MIL-STD 810 Testing

MIL-STD 810 Testing Method

MIL-STD-810 testing is a United States military standard that highlights the importance of adapting an equipment’s environmental design and test limits to its circumstances during its service life. The standard is used to identify the weaknesses, flaws, and problems in the equipment’s construction, components, manufacturing procedures, packaging methods, and maintenance practices. 

The guidelines and test procedures in the MIL-STD-810 standard are meant to create analysis and test criteria specific to the equipment and its environmental life cycle by defining the environmental stress sequences, durations, and levels. It also analyzes how well the equipment will perform under various environmental pressures across its life cycle.

Common Uses of MIL-STD-810 Testing

• It is a widely recognized standard for testing and compliance with ruggedization requirements for portable computers and equipment.
• It covers a wide range of environmental conditions, including low pressure for altitude testing, exposure to high and low temperatures plus temperature shock (both in use and in storage), rain (including wind-blown and freezing rain), humidity, fungus, and salt fog for rust testing, sand and dust exposure, explosive atmosphere, leakage, acceleration, shock and transport shock, gunfire vibration, and random vibration.

Advantages

• The MIL-STD-810 test procedure establishes trust in the environmental suitability and general durability of the “material system” design.
• The document covers the environmental tailoring process that yields realistic material designs and test techniques based on material system performance requirements rather than imposing design or test criteria.

Limitations

• In many instances, it is impossible to replicate real-world environmental pressures (either separately or in combination) in test labs.