterize metal sheet. FormPlanet is a consortium consisting of research centres, universities, testing laboratories, industrial production companies and users of metal sheets. It is coordinated by Eurecat, and the Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, is the member in charge of the standardization tasks.
This R&D&i project was launched in 2019 to develop and demonstrate an integrated ecosystem offering novel testing methodologies and a test bed service provision to characterise metal sheet properties, predict part performance and prevent production loses to the sheet forming industries to tackle the upcoming challenges in formability of processing sensitive materials.
After the approval by the consortium of the CEN European regulatory documents, in December 2020 the inauguration meeting the CEN Workshop FormPlanet was held, with the aim of publishing two CWAs and thus facilitate the dissemination of the achievements and results of the FormPlanet project, in addition to supporting the future implementation of the test bed service. After eight months of work by CEN Workshop members, the CWAs were published and offered free of charge to the public on the CEN-CENELEC website, where they can be downloaded.
CWA 17793:2021 "Test method for determination of the essential work of fracture of thin ductile metallic sheets" describes the procedure for the evaluation of the plane stress fracture toughness of thin ductile metallic sheets by means of the EWF methodology. The document provides the guidelines for specimen preparation, testing and data processing.
CWA 17794:2021 "Measurement of diffusible hydrogen in metallic materials – HELIOS 4 HOT PROBE method” provides a set of guidelines for the measurement of diffusible hydrogen content in steel sheets that can be susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement phenomenon, during the production of steel and the sheets and during the life term of the components.
These CWA constitute a successful collaboration between various European organisations, which have been able to join efforts to achieve a common objective, and to respond to the challenges posed by the development and processing of new sensitive metal materials in sectors such as the car, household appliances, construction or packaging.
Standardisation also demonstrates its usefulness as a tool at the service of research and industry, facilitating both agreements between the organisations concerned, and the industry's acceptance of the results of innovation projects and the provision of quality services in future test beds.
