Any component failure in the aerospace industry can lead to serious consequences. In order to ensure that systems such as aircraft, satellites, and rockets can still operate stably and reliably in extreme environments, researchers conduct extensive and rigorous environmental testing on samples during the R&D stage. These tests simulate complex working conditions such as extreme cold, extreme heat, drastic temperature changes, high pressure, and vibration. During environmental testing, chillers play a key role in simulating extreme temperature conditions.

Aerospace Environmental Testing

Standards

Aerospace equipment must comply with environmental testing standards such as NASA GEVS, MIL-STD-810, ESA ECSS, and GJB. These standards define the test items, processes, and pass conditions. Only by passing these tests can the product obtain design acceptance and enter the flight mission phase.

Product Consistency

Spacecraft of the same model are often manufactured in multiple batches and part numbers. If there are differences in the manufacturing or assembly of products in the same batch, it may cause a product to be unable to withstand actual working conditions. Environmental testing can verify the consistency of products in terms of batches, processes, materials, and other parameters, and help establish a complete quality control system.

Eliminate Risks

Environmental testing is an important means to eliminate potential risks. Parts are prone to potential structural fatigue, cold solder joints, loose interfaces, seal leakage and other problems under stress conditions such as high and low temperatures, thermal shock, vacuum, electromagnetic interference, and mechanical vibration. Driven by thermal stress, small defects may also expand into failure points. Discovering and solving problems in advance can improve the safety of equipment and reduce the probability of accidents.

Supplier management

Aircraft are composed of multiple parts and systems, which need to be provided by multiple suppliers. The OEM requires component suppliers to provide test reports and data that have passed environmental testing, otherwise they will not be accepted or stocked. Environmental testing helps component suppliers complete product certification and also helps OEMs screen and manage qualified suppliers to ensure a stable supply chain and controllable quality of finished products.

Design optimization

A large number of tests and data analysis provide optimization directions for part design. For example, in thermal cycle testing, if it is found that thermal stress concentration leads to microcracks, engineers can adjust the design accordingly to enhance its heat resistance. Testing and optimization are essential steps to turning designs into high-performance products.

Market access

Many countries and regions have clear certification and testing requirements for the import of aerospace parts. For example, both NASA and ESA require partner companies to submit complete test documents as one of the bases for evaluation. Products that fail environmental testing cannot qualify for customer procurement or enter the global market.

Test items supported by chillers

High and low temperature tests

Aircraft will experience extreme high and low temperatures during operation. After the thruster is ignited, the local temperature reaches hundreds or even thousands of degrees Celsius in a short period of time, and the dark side of the spacecraft drops to below -150℃ after entering orbit.

High temperature may cause plastic softening and solder joints to loosen, while low temperature may cause material brittle cracking and lubrication failure. In high and low temperature tests, chillers are used to simulate the extreme high and low temperatures that aircraft may experience, and test the performance of samples in such environments.

Thermal cycle test

The temperature difference caused by the alternation of day and night and the change of high-altitude orbits will cause the aircraft to undergo a process of repeated thermal expansion and contraction. Repeated changes in temperature will accelerate material fatigue, leading to package cracking and internal stress accumulation.

Thermal cycle testing can expose structural hidden dangers or thermal failure problems in advance. This test generally uses a thermal shock chamber or temperature change chamber with two temperature zones. The sample cycles between high and low temperature zones multiple times, with a fixed dwell time at each.

Thermal shock test

Launching, high-altitude decompression, fuel injection, etc. will cause the aircraft to heat or cool instantly. Thermal shock can easily cause problems such as solder joints falling off and seal failure. Thermal shock testing generally uses a three-box thermal shock chamber. The sample is placed in the high-temperature zone for heating and then quickly moved to the low-temperature zone for multiple cycles. The test evaluates the sample’s performance after rapid and extreme temperature changes.

Vacuum heat test

The aircraft operates in a vacuum or low-pressure environment. Some materials will degas in a vacuum, affecting optical or electronic performance, and even causing arc discharge. During the vacuum test, the sample is placed in a vacuum chamber, evacuated to a specified vacuum level and maintained for a long time. This is to evaluate the performance of the parts under conditions similar to space.

Damp heat test

When the aircraft passes through rain clouds or high-humidity clouds, it will enter a high-temperature and high-humidity environment. Humidity can cause electrical insulation failure, metal corrosion, seal failure and other faults. Damp heat testing simulates a high-humidity and high-temperature environment to detect the reliability of the entire aircraft and components in this environment. This test is generally performed through a damp heat chamber.

Airtightness test

The flight altitude of the aircraft is usually between 9,000 and 12,000 meters, with thin air outside and extremely low temperatures. In order to allow passengers to breathe normally, the cabin of the aircraft will be pressurized to maintain the cabin pressure similar to that on the ground. If the cabin leaks, the cabin pressure will drop, which may cause altitude sickness, hypoxia, coma or even death of passengers.

There are a large number of electronic instruments, navigation systems, fuel systems, and hydraulic systems on the aircraft. Abnormal pressure can cause short circuits, fuel leakage, hydraulic failure, and other malfunctions. Airtightness testing can expose problems such as poor sealing, excessive assembly tolerances, and substandard sealant quality. This helps improve product quality and reliability. When the airtight cabin is tested for temperature and airtightness, a chiller is used to adjust the cabin temperature.

Looking for an Aerospace environment test chamber?

LNEYA has been focusing on aerospace testing, battery testing, equipment cooling and process temperature control for 15 years. We provide high-precision cooling and heating solutions from -150℃ to +350℃, supporting various aerospace environment tests such as high and low temperature testing, thermal cycle testing, thermal shock testing, vacuum testing, etc. Whether you are a research unit, testing organization, or aerospace supplier, LNEYA can provide you with stable and reliable temperature control support.

Contact LNEYA engineers today and make our chillers your trusted thermal control partner.