Safety and Survival Testing Services

Their life is in your hands.

That’s why you need DTB to carry out thorough Safety and Survival Testing, with performance and reliability evaluation of your critical safety product.

With four decades of demonstrated high quality performance in this highly specialized field, DTB has developed all of the necessary test facilities, special test equipment, program management structure, government furnished equipment [GFE] tracking, and quality control systems necessary to perform rapid and cost-effective quality assurance testing of this most critical aspect of mission effectiveness.

Body Armor Conditioning Testing

The NIJ (National Institute of Justice) has significantly revised their Ballistics Testing standard, NIJ 0101.06. Among the changes, it now calls for Environmental Conditioning Testing, in order to subject body armor to simulated conditions of heat, moisture, and mechanical damage.

Improvements in the standard are a result of an extensive engineering study to address real world conditions that can degrade body armor performance.

The revisions to this standard come after recent unfortunate incidents where bullets penetrated the body armor.

The new NIJ 0101.06 standard takes into account the degradation of armor over time. It includes specifications for mechanical agitation, humidity levels, water immersion, and temperature.

DTB is NIJ / NVLAP accredited to carry out the Body Armor Conditioning Testing required to meet this standard, by providing cyclical temperature and humidity exposure, while tumbling the vest samples.

Count on DTB to test your product properly, and face your customers and the NIJ with confidence. We stand apart from the rest by offering:

Click here to view our NVLAP certification documents.

Aircrew Equipment Testing and Validation

The Dayton T. Brown, Inc. Safety and Survival Department provides the testing and engineering services required to perform developmental test and evaluation, first article, qualification, and production lot quality conformance verification testing in support of all phases of the ALSS/ALSE life cycle.

Our facilities are equipped to provide all services necessary for the complete range of fully integrated engineering and test program support.

DTB’s staff has performed a variety of Safety and Survival Testing, such as Accelerated Environments testing, Explosive Decompression testing, Temperature / Altitude / Vibration testing, explosive atmosphere testing, ballistics anti-fragmentation testing, and optical testing, on the following applications:

Some of the developmental test and evaluation programs that DTB has performed Safety and Survival Testing for include:

Enhanced Windblast Test Facility

For over forty years, Dayton T. Brown, Inc. has been providing windblast testing services to evaluate aircrew safety during emergency aircraft egress

Aircraft emergency egress during flight generates aerodynamic loads on the aircrew member, personnel equipment, and aircraft components. These forces endanger the occupant during ejection.

The windblast facility produces a high velocity air flow field similar to the aerodynamic environment external to the aircraft. This is accomplished with the controlled expansion of high pressure compressed air which exits from a rectangular nozzle.

The centerpiece of the facility is the enlarged 3-feet-wide and 5-feet-high nozzle. This nozzle incorporates a symmetrical manifold delivery system. This improvement produces more uniform airflow across the nozzle than prior state-of-the-art competitive facilities. The broadened windblast air stream more accurately simulates the ejection aerodynamic conditions, resulting in a more realistic test environment.

The Enhanced Windblast Test Facility at Dayton T. Brown, Inc. can accommodate personnel equipment, aircraft escape systems, aircraft equipment, and aircraft sections at test peak velocities from 100 to 700 Knots Equivalent Airspeed (KEAS). This means that your product is exposed to higher velocities associated with advanced testing requirements.

Upon exiting the nozzle, the air impinges on the item under test, which is mounted on the positioning turntable. The dynamic effects on the test item are recorded with high speed video cameras and electronic data transducers for subsequent analysis.

Life Support Equipment/Systems Testing includes testing and evaluation of:

Deployment Performance Evaluation

Pneumatics Testing: Air, 02, CO2, N2, He, Ar

Optics and Laser Eye Protection Testing

Dayton T. Brown, Inc. has wide ranging experience in the propagation and measurement of electromagnetic radiation in the visible, infrared and ultraviolet regions.

We maintain a particular interest and capacity with respect to laser eye protection.

Our capabilities include the measurement and evaluation of laser eye protection for helmet mounted displays, night vision goggles and Integrated Modular Helmets in accordance with the latest military specifications in the visible, near infrared and infrared regions.

In additional to this proficiency we also maintain facilities and equipment necessary to evaluate photometric attributes of light.

We retain the expertise to evaluate displays and light sources for Chromaticity, Luminous Intensity, Luminance, Illuminance, Spectral Response and Contrast Ratios.

SAFE Association

Dayton T. Brown, Inc. has been an active member of SAFE for several years, and exhibits regularly at their Annual Convention. The primary objective of the SAFE Association is to stimulate research and development in the fields of safety and survival, and to disseminate pertinent information to concerned individuals in government and industry. In addition, the objective is to establish and maintain a meaningful relationship between the SAFE Association and the scientific communities related to safety and survival.

SAFE publishes a Journal, Newsletter and the Proceedings of the Annual SAFE Symposium. These publications are valuable reference sources for the professional involved in safety and survival.

SAFE culminates each year’s activities with the annual SAFE Symposium. Presentation topics range from desert survival to the latest aircraft passenger egress aids, cockpit design, restraint systems, and school bus design to international symbols related to transportation and safety, and crew training. The Symposium is attended by an international group of professionals who are there to share problems and solutions in the field of safety and survival.

To view the SAFE East Coast Chapter’s latest newsletter, please click here.

Contact Information for SAFE:

Domestic & Foreign Mail (letters and packages)
SAFE Association
Post Office Box 130
Creswell, OR 97426-0130

Federal Express, UPS, and other overnight service provider mail/packages
SAFE Association
300 North Mill Street, Unit B
Creswell, OR 97426
(No domestic or foreign mail is delivered to the street address - specialty delivery services only.)

Phone (541) 895 3012
Fax (541) 895 3014
Email: safe@peak.org