Climatic chamber test

At ATRIA we carry out climate chamber testing in many of our projects. It allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffers during its useful life.

At ATRIA we carry out climate chamber testing in many of our projects. It allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffers during its useful life.

At ATRIA we carry out climate chamber testing in many of our projects. It allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffers during its useful life.

At ATRIA we carry out climate chamber testing in many of our projects. It allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffers during its useful life.

At ATRIA we carry out climate chamber testing in many of our projects. It allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffers during its useful life.

At ATRIA we carry out climate chamber testing in many of our projects. It allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffers during its useful life.

At ATRIA we carry out Climatic chamber test in many of our projects. It allows us to accelerate the environmental aging that a material or product suffers during its useful life.

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. For this reason, there are environmental tests that simulate controlled and accelerated conditions like humidity, temperature, light exposure, corrosion exposure, and many others.

At ATRIA, we perform climatic chamber tests to evaluate the behavior of materials and products under different environmental conditions. We simulate temperature and humidity variations to check their resistance and durability. If you need to validate the performance of your materials in specific environments, contact us!

Parameters Controlled in a Climate Chamber Test
Climate chamber tests primarily control two parameters: humidity and temperature.

• Humidity is the parameter that indicates the amount of water in the air. Therefore, in areas close to large water bodies like seas, rivers, or dense vegetation, humidity will be high; whereas, in areas where there is no presence of water, such as deserts, humidity will be low.
  The importance of conducting tests while controlling humidity lies in the fact that many materials and products change their properties in the presence of water. For example, some absorb water and expand, while others may react with water, changing their color or becoming oxidized.

• Temperature is the parameter that indicates the amount of energy or heat in the environment. Therefore, inside an oven that radiates heat, the temperature will be high, while inside a freezer that removes heat, the temperature will be low.
  The importance of conducting tests while controlling temperature is that the properties of all materials vary depending on the energy or heat they contain. The clearest example of this is that materials change their state (solid, liquid, or gas) depending on the temperature they are exposed to. Other properties that may change with temperature include color, mechanical strength, dimensional variations, or the detachment of parts, among others.

How to Perform Climate Tests

To conduct tests in a climate chamber, the first thing to know is the type of piece we want to test. Depending on its dimensions, the possibility of movement during the test, and the complexity of its geometry, the number and distribution of pieces inside the chamber will be determined.
Once it is determined that the piece or pieces we want to test fit into the climate chamber, the next step is to know the environmental conditions we want to reproduce. In this case, various scenarios can be presented:

According to time:

• Real-time tests: The testing time is the same as the real situation to simulate.

• Accelerated-time tests: The testing time is much shorter than the real situation. To make it comparable to the real case, the values of humidity or temperature are modified to be more severe, allowing changes in the samples to be observed more quickly.

According to periodicity:

• Continuous: In these tests, humidity and temperature conditions remain constant throughout the test.

• Cyclic: In these cases, humidity and temperature conditions periodically vary between two or three values of temperature and humidity. This allows simulating on/off machine cycles or day/night cycles.

It is important to note that in many cases, humidity cannot be adequately regulated at temperatures below 0°C due to ice formation.

Most Popular Climate Chamber Tests

• Day/Night Test: This is an accelerated cyclic test where the temperature is changed from a high temperature (60–80°C) to a low temperature (-40–0°C). The temperature values will depend on the approximate geographic area being simulated in the test. Humidity will also depend on the area but can remain constant during the test.
  
• Hot and Humid Environment Test: This is an accelerated continuous test where pieces are exposed to high values of temperature and humidity. These conditions are aggressive and can easily cause defects or oxidation in the pieces.
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What Materials and Pieces Can Be Tested in a Climate Chamber Test?

The range of materials and pieces that can be tested in a climate chamber is very wide and varied. The main restrictions that may arise are due to size and weight exceeding the chamber’s capacity or the material or piece being harmful to the integrity of the chamber itself.
Any material or piece that will be exposed to the outdoors should first be tested in a climate chamber to ensure that it will not degrade in any way during its lifespan due to climatic conditions.
For plastic materials, it is highly recommended to carry out climate chamber tests since they are less stable with temperature than metallic and ceramic materials. Additionally, some plastics have hygroscopic properties (i.e., they absorb water), so their properties can also depend on the level of humidity they are exposed to.

On the other hand, metals are good conductors of heat, so they undergo expansion and contraction with temperature variation. If it is necessary to check the buckling of flat pieces with temperature increase or dimensional stability after certain temperature change cycles, it is advisable to perform climate chamber tests on them. Likewise, some metals may suffer corrosion and oxidation under certain humidity conditions, so it is highly recommended to conduct these tests if they will be exposed to high levels of humidity.

Want to carry out climate chamber tests in one of your projects? Contact us!