Simulation testing: What is it good for?
Greg Reed, Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 3/1/2005 2:00:00 AM
Automotive and aerospace engineers can easily answer the question posed by the headline. Confirming a product's ability to withstand conditions such as thermal shock, material fatigue, mechanical failure, or chemical breakdown and abrasion is critical to those who produce systems that operate in harsh environments.
Used to predict performance across a broad range of environments, simulation testing can be accomplished with software or mechanical structures and chambers that replicate environments such as temperature, salt, humidity, radiation, fungus and mold, altitude, vacuum, fire, and ozone.
For automotive and aerospace manufacturing, almost any possible environmental condition might occur during a product's lifetime. Whether a product will be used on land or in space, engineers must prepare it for extreme conditions or for any combination of alternating extreme environments: equatorial, arctic, desert, high altitude, dusty, or explosive. Additionally, materials such as metals, plastic, rubber, composites, fabrics, and sensitive electronics present unique challenges.
Simulation testing, which requires less time than field testing, can save money while ensuring product integrity, determining operational limits, and helping to establish guidelines for safe operation. Indeed, simulation testing is a valuable tool used by automotive and aerospace engineers to meet MIL-STD, SAE, Telcordia, and other standards.
Contact Greg Reed ateditor@aatr.net.
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