The First European Benchmark Exercise on Squeeze Flow Testing of High-Performance C-SMCs: Review

Squeeze-flow testing is a commonly used experimental method for characterising the flow behaviour of high-performance C-SMCs under typical compression moulding conditions. A European benchmark exercise involving 14 research institutes is currently being conducted to identify the sources of variability in squeeze flow testing results and to support the development of a standardised testing methodology. Experimental testing of five C-SMC materials has been completed using a well-defined testing procedure.This paper focuses on the data processing stage of the benchmark exercise, in which experimental data collected from all participants are processed and analysed to extract information on raw material variability, force–gap height relationships, and flow-front profiles. Qualitative assessment of these results is used to identify the critical sources of variability, which subsequently informs a more detailed statistical analysis.