TEC Eurolab and the Engineering Testing: thermal shock tests for the Aerospace sector
TEC Eurolab laboratories work with companies to improve production processes and the quality of components.
Thanks to the possibility of interfacing the chamber with external auxiliary instrumentation, our CST130/2T 'spinner' chamber can also be used for aerospace testing at TEC Eurolab accredited laboratories. Aerospace is a peculiar application for the thermal shock tests that can be performed with our chamber, mainly used in the electronics sector where reliability is a prerequisite.
The thermal shock tests: what they are used for
Thermal shock tests are used to check the behaviour of the specimen when subjected to extreme temperature conditions. If the exposure to repeated thermal cycles corresponds to large volume expansions and contractions or if the thermal shock that the product undergoes is greater than the maximum resistance of the material(s) of which it is composed, it could be subjected to strong mechanical stresses and, sometimes, to breakage.
Under normal operating conditions, the same type of failure could occur over a much longer time: thermal shock tests allow defective components to be identified or defects in the production process to be highlighted.
TEC Eurolab, a technological service centre for Testing, Inspection and Certification, has chosen an ACS CST130/2T "spinner" chamber for a series of testing activities according to the specific needs of customers in the aerospace sector.
TEC Eurolab, Centre of Excellence for Destructive and Non-Destructive Testing.
The Centre offers technical support for Research & Development and Quality & Production, thanks to its extensive knowledge and numerous collaborations with leading international manufacturers in the aeronautical and aerospace sectors.
The laboratories, accredited by Nadcrap and Accredia for testing aerospace materials and components, are equipped with advanced technologies for testing and analysis. They enable compliance with required standards through research into new materials and new applications to improve product performance, material characterisation, prediction of duration and lifetime simulation.
Since 1990 they are supporting manufacturing companies in the search for and achievement of the highest standards of quality and safety of their products and processes, TEC Eurolab have three production divisions: testing, certification and academy.
The ACS CST130/2T "spinner" chamber is operational in the area dedicated to Test Engineering and to the experimental and functional validation of components.
Example of thermal shock testing with aerospace application
Specifically, a test setup was designed in order to fit the chamber compartment with the necessary tools to carry out depression tests - i.e. using a vacuum pump to depressurise the inside of a component to be later subjected to cycles of thermal shock - and dynamic pressurisation tests.
Using a real-time controller, a dynamic pressurisation cycle was created, bringing the internal pressure of the component under test to vary in the range 3-13bar for approximately 80000 cycles, in the temperature range -80°C /+170°C.
The application of strain gauges in specific points made it possible to acquire data on the local deformations of the component and to correlate them to the rapid thermal transition phases thanks to the temperature data collected by the CST130/2T chamber.
CST130/2T "spinner"
The ACS CST130/2T 'spinner' chamber is one of the standard ACS options for Air-to-Air Thermal Shock testing.
It consists of two test compartments:
- hot chamber, equipped with an air treatment complete with fan, heaters, temperature probe and thermostat
- cold chamber, equipped with an air treatment complete with fan, heaters, evaporator, temperature probe and thermostat.
A motorized system connected by a screw rod allows the transfer of the specimen between the hot and cold compartments.
The rich basic configuration includes an inspection porthole in the hot chamber, two through-holes, a shelf and an RS232 interface.