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EnvironmentalTEST FACILITIES
Does your hardware need to work in extreme pressure or temperature environments? Will it undergo severe vibration, shock and load conditions? Or, will it encounter electromagnetic interference? Ball Aerospace’s Environmental Test Facilities can provide the space, resources and specialists needed to test your hardware in all the environments it may encounter.
8/15 D3170
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. • 1600 Commerce St. • Boulder, CO 80301 • 303-939-6100 • Fax: [email protected] • www.ballaerospace.com
Climatics LabThe Climactics Lab can simulate high temperature and/or high altitude environments, as well as provide thermal cycling, corrosion, air bake, cure and humidity tests. Additionally, procedures have been put into place to protect and test hardware sensitive to electrostatic discharge. The Lab’s nine chambers are staffed and operated 24/7 to provide ample resources that meet the needs of our customers.
The chambers vary in size from an 18 in. by 17 in. by 15 in. test volume to a 48 in. by 48 in. by 48 in. test volume. Ramp rates vary by chamber; all chambers are controlled by a 2704 Eurotherm Process Controller and collect data using an Agilent Data Acquisition Unit. Additionally, down flow tents are available for loading and unloading hardware. Specific test parameters include:
• Thermalcycling:-165°Cto260°C(variesbychamber)
• Altitude:sealevelto65,000ft.• Humiditycontrol:20%to95%;RH5°Cto80°C
Points of ContactEnvironmental Test at Ball [email protected]
24/7 Thermal Vacuum/Climatics Monitoring
35 in. (H) by 55 in. (W) by 55 in. (L) Thermal Cycle Chamber
20 ft. (W) by 24 ft. (H) Vertical Thermal Vacuum Chamber (Brutus)
Standards and Specs• MIL-STD-202• MIL-STD-810
OverviewBall’sstate-of-the-artFisherTestFacilityinBoulder,Colo., can build and test spacecraft, instruments, space and airborne antennas, ground support equipment and more for a myriad of environments, includingtransport,storage,launch,flightandon-orbit operation. Our capabilities allow us to affordably test hardware, while easily accommodating our customers’ schedules. Ball’s testing facility includes an ElectromagneticInterferenceandCompatibility(EMI/EMC)Lab,DynamicsLab,ThermalVacuumLabandClimactics Lab.
EMI/EMC LabTheEMI/EMCLabcombinesskilledEMCspecialistswith exceptional facilities to provide for all phases ofmilitaryandcommercialEMI/EMCtesting,including emission and susceptibility testing. The lab features a sterile environment free from ambientradiofrequencyinterference(RFI),aswellasshielded anterooms for ground support equipment. Additionally, the lab utilizes the Rohde & Schwartz test data and analysis system for emission testing and the ETS Lindgren TILE!™ automated software for susceptibility testing. Specific test parameters include:
• Emissionandsusceptibilitytesting:nominally 10KHzto18GHz(18GHzto40GHzavailable upon request)
• Filteredpower100dBinsertionlossfrom14KHzto10GHz
• Welded,steelconstructionprovides: - E-Fieldattenuation:100dBfrom10KHzto10GHz - H-Fieldattenuation:30dBat1KHz,95dBat 100KHz
- Planewaveattenuation:100dBfrom100MHzto 10GHz
Dynamics LabThe Dynamics Lab simulates the vibration, shock and load conditions that hardware might experience during space launch,highaltitudeflight,super-sonicflight,collisions,rough terrain and more. During and after testing, the Lab analyzestheperformanceofthehardwarewithreal-timedataanalysis(i.e.,IDEAS6.4andBrüel&Kjær)andpost-processing(i.e.,PowerSpectralDensity(PSD),FrequencyResponseFunctions(FRF),ShockResponseSpectrum(SRS),timehistoryandavarietyofcomplexmathematicalfunctions), respectively.
Additionally, the Lab features a variety of accelerometers, force transducers and laser vibrometers to meet your dataacquisitionneeds.HEPAClass7downflowtentsanda20-toncranewitha30-ft.hookheightareavailabletoprotect and install your hardware. Specific test parameters include:
• Vibration:random,sine,mixedmode,sineburst• Shock:simulated,pyrotechnicandclassical• Loads:dynamic,static• ModalSurvey:developmentoffiniteelementandtest
analysis model • Accelerometer,forceandmomentlimiting
Thermal Vacuum LabTheThermalVacuumLabcansimulateextremepressureandtemperature environments for all types of products, ranging from small cablestofull-sizesatellites.With24/7monitoring,thisstate-of-the-artcontrol facility can perform high temperature bakeout, thermal cycling and helium leak detection.
TheVacuumLabfeatures15chambersofvarioussizes,rangingfromachamberwithan11in.by14in.basewith9in.toshroudheighttoachamberwitha20-ft.diameterandaheightof24ft.Allvacuumchambers pump down to 1x10-6Torrwithrampratesof1.5°C per minute at 1x10-6Torr. The larger chambers are equipped with HEPAClass7(10,000cfm)downflowtents.Althoughtemperaturerangediffersbychamber,theVacuumLabcansimulateanoveralltemperaturerangeof-196°Cto175°C.
Inaddition,theVacuumLabprovidesforkliftsandcranesforloadinghardware into chambers and features various feed through ports for electrical, optical, RF and thermal connections to test the article. ResidualGasAnalyzers,ThermalQuartzCrystalMicrobalance(TQCM)contamination monitoring and thermal vacuum cameras are available upon request.
Standards and Specs• MIL-STD-202• MIL-STD-810• MIL-STD-154• NASA-STD-7003
Standards and Specs• ASTM-E2900• ASTM-E512• MIL-STD-810• DO160
Standards and Specs• iNARTE-certifiedstaff• IEC61000-4-3• IEEESTD-299-1997
• ISO10012-1• MIL-STD-461• RTCA-DO160G
Spacecraft under test in environmentally controlled EMI/EMC facility BCP 2000 on 50,000 lb. shaker Climatics control room for 24/7 monitoring
Integrated spacecraft ready for thermal vacuum test inside 20 ft. (W) by 24 ft. (H) chamber
EQUIPMENTLarge Semi-Anechoic Chamber
Size:26ft.by40ft.by20ft.(withoutcones)
HighEfficiencyParticulateAir(HEPA)filteredtoClass7(10,000cfm)particulatecontamination
Small Shielded Chamber
Size:20ft.by16ft.by12ft.(withoutcones)
Door:5ft.by6ft.bladderseal
EQUIPMENT50,000 lbf Shaker
Horizontalsliptables:60in.by72in.,36in.by36in.
Verticaltables:60in.by60in.,36in.by36in.
Acceleration:Upto133g.
Velocity:Upto90ips
30,000 lbf Shaker
Horizontalsliptables:60in.by72in.,36in.by36in.
Verticaltables:32-in.,48-in.,62-in.diameters
Acceleration:Upto133g.
Velocity:Upto70ips
18,000 lbf Shaker
Horizontalsliptables:36in.by36in.
Verticaltables:32-in.diameter
Acceleration: Up to 150 g.
Velocity:Upto70ips
Shock Table
SRS Shock to 5,000 g
Testarticleswithabaseupto30in.by30in.andweightup300lb.
3-axisshocktesting
Modal Mass
30ft.by30ft.slab
570,000 lb. working load