Lab Ovens and Lab Furnaces

Design with sample protection as the primary goal

Lab ovens are an indispensable utility for your daily workflow, from simple glassware drying to very complex temperature-controlled heating applications. Our portfolio of heating and drying ovens provides temperature stability and reproducibility for all your application needs. LABCOMPANION heating and drying ovens are designed with sample protection as a primary goal, contributing to superior efficiency, safety and ease of use.

Understand natural and mechanical convection

Principle of natural convection:

In a natural convection oven, hot air flows from bottom to bottom, so that the temperature is evenly distributed (see figure above). No fan actively blows the air inside the box. The advantage of this technology is ultra-low air turbulence, which allows for mild drying and heating.

Principle of mechanical convection:

In a mechanical convection (forced air drive) oven, an integrated fan actively drives the air inside the oven to achieve uniform temperature distribution throughout the chamber (see figure above). A major advantage is excellent temperature uniformity, which enables reproducible results in applications such as material testing, as well as for drying solutions with very demanding temperature requirements. Another advantage is that the drying rate is much faster than natural convection. After opening the door, the temperature in the mechanical convection oven will be restored to the set temperature level more quickly.

LED Traffic Light Test

Light-emitting Diode, referred to as LED, is the abbreviation of the English name Light Emitting Diode, through the combination of electrons and holes to release energy light, can efficiently convert electrical energy into light energy, has a wide range of uses in modern society, such as lighting, flat panel display and medical devices. With the continuous progress of technology, this electronic component from the early can only emit low-light red light to develop other monochromatic light, has been widely used in visible light, infrared and ultraviolet light, is widely used in indicators and display boards, and then extended to traffic lights. It is known as a new light source in the 21st century, with high efficiency, long life, material is not easily affected by the environment and relatively stable, with the advantages of traditional light sources can not be comparable.

The traffic on the zebra crossing is heavy every day, as the guide of the traffic rules - the traffic light is also working hard every day, because it is placed outdoors all year round, so it must accept the strict reliability test before it can work. The test conditions include: Voltage electric, failure protection, electromagnetic noise, dust and waterproof, high temperature test, vibration test, salt spray test, insulation voltage, insulation resistance test... 

Note: Before other tests, LED traffic lights need to undergo dry heat tests before other tests can be carried out.

Lamp surface test: dry heat test: 60℃/24 hours/applied voltage

Failure judgment: no deformation, loosening, falling off

Temperature resistance test: 70℃(16 hours)→-15℃(16 hours)→R.T., RAMP:≦1℃/min, 2cycle, power supply

Temperature and humidity test: 40℃→RAMP:≦1℃/min→40℃/95%(24 hours), power on

Continuous switching action: 40℃/60~80%, ON(1sec)←→OFF(1sec), 10000 times

Voltage electric: 80 ~ 135V(AC), 170 ~ 270V(AC)

Failure judgment: Light intensity drift ≦20%(110V, 220V light intensity as the benchmark)

Waterproof and dustproof meet IP54 class requirements

Insulation resistance test:

Insulation resistance: 500V

Failure determination: not less than 2MΩ

Insulation withstand voltage test: 1000V/60Hz/1min(after insulation resistance test)

Light chamber test:

High temperature test: 130℃/1 hour

Failure judgment: no deformation, loosening, falling off, cracking... Etc.

