Automotive and Mining Equipment Testing

A control module bolted to a truck frame sees vibration every minute it runs, a cold soak on a winter morning, heat soak after a summer shutdown, and a pressure washer every few weeks. Validation testing puts those loads on the part before it ships. Megalab is an automotive testing laboratory in Aurora, Ontario that runs environmental and mechanical validation for electronic and electromechanical components, working to ISO 16750, GMW3172, the major OEM component specifications and SAE J1455 for heavy duty and off-highway equipment. The testing runs in our ISO/IEC 17025 accredited lab.

Where a part is mounted decides most of what it has to survive. An ECU on the engine or gearbox sees far higher vibration and heat than the same board behind the dashboard. A sensor on the unsprung mass takes direct road input, and a module in the trunk or cargo area sits somewhere in between. ISO 16750 and the OEM specifications all start from this idea, which is why the first question on any automotive quote is where the part lives in the vehicle.

The loads also stack. Solder joints that survive vibration at room temperature crack when the same profile runs at the cold end of the range, and a seal that holds dry fails once it has been through a few hundred thermal shocks and a humidity soak. Water freezing inside a connector housing is a failure mode no single test would find. That is why a validation plan is organised into legs, with the same samples carried through several tests in sequence.

Most OEM programs split validation into two stages.

• Design validation (DV): runs on prototype or pre-production parts, built to the final design but not yet from production tooling. It is the full test plan: every leg the specification calls for, sized to the part’s mounting location and temperature class. DV proves the design.
• Product validation (PV): runs on parts from production tooling and the production process. It usually repeats a subset of the DV legs, typically the vibration, thermal and humidity tests where a change in material or process shows up first. PV proves the factory builds what DV approved, and it feeds the PPAP submission.

In both stages every leg is bracketed by functional and parametric checks before and after, often with the part powered and monitored for faults during the test itself. Programs close with a visual inspection and teardown so small cracks and corrosion are caught even when the part still works. Our engineers work with OEMs and their suppliers to take products from first prototype through to production sign-off. We build the leg sequence, sample flow and schedule with you before any sample arrives.

Every OEM names these differently, but the physics repeats from program to program. Tests we run for automotive programs include:

• Temperature: high temperature degradation, operating and storage extremes, and powered thermal cycling endurance across the part’s temperature code.
• Thermal shock: air to air thermal shock, and thermal shock with a cold water splash for parts mounted where road spray hits a hot housing.
• Humidity and moisture: cyclic and constant humid heat, frost, and water freeze tests that trap water in the part and freeze it in place.
• Vibration and shock: random and sine vibration by mounting location, vibration with thermal cycling, mechanical shock profiles such as pothole and collision, and free fall.
• Corrosion: salt fog and salt mist to ASTM B117 and IEC 60068-2-52.
• Dust and water: dust to IP5X and IP6X, and water ingress from drip to IPX9K high pressure, high temperature spray under ISO 20653, the road vehicle version of the IP code. Seal and leak checks between legs confirm the enclosure is still tight.
• Altitude: low pressure operation and storage for parts that ship by air or run at elevation.

See vibration and shock testing, thermal shock testing and combined temperature and vibration testing for more on each.

ISO 16750 is the international baseline for environmental testing of electrical and electronic equipment in road vehicles. Part 1 sets the definitions, mounting locations and functional status classes. Part 3 covers mechanical loads such as vibration, shock and free fall. Part 4 covers climatic loads, including temperature, thermal shock, humidity, salt and dust. Most OEM specifications build on the same methods with their own profiles, sample sizes and pass criteria.

Some of the standards and specifications we support include:

Haul trucks, drills, loaders and underground conveyors carry the same kinds of electronics as a road vehicle and treat them far harder. Engine and frame mounted controls see heavy vibration and shock for full shifts. The dust is fine and never stops. Equipment gets pressure washed and steam cleaned in the wash bay, then runs from a hot pit floor to a cold portal on the same day.

SAE J1455 and ISO 15003 are the usual starting points for this equipment, and many manufacturers adapt an automotive specification to their own duty cycle. The tests that matter most are vibration and mechanical shock at the frame and engine mounting levels, dust to IP6X, IPX9K washdown, and thermal cycling across a wide range. We run them to your specification and can combine them into one sequence on the same samples. See ingress protection testing for the dust and water side.

Electronic modules that pass the environmental plan still need to meet the OEM’s EMC requirements. We also run automotive EMC work, including CISPR 25 component emissions, CISPR 12 vehicle emissions and ISO 11452-2 and ISO 11452-4 immunity, in-house through our partner lab. See EMC testing for details.

• Temperature: -68 C to 180 C, with humidity up to 98 % RH at temperatures above 15 C.
• Walk-in chambers: up to 131 x 177 x 94 inches for full assemblies and multi-unit legs.
• Thermal shock: air to air, with transfer in 10 seconds or less.
• Vibration: electrodynamic shaker to 74 kN, 5 to 2,000 Hz, 100 G shock, 76.2 mm peak to peak displacement, slip tables up to 800 x 800 mm.
• Combined vibration and temperature: -45 C to 120 C.
• Salt fog: to ASTM B117 with a 5 % salt solution. See corrosion testing.
• Dust and water: dust chamber for IP5X and IP6X, and water ingress from IPX1 to IPX9K.
• Altitude: sea level to 15,000 m.

• The specification and its revision, or your DVP&R
• The part’s mounting location and temperature class or code
• How many samples per leg, and whether any legs share samples
• Whether the part runs powered during test, and what monitoring or CAN logging it needs
• Part dimensions, weight and any fixture drawings
• Which legs you need from us, and whether this is DV, PV or both

Send us the details and we will confirm the requirement and quote it.