EN 2562:1997

Overview

EN 2562:1997 (Aerospace series) specifies a standardized method for determining the flexural strength and flexural modulus of carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) in the form of unidirectional laminates when tested with the specimen length parallel to the fibre direction. Published by CEN, this aerospace-focused standard provides a repeatable laboratory procedure to obtain comparable mechanical property data for design, qualification and quality control of unidirectional CFRP materials.

Key Topics

The standard covers the essential elements needed to perform and report flexural testing of unidirectional carbon-fibre laminates, including:

• Scope and applicability - method limited to specimens with length parallel to fibre direction and to unidirectional laminate configurations.
• Specimen preparation and conditioning - requirements for sample geometry, surface quality and environmental conditioning prior to testing.
• Test execution - standardized procedures for loading, measurement of deflection and failure observation to determine flexural properties.
• Calculation and reporting - determination of flexural strength and flexural modulus from measured load-deflection data, plus required test data, tolerances and result presentation.
• Test equipment and calibration - expectations for test machines, fixtures and measuring devices to ensure valid, reproducible results.
• Traceability and documentation - recommended test record elements for material certification and quality assurance.

(Note: EN 2562:1997 defines the method and reporting requirements; users should follow the published text for exact procedural details.)

Applications

EN 2562:1997 is primarily used in aerospace and high-performance composite industries where accurate flexural characterization of unidirectional CFRP is critical. Typical uses include:

• Material qualification and batch acceptance testing for aerospace components.
• Input data for structural design, finite element analysis and failure prediction.
• Comparative evaluation of manufacturing processes, resin systems or fibre types.
• Quality control in composite production and supplier certification.
• Test laboratories performing standardized mechanical tests for industry customers.

Key users include materials engineers, composite designers, structural analysts, aerospace manufacturers, test laboratories and certification bodies.

Related Standards

EN 2562:1997 is part of the Aerospace series of composite testing standards published by CEN. Organizations and laboratories often use it alongside other material-specific or orientation-specific composite test standards for a complete mechanical characterization program (e.g., standards addressing tensile, shear or impact properties). National adoptions (for example SIST EN 2562:2001) reflect harmonized implementation across member bodies.

Keywords: EN 2562:1997, flexural test, carbon fibre reinforced plastics, unidirectional laminates, flexural strength, flexural modulus, aerospace standard, CEN.