Vibration test: XYZ three-way, each 12min for 36min, 10 ~ 35 ~ 10Hz sine wave, each cycle for 3min, total vibration of 2mm

Failure judgment: no deformation, loosening, falling off, cracking, and the LED light surface can be normally lit and operated

Wind tunnel test: Wind speed 16 (51.5-56.4m /s), forward (0 degrees) and side (45 degrees), each blowing for 2 hours

Failure judgment: no deformation, loosening, falling off, cracking

Salt spray test: 96 hours

Failure determination: less than 8 embroider points on the area of 10,000mm^2, LED signal light surface insulation resistance >2MΩ, voltage 1000V/1min, no abnormality

Recommended model 1: high temperature and high humidity test chamber

High temperature and high humidity test chamber is suitable for electrical, electronic, instruments and other products, parts and materials in high and low temperature alternating wet and hot environment storage, transportation, use adaptability test; It is a reliability test equipment for all kinds of electronic, electrical, electrical, plastic and other raw materials and devices to carry out cold resistance, heat resistance, wet resistance, dry resistance test and quality control engineering; Especially suitable for fiber, LCD, crystal, inductance, PCB, battery, computer, mobile phone and other products of high temperature resistance, low temperature resistance, moisture resistance cycle test.

Recommended model 2: vibration of the comprehensive chamber

Vibration of the comprehensive chamber combined with temperature, humidity, vibration function in one, suitable for aerospace products, information electronic instruments, materials, electrical, electronic products, all kinds of electronic components in a comprehensive harsh environment to test their performance indicators. Vibration of the comprehensive chamber mainly for aerospace, aviation, petroleum, chemical, electronics, communications and other scientific research and production units to provide temperature and humidity change environment, at the same time in the test chamber will be electric vibration stress according to the specified period of the test on the test, for the user of the whole machine (or components), electrical appliances, instruments, materials for temperature and humidity, vibration comprehensive stress screening test. In order to assess the adaptability of the test product or to evaluate the behavior of the test product. Compared with the effect of a single factor, it can more truly reflect the adaptability of electrical and electronic products to temperature, humidity and vibration complex environment changes in transportation and actual use, and expose product defects, which is an essential and important test means for the whole process of new product development, prototype test and product qualification test.

Recommended model 3: salt spray test chamber

The salt spray test chamber is suitable for all kinds of communication electronic products, electronic appliances, hardware parts to do neutral salt spray test (NSS) and corrosion test (AASS, CASS), omplied with CNS, ASTM, JIS, ISO and other standards. The salt spray test is to test the corrosion resistance of the products on the surface of various materials after anti-corrosion treatment such as coating, electroplating, anodic treatment and anti-rust oil.

Recommended model 4: waterproof and dustproof test chamber

Waterproof and dustproof test chamber is suitable for outdoor terminals such as metering automation terminals and distribution network automation terminals to carry out rain and dust tests to ensure that the tested products can withstand the impact of harsh environmental changes, so that the products can operate safely and reliably, and are suitable for external lighting and signal devices and automotive lamp shell protection. It can provide realistic simulation of various environments such as water, spray and dust tests that electronic products and their components may be subjected to during transportation and use. In order to detect the waterproof and dustproof performance of various products.

Multi-touch Panel Testing

When the human body is close to the touchpad, the capacitance value between the sensing pad and the ground will change (general pf level). Capacitive touch pad (also known as: Surface capacitive) is through the use of the sensor detected by the change of capacitance value by calculating microprocessor, filtering interference and finally determining whether there is a human body close to achieve the key function. Compared with the traditional mechanical keys, the advantage is that there is no mechanical damage, and non-metals such as glass, acrylic, plastic can be used as the operating panel isolation, making the appearance of the product more atmospheric. In contrast, it can also realize the sliding operation that is difficult to achieve with traditional mechanical keys, so that the human-machine interface is more in line with the intuitive operation of people.

The outermost layer of the capacitive touch panel is a thin silicon dioxide hardening processing layer, and its hardness reaches 7; The second layer is ITO(conductive coating), through the conductive layer on the front of the average distribution of low-voltage conduction current, to establish a uniform electric field on the glass surface, when the finger touches the surface of the touch panel, it will absorb a small amount of current from the contact point, resulting in a voltage drop of the corner electrode, the use of sensing the weak current of the human body to achieve the purpose of touch; The function of the bottom layer of ITO is to shield electromagnetic waves, so that the touch panel can work in a good environment without interference. While the projective capacitive, which is the touch mode used by the famous Apple iPhone and Windows 7, has the feature of supporting multi-touch, which can shorten the user's learning time, just use the finger belly touch panel to avoid the use of stylus, and has higher light transmission and more power saving, more scratch resistance than resistive type (hardness up to 7H or more), greatly increase the service life without correction...

