April 27, 2022
Introduction
This article contains everything you need to know about temperature chambers.
- What is a temperature chamber?
- How a temperature chamber works
- Industries that use temperature chambers
- The types of tests conducted in a temperature chamber
- And much more…
1. What is a temperature chamber?
A temperature chamber is a controlled environmental chamber capable of creating the conditions that a product will encounter during use. These controlled engineering tools can create the types of hazards, uses and atmospheres that a product can tolerate. To determine product life, temperature chambers can create conditions that simulate product life by rapidly reducing equipment life.
The temperature chamber offers companies the opportunity to test how products will react when experiencing the most adverse conditions. The ability to execute and create these scenarios can help keep you from introducing a product into the market that can't live up to customer expectations..
2. How the temperature chamber works
There are different methods with the aim of generating different heat levels to simulate the different atmospheres used in environmental chambers. Many manufacturers offer several methods to meet customer needs.
Temperature chambers test the stretching effects of different temperature ranges to check the quality parameters of a product or a part. They help determine the behavior of the material being tested under extreme conditions in relation to temperature changes in relation to changes in humidity. Tests can be static from time to time or dynamic to generate and cause errors.
The temperature chamber, or environmental test chamber, performs thermal tests using forced air convection. In many ways, they function like an oven. Their main requirement is the airflow, which is provided by the fan and motor to circulate the air in the test chamber.
There are three types of heat test methods, namely circulation, combustion and thermal shock. Each test evaluates the durability of a part at extreme temperatures:
Heat circulation
Thermal circulation is a controlled experiment in which the chamber varies between the highest temperatures. The rate of change is regulated to limit the amount of thermal stress and ensure that the part reaches the required temperature. These pauses are called immersion. Great care should be taken to control the rate of change so that the temperature does not rapidly reach a temperature beyond what a part can withstand.
Burn-In Test
The burn-in test is a set temperature that is held for an extended period of time. The purpose of the test is to determine the ability of a part to perform in the conditions of a particular environment. The test has precision temperature control with power measurements and exceptional reliability. The goal is to ensure the performance of components before they are shipped.
There are a wide variety of industries that use the burn-in test that range from semiconductor producers to tests for consumer appliances and military hardware. The main concerns of the test are to ensure the safety and reliability of products.
Thermal Shock
Though thermal shock testing may seem to be similar to cycling, the basic difference is the amount of time spent at each level of testing. The ability of a product to withstand severe changes in temperature is a necessary attribute that products must have since they may be subjected to a wide range of temperatures during their usefulness.
Thermal shock testing is the most severe form of temperature testing. The high rate of change between temperature gradients is approximately 30° C every minute or faster. It is used to test packaging, aircraft components, military equipment, and certain electronics.
There are three possible forms of thermal shock chambers, which are defined by the number of zones they have. The two zone version carries parts in a basket between the various temperatures. In the two zone double capacity version, there are two hot zones with one cold zone that is constantly in use. The three zone version has a hot and cold zone with an ambient temperature zone.
3. Industries that Use Temperature Chambers
Rubber
One of the critical tests of rubber is at low temperatures in cold climates. The temperature retraction test evaluates the elastic properties of rubber at extremely low temperatures. The rubber is elongated and frozen after which its retraction value is calculated. The cooling process is performed by liquid nitrogen.
Of the five families of rubber, general, high performance, oil resistant, and high and low temperature, only three of them are suited for use in harsh environments with severe temperature extremes.
To guarantee that the material will perform properly at extreme conditions, various combinations of rubber materials are put through a series of varying temperature tests. Though rubber is a resilient and strong material, it is susceptible to degradation due to atmospheric conditions.
Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical products can be severely damaged when exposed to incorrect temperatures, reducing their properties. Decomposition may occur, significantly reducing the effectiveness of the drug. This leads to broken medication that cannot perform as intended.
To determine the range of temperatures that pharmaceutical products can tolerate, they are run through a series of temperature chamber tests to establish baseline and alarm data. In some cases, the product may be required to be kept at a constant temperature during transportation, use and storage.
Automotive
The use of electronic components is increasing rapidly as the demand for safety, performance, fuel economy and durability increases. Automotive electronics include semiconductors, sensors, and various subsystems. Modern cars have up to 50 sensors, switches and other forms of electronic control.
To ensure the performance of these electronic components, they are tested in temperature chambers with temperature variations from -80°C to 225°C or higher. These conditions can be generated in a benchtop chamber or a “drive-in” chamber to test the durability of all components at once.
Electronics
The temperature chambers for the electronics industry are designed to test ICs, circuit boards, semiconductors, converters, drives and power supplies. The test chambers for testing electronics are designed to simulate a variety of atmospheric and climatic conditions.
The electronics market is changing rapidly and requires an immediate response. Temperature chambers provide instant data on the durability and life of a part. Accumulated data determines a product's reliability and viability before it goes to market.
Medical
The medical industry has very strict regulations regarding the manufacturing, shipping and design of its products. These requirements are regulated by national and local governments to protect the public.
Standards for medical products also apply to the devices used to test them. In this regard, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies have published specifications for how medical products will be tested.
Medical device testing involves protection against contaminants, which necessitates testing of the packaging. The next concern is shelf life and how long a device can be stored before it needs to be replaced.
Military
The main focus of testing military devices is how they will respond to the most extreme conditions. Various tests can determine how a product will react and how long it will last. These are important factors for soldiers serving in the harshest conditions.
Manufacturers selling products to the military are guided by the MIL-STDs (military standard) specification for aviation and automotive products. The specifications of the MIL-STD standard clearly specify the temperature range a device must meet in order to be acceptable.
Telecommunications
There are very specific guidelines for testing products for the telecommunications industry, subject to Telcordia's testing requirements. Telcordia has developed standards that are widely used in the telecommunications industry with specific categories for different and specialized types of telecommunications equipment.
The product categories tested for the telecommunications industry include mobile phones, switches, connectors, fiber optics, line protectors and network interfaces. As with electronic components, demand for telecommunications products is growing rapidly, requiring companies to thoroughly test their products to meet the requirements of the public and regulatory agencies.
The telecommunications industry tests its products to meet Telcordia specifications, which are designed to establish product quality and reliability by creating conditions under which products will tolerance as well as the conditions of transport and storage. Telcordia specifications call for testing at temperatures as low as -40°C.
Plastic
There are several factors to be examined when testing the weathering factors of plastics. When developing a test, researchers consider the type of polymer, its color, and any type of additive. Various climatic conditions were simulated including desert conditions and exposure to sunlight.
Plastic test types are often designed for a specific use of the product, including synthetic resins used to make floors, vinyl siding, and automotive plastic parts. It has been found that the temperature of the plastic affects the rate of chemical change as well as its shape and physical properties.
By exposing plastics to changes in temperature, their rate of decomposition and service life can be determined. While outdoor testing has been used in the past to determine plastic stability, more and more manufacturers are turning to temperature chambers that provide more accurate data and take less time.
