Climatic and Environmental Testing Services

You manufacture your product under ideal conditions with the tightest tolerances. But it must function to capacity anywhere on earth and beyond, sometimes in the harshest of environments. Here's how our rigorous environmental testing services can help ensure that it does:

Altitude Testing:

Our environmental testing facilities simulate altitudes from Death Valley at -14.1 meters (-282 feet), to outer space at 24,300 meters (80,000 feet). Performed in our (6) altitude environmental testing chambers that are all connected to a group of vacuum pumps, which can all be applied to any one chamber. The result is that a rapid rate of change in altitude can be performed, as well as the standard type of altitude change.

High / Low Temperature Testing:

Within environmental testing chambers varying from 0.06 cubic meters (3500 cubic ft.), we generate temperatures as cold as an evening on Mars or as hot as a morning on Mercury. Relative humidity can range from that of a desert, 2%, to a tropical forest, 100%.   We have over 30 temperature environmental testing chambers, the largest being our new 25ft deep by 15ft wide by 15ft tall drive-in environmental test chamber that is coupled with over 240 Hp of refrigeration, 240,000 KVA of heat and a 42 KVA Steam Generator for humidity test requirements.

Humidity Testing:

DTB humidity chambers range in size from our large drive-in environmental test facility that is 25ft deep by 15ft wide by 15ft tall, to our standard chamber, which is 64 cu ft in volume. All such environmental testing chambers meet the requirement of Mil-Std-810. They can reach temperatures to 185ºF(85ºC) and Relative humidity of 100%.

Combined Environments:

We own six such environmental testing facilities, combining temperature/humidity chambers with electro-dynamic vibration facilities. The chambers have rapid rates of temperature change and the vibration facilities can handle 18,000 force-pound loads, with frequencies up to 2000 Hz.

Ice, Rain and Sunshine Environmental Testing:

Whether it is steady state or diurnal cycles-we produce any type of sunlight delivery or intensity to meet your environmental testing technical requirements. Need rain? We'll give you a spring drizzle, torrential wind-driven rain, or anything else, including freezing rain and ice. Using our large drive-in and walk-in environmental testing chambers where we can produce inches of ice on very large or small test items.

Salt Fog and Spray Testing:

Accelerated corrosion atmospheres for the effects of salt and sea mist are applied to items as large as a pick-up truck. Other contaminants can be added according to desired environmental testing conditions.

Sand and Dust Testing:

We can recreate a desert storm or the air blast from an aircraft with the wind-driven abrasion and erosion of sand and dust, combined with actual temperatures. Mil-Std environmental testing is performed in our facility that is located outside our main building. The winds for this environmental test are developed using a large electric motor blower assembly. Two environmental testing facilities can be used for dust testing. The 13ft standard facility is used for smaller systems with an effective work area of 64 cu ft. The second facility is a large drive-in chamber for large environmental test items.

Fungus Testing:

In hot and humid environments, fungus can cause equipment damage and create a health liability. We'll simulate these ill effects in a controlled environmental test. DTB has a dedicated fungus chamber to subject either a test item or items to the Mil-Std fungus spores. This environmental testing requires 24/7 oversight to insure that the proper test conditions are maintained. Control samples are included in all environmental tests to ensure that proper conditions have been maintained to grow the mold spores.

Explosive Atmosphere Testing:

This environmental test assures the safety of a component exposed to explosive vapors or to other dangerous environments. Our environmental testing facility can be used to test the most complex flight electronics system or a shop vacuum used in a gas station, in order to verify proper operation in the explosive atmosphere environment.

Explosive Decompression Testing:

Using our 10ft diameter by 20ft long altitude environmental testing chamber as the accumulator, we can obtain a wide range of rapid decompression requirements. That large volume of the chamber combined with the (8) vacuum pumps permits a large array of possibilities when the decompression occurs.

Fluid Compatibility Testing:

Subjecting test item or material samples to various types of fluids as required by either the Mil-Std environmental testing requirements or the test item's actual Life Cycle.

Solar Radiation:

DTB uses two solar arrays of light. The large array of light can be used in our large environmental testing drive-in chambers. The second array of light is used in our smaller environmental testing walk-in chambers. The combination of the (2) solar light arrays and the number of chambers we can place them in, permits meeting the most demanding environmental test schedules.

Thermal Vacuum:

Our environmental testing chamber is 4ft in diameter and 6ft deep, with heating and cooling that can be accomplish by two methods. The first is by direct contact through the use of a chill plate; the second is through the use of the chamber's shroud.

Wind and Rain Exposure:

DTB's main wind and rain environmental testing facility is located outside, near our remote facility and employs an adjustable aircraft prop that is coupled to a high power marine engine. This combination permits DTB to meet Mil-Std-810 as well as other environmental testing requirements that you may have. The second facility employs our 21ft salt fog chamber and permits wind and rain environmental testing to be performed indoors; therefore this this particular environmental test will not be delayed due to weather conditions.

Environmental Testing Equipment and Facilities:

Forty two environmental testing chambers covering a wide variety of environments from 8 cu. ft to 4500 cu ft in a spacious laboratory of 300,000 square ft.

Six walk-in environmental testing chambers with temperature transitions to 9ºF(5ºC) per minute.

Three salt fog environmental testing chambers from 40cu ft to 3000 cu ft.

We carry an inventory of portable heating and cooling equipment with a variety of controls and instrumentation, which we use to construct chambers to meet your specific environmental testing requirements.