UHS HALT & HASS CHAMBERS

Why accelerated testing?

Accelerated testing is used to quickly detect any inherent design and manufacturing flaws. The environments are meant to give high levels of stress to precipitate failures in less time than in standard testing. Once the failures have been detected, corrective decisions can be made. This process adds to product robustness. The main element of the testing process is the HALT test. Typically, a series of individual and combined stresses such as multi-axis vibration, rapid temperature cycling, and product power cycling are applied in steps of increasing intensity {well beyond those expected in the field). Test time is compressed with the accelerated stressing, leading to earlier product maturity.

What is HALT?

HALT - Highly Accelerated Life Testing
This is the process by which a product is tested, usually in its design or prototype stage, using temperature, vibration, and the combination of environments to test until the point of failure, typically using step stress methods. If the failure is unexpected, or below the limits deemed acceptable for its useful lifetime, then corrective action is taken, and the testing continued.

What can HALT do?

The Accelerated Life Test can show you, often in just a matter of hours, how a particular product will stand up to years of operational life.

How?

By using the ACS UHS System, you can submit your product to extremes of environmental stress. You can perform various accelerated stress tests like HALT. HASS, Step Stress Testing, and others. Each type of stress identifies specific defects that may be missed by traditional testing methods and equipment.

Why?

When these detects are speedily identified in the product development stage, it helps to reduce development time and produces higher quality product. Shorter development time means shorter time to market, something that can make a huge difference in sales. Higher reliability during the operational lifespan reduces warranty costs and general in-the-field repair costs. lt also brings about customer satisfaction, something that is invaluable in a tough economic climate.

UHS - Ultra High Stress Chambers

ACS UHS chambers are designed specifically to perform accelerated tests by applying extreme environmental stress. These stresses include:

• Tri-axial vibration imparting 6 Degree of Freedom vibration to the product
• Rapid thermal cycling
• Optional Humidity

To accomplish this, the chambers have the following features:

• 3 accelerometers for measurement, one for each of the X, Y and Z axes
• The ability to dwell for as long as necessary at a given temperatures
• WinKratos software to allow the user to interface with the chamber for programming of environmental test cycles and control events, and for real time acquisition and recording of data
• An optional humidity contrai system to give an added environment

The UHS 1400 also has:

• Two full opening doors (front and rear) for ease of product loading and fixturing
• Adjustable table height giving the flexibility to be able to test larger products

Some of the many benefits of accelerated testing:

• Fast design and process maturation
• Greatly reduced manufacturing screening costs
• Faster corrective action far design problems
• Reduced total engineering costs
• Reduced production costs
• Earlier and mature product introduction
• Higher MTBF
• Reduced warranty costs
• Happy customers

Goal: reliability

Reliability is a key factor for product durability and for competitiveness in the global marketplace. Both the user and the manufacturer gain from higher reliability. The user has a product that does what it is supposed to when it is supposed to without failure. The manufacturer has lowered production costs and fewer product returns. Everyone wins, we have combined more than 80 years of experience in the design and manufacture of environmental test chambers to provide a state-of-the-art system capable of providing the user with the best performance in the reliability growth process.