This recommended practice establishes a generic composite reference standard that will accommodate nondestructive inspections (NDI) on the full array of glass fiber and carbon fiber laminates found on aircraft.

The purpose of this Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) is to describe the design and production of solid composite laminate calibration standards to be used in ultrasonic, resonant, and tap test NDI equipment calibration for accomplishment of damage assessment and post-repair inspections. It is intended that these standards be adopted by aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturers within procedures contained on their Nondestructive Testing Manuals. Depending on the nature of the inspection, it may be necessary to compensate for variations in material properties through the use of correction factors or by adjusting for these differences on the part or structure being inspected. When using these standards consideration must be given to surface coatings such as paint or lighting protection plies. This is a reference standard construction document and not an inspection document. Inspection procedures, from OEM or users' maintenance manuals, must accompany the use of these reference standards for each unique family of composite laminate construction.