Aging Test Chamber
An aging test chamber holds a specimen under heat, moisture, light, ozone or pressurized steam at a level above service conditions, so that degradation appears in days instead of years and the rate of property loss can be extrapolated to service life. Each chamber type isolates one degradation path, so the unit is chosen by the failure mechanism under study.
What the range covers
- Pressure Accelerated Aging Test Chamber, LEAST: steam at 100 to 135 °C, 17 to 250 L
- Xenon Water-Cooling Aging Test Chamber, LEXWT: 2.2 to 6 kW xenon arc with spray
- Accelerated Weathering Test Chamber, LEUV: UVA-340 or UVB-313 lamps with condensation
- Air Ventilation Aging Test Chamber, LEAVT: 5 to 200 air changes per hour
- Ozone Aging Test Chamber, LEOZT: 0 to 1000 pphm, 80 to 1000 L
- Steam Aging Test Chamber, LEST: to 100 °C
Engineering features
All units have a SUS 304 stainless steel interior and a powder coated exterior. The pressure aging chamber is a two-layer stainless vessel with a cover lock that blocks heating until the inner box is closed, a safety valve, automatic water replenishment and a double over-temperature cutout.
The xenon chamber regulates black panel temperature (55 to 100 °C), air temperature and humidity (50 to 98 %RH) and meters irradiance. The UV chamber alternates UV exposure at 40 to 85 °C with condensation at 40 to 60 °C. The ozone chamber holds concentration within ±10 %. The ventilation chamber admits air at the bottom and exhausts at the top under PID control.
Controllers range from PID indicators with timers on the steam unit to touch screen PLC control on the xenon chamber, with segment programming of temperature, humidity, light and spray. Low water and over-temperature cutoffs are fitted across the range.
Selecting a configuration
The test method fixes the stress factor; chamber size follows from the specimen count. To quote, we need the following.
- Test standard (typically referenced): ASTM G154 or ISO 4892 for UV, ASTM G155 for xenon, ISO 1431 for ozone, JESD22-A102 for pressure cooker tests
- Specimen form, size and count per batch
- Required temperature, humidity, irradiance, ozone concentration or steam pressure
- Exposure duration and cycle structure (light and dark, wet and dry)
- Fixtures: rotating rack, tensile clamps, baskets or shelves
- Utilities: supply voltage, distilled water, lamp cooling water, ozone exhaust
Typical applications
- Weathering of paints, coatings, plastics and textiles
- Ozone cracking of rubber, seals and cable insulation
- Thermal endurance of electrical insulating materials
- Pressure cooker and steam aging of PCBs and plated parts
Reference values above describe the product family. Guaranteed performance, included hardware, exclusions, interfaces and acceptance criteria are stated only in the project-specific technical proposal and approved datasheet.
