Thermal Shock Test

Thermal shock test allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffer during its useful life. At ATRIA we carry out thermal shock testing in many of our projects.

When a new product is about to be released to the market, it must have previously passed certain tests to ensure its performance will be satisfactory. A significant part of these tests involves evaluating how environmental conditions will affect the product. For example, the design of a product might need to change depending on whether it will be in a desert during summer or on top of a mountain in winter, and even more so if it is an airplane and constantly travels from one place to another. For this reason, there are environmental tests that simulate controlled and accelerated conditions like humidity, temperature, light exposure, corrosion exposure, and many others. The thermal shock test is one of them.

At ATRIA, we are experts in evaluating materials through thermal shock testing, an essential technique to guarantee their resistance and durability in the face of extreme temperature changes. Our team develops and executes tests adapted to the needs of each industry, from electronics to industrial materials, optimizing their performance and quality. Thanks to our experience in R&D and innovation, we help companies validate and improve their products, ensuring their reliability in the most demanding conditions. Take your materials to the next level! Contact us!

At ATRIA, we are experts in evaluating materials through thermal shock testing, an essential technique to guarantee their resistance and durability in the face of extreme temperature changes. Our team develops and executes tests adapted to the needs of each industry, from electronics to industrial materials, optimizing their performance and quality. Thanks to our experience in R&D and innovation, we help companies validate and improve their products, ensuring their reliability in the most demanding conditions. Take your materials to the next level!

How does the thermal shock test work and what is it used for?

Thermal shock testing is an accelerated environmental test that involves subjecting materials and products to sudden temperature changes. To do this, two chambers are used at different temperatures, and the samples are quickly moved from one to the other using an elevator. In this way, we can simulate the temperature conditions of the Caribbean in one chamber, and those of Alaska in the other, and in a matter of seconds take the samples from one temperature to the other.

This test is very useful for simulating natural environmental processes, production processes or transport conditions. In this way, one can know, for example, if the materials of a frying pan will be affected after using it for its entire useful life, without having to cook for several years.

Parameters that we control in a thermal shock test

Thermal shock tests fundamentally control two parameters: temperature and time.

Temperature is the parameter that indicates the amount of energy or heat that the environment has. Therefore, inside an oven that radiates heat, the temperature will be high, while inside a freezer, which removes heat, the temperature will be low.

The importance of carrying out tests with controlled temperature lies in the fact that the properties of all materials vary depending on the energy or heat they contain. The clearest example of this is that materials change state (solid, liquid or gaseous) depending on the temperature at which they are. Other properties that can change with temperature may be colour, mechanical strength, dimensional variations or the detachment of parts, among others.

Time, on the other hand, is the parameter that indicates the influence that temperature will have. This explains why, when a lit match is left on a wooden board for a few minutes, it heats up to the point of burning; while, if it is left for only a second, at most a slightly darkened area will be visible.

The importance of carrying out tests controlling the time lies in the fact that in this way the speed of heat exchange from the environment to the samples can be controlled, so that they reach the temperature of the hot chamber and the cold chamber in each case. In this way, depending on the thermal conductivity of the material, the time that the sample must be kept in each chamber varies. An example of this would be the change of state of water, since, if we want to freeze and defrost it in each cycle, it is not enough to keep it in the freezer for one minute.

How to perform a thermal shock test

To perform thermal shock tests, the first thing to know is the type of part to be tested. Depending on its dimensions, the possibility of movement of the part during the test, and the complexity of its geometry, the number and distribution of the parts within the machine will be determined.

Once it has been determined that the part or parts that we want to test fit in the thermal shock machine, the next step is to determine the environmental conditions we want to reproduce. In this case, different scenarios can occur:

• According to the temperature
  • Real tests: the test temperature is the same as that of the real situation to be simulated.

• Accelerated tests: the test temperature is much higher than in the real situation. To make it comparable to the real case, the temperature values ​​of the hot chamber and the cold chamber are modified to be more severe, in order to be able to observe changes in the samples more quickly.

• According to the periodicity
  • Monocyclic: in these tests the sample only passes once from the warm chamber to the cold chamber and back to the hot one or vice versa. It is normally used to check the influence of possible phase changes or deformations.

• Cyclic: in these cases, the sample goes up and down in the elevator from one chamber to the other in a cyclical manner. This allows simulating cycles of turning machines on and off, or night and day.

Most popular thermal shock climate tests

The most popular thermal shock tests are as follows:

• On/off test: This is an accelerated cyclic test, in which the hot chamber can be at very high temperatures (+50ºC – +220ºC), and the cold chamber at very low temperatures (-80ºC – +70ºC). The temperature values ​​will depend on the specific situation to be recreated in the test. The number of cycles is usually high.

• Winter/summer test: This is a real cyclic test, in which only the temperature change between winter and summer is simulated. It is usually less aggressive than the on/off tests, since each cycle simulates a year, and the total number of cycles is usually less.

What materials and parts can be tested in a thermal shock test?

The range of materials and parts that can be tested in a thermal shock machine is very wide and varied. The main restrictions that can be found are due to the size and weight, that cannot be higher than the maximum that the machine can hold; or that the material or part may be harmful to the integrity of the machine itself.

Any material or part that is going to experience significant temperature fluctuations should be tested in a thermal shock machine beforehand to ensure that it will not degrade in any way during its useful life due to environmental conditions.

In the case of plastic materials, it is highly recommended to carry out thermal shock tests, since they are less stable with temperature than metallic and ceramic materials, and may become excessively brittle at very low temperatures, or plasticize and deform at very high temperatures.

On the other hand, metals are good conductors of heat, so they expand and contract with temperature variations. If you want to check the buckling of smooth parts when the temperature increases, or the dimensional stability after certain temperature change cycles, it is advisable to perform thermal shock tests.

Finally, ceramic materials, despite having low thermal conductivity and not normally being altered by high or low temperatures, are especially susceptible to sudden changes in temperature and may fracture.

Want to carry out thermal shock tests in one of your projects? Contact us!