Thermal testing is performed in an environmental chamber using convection. They utilize forced air convection, like a convection oven, except instead of baking cookies, they test goods and equipment. A thermal test chamber is a piece of test equipment that may mimic climatic conditions.
Thermal chambers are often used in electrical, military, aerospace, and pharmaceutical reliability testing. Temperature testing is vital in ensuring a product’s safety and longevity. Models range from tiny benchtops to large walk-in thermal chambers, depending on interior workstation capacity needs.
How thermal test chamber works?
Thermal chambers function by recreating test conditions. An environmental chamber helps producers anticipate how a product will perform in extreme conditions like scorching deserts or years of customer usage.
Operators put the item under test in the chamber and choose the appropriate temperature settings from an easily accessible display. LISUN offers a low-cost thermal test chamber for environmental testing.
Thermal cycling
Thermal cycling is a regulated test that alternates between severe temperatures. The rate of change is regulated to reduce thermal stress and ensure the component reaches the desired temperature. These pauses are called soaks. It’s essential to manage the pace of change so that temperatures don’t rapidly exceed a part’s tolerance.
Burn-In
Extreme temperature control, power measurement, and dependability. The burn-in test involves holding a temperature for a long duration. The test is designed to assess a part’s performance in a particular environment. The objective is to verify component functioning before shipping.
The burn-in test is used in many sectors, from semiconductors to consumer electronics and military gear. The primary goals of the test are to guarantee product safety and dependability.
Thermal shock
Thermal shock testing is comparable to cycling, but the duration spent at each level of testing is different. Because goods may be exposed to a broad range of temperatures throughout their useful life, the ability to resist extreme temperature fluctuations is a necessity.
It is the most extreme type of thermal shock testing. The temperature gradients vary by 30°C or more per minute. In packaging, aviation components, military equipment, and electronic testing.
Industries that use thermal chambers
Rubber
Rubber is put to the test in frigid regions. The temperature retraction test measures rubber’s elasticity at shallow temperatures. The rubber is stretched, then frozen, to determine its retraction value. Liquid nitrogen cools the process. Only three of the five rubber families are suitable for usage in challenging settings with extreme temperature variations.
To ensure the material’s performance under severe circumstances, different rubber materials are subjected to various temperature tests. Rubber is a durable and sturdy material, yet it is vulnerable to atmospheric deterioration.
Incorrect temperature exposure may severely damage pharmaceutical goods, compromising their qualities. Decomposition may occur, reducing a drug’s efficacy. This results in damaged medicines that don’t work.
Environmental chamber tests are used to generate baseline data and warnings for medicines. Occasionally, you must maintain goods at a consistent temperature throughout transport, usage, and storage.
Automotive
Electronic components are being used to improve safety, performance, fuel economy, and durability. A semiconductor is a small electronic component. Modern vehicles contain up to fifty electronic sensors, switches, and controls.
These electrical components are tested in thermal test chambers ranging from -80°C to 225°C or higher to guarantee their performance. You may do this in a benchtop or drive-in chamber to evaluate the durability of all components.
Military
The most challenging circumstances are used to test military equipment. The testing can predict how a product will respond and last. These are vital characteristics for troops serving in dangerous situations.
Military suppliers are governed by MIL-STDs (military standards) for aeronautical and automotive goods. The MIL-STD standards define the temperature range that equipment must satisfy to be acceptable.
