Crystal Instruments Military Standard (MIL-STD) Environmental Testing Service

Military standard testing verifies product durability against the environmental stresses a product meets throughout its life cycle. CI Testing Labs, part of Crystal Instruments, runs MIL-STD environmental test services built on the joint U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force test method standards, with experienced engineers helping customers define and execute each program. The central standard is MIL-STD-810, the Department of Defense Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests, which covers nearly every environmental factor encountered across an equipment's service life.

MIL-STD-810 testing reproduces those conditions in a controlled laboratory using temperature, humidity, shock, vibration and acceleration equipment. Commonly performed methods include 501.6 High Temperature, 502.6 Low Temperature, 503.6 Temperature Shock, 505.6 Solar Radiation, 507.6 Humidity, 509.4 Salt Fog, 514.7 Vibration, 516.7 Shock, 520.4 Temperature/Humidity/Vibration/Altitude and 528.1 Mechanical Vibrations of Shipboard Equipment. For electronic and electrical components, MIL-STD-202 methods are also offered, including Method 101 Salt Atmosphere, 103 Humidity, 106 Moisture Resistance, 107 Thermal Shock and 108 Life at Elevated Temperature.

A notable addition in MIL-STD-810H is Method 520.5, which introduces input electrical power as an environment. Combined temperature, humidity, vibration and voltage/frequency variation can induce failures that individual environment tests do not reveal, and the method applies representative combinations of stress to determine a test item's performance. Beyond environmental testing, CI Testing Labs supports military contractors with failure analysis, functional test plan development, HALT/HASS plan development, MTBF calculation and requirement development.