Touch technology can be divided into four kinds according to the principle of sensing, including resistive, capacitive, surface acoustic wave and optics. And capacitive can also be divided into surface capacitive and projected capacitive two kinds.

Touch technology applications:

Industrial applications (automatic processing machines, measuring instruments, centralized monitoring and control)

Commercial applications (ticketing systems, POS, ATMs, vending machines, stored value machines)

Life applications (cell phones, satellite positioning GPS, UMPC, small laptop)

Education and entertainment (e-books, portable game consoles, jukeboxes, electronic dictionaries)

Comparison of touch panel light transmission rate: resistive (85%), capacitive (93%)

Multi-touch panel test conditions:

Operating temperature range: -20℃～70℃/20%～85%RH

Storage temperature range: -50℃～85℃/10%～90%RH

High temperature test: 70℃/240, 500 hours, 80℃/240, 1000 hours, 85℃/1000 hours, 100℃/240 hours

Low temperature test: -20℃/240 hours, -40℃/240, 500 hours, -40℃/1000 hours

High temperature and high humidity test: 60℃/90%RH/240hours, 60℃/95%RH/1000hours 70℃/80%RH/500hours, 70℃/90%RH/240,500,1000hours, 70℃/95%RH/500hours 85℃/85%RH/1000hours, 85℃/90%RH/1000hours

Boiling test: 100℃/100%RH/100 minutes

Temperature shock - high and low temperature: (Temperature shock test is not equivalent to temperature cycling test )

-30℃←→80℃, 500cycles

-40℃(30min)←→70(30min)℃, 10cycles

-40℃←→70℃, 50, 100cycles

-40℃(30min)←→110℃(30min), 100cycles

-40℃(30min)←→80℃(30min), 10, 100cycles

-40℃(30min)←→90℃(30min), 100cycles

Thermal Shock Test - Liquid Type: -40℃←→90℃, 2cycles

Cold and thermal shock test-over room temperature: -30℃(30min)→R.T. (5min)→80℃(30min), 20cycles

Service life: 1,000,000 times, 2,000,000 times, 35,000,000 times, 225,000,000 times, 300,000,000 times

Hardness test: greater than hardness level 7 (ASTM D 3363, JIS 5400)

Impact Test: With more than 5kg of force, strike the panel on the most vulnerable area and the center of the panel respectively.

Pin(Tail) Pulling Test: 5 or 10kg downward pulling.

Pin Folding Test：135¢angle, left and right back and forth for 10 times.

Impact resistance test: 11φ/5.5g copper ball dropped at 1.8m height on the center surface of 1m object, 3ψ/9g stainless steel ball dropped at 30cm height.

Writing durability: 100,000 characters or more (width R0.8mm, pressure 250g)

Touch durability: 1,000,000, 10,000,000, 160,000,000, 200,000,000 times or more (width R8 mm, hardness 60°, pressure 250g, 2 times per second)

Test equipment:

Product Characteristics of Vacuum Oven

The vacuum oven can obtain a higher drying rate at a lower temperature, and the heat utilization is full, which is mainly suitable for the drying of heat-sensitive materials and materials containing capacitors and solvents to be recovered. It can be treated before drying, and no debris can be mixed in the drying process. The dryer is a static vacuum dryer, so the formation of dry materials will not be damaged. There are many eating methods: steam, hot water, thermal oil and electric heating.

Vacuum ovens are designed for drying heat-sensitive, easily decomposed and easily oxidized substances, and can be filled with inert gases, especially for some complex items.

The product has the following features:

1, chamber structure:  chamber adopts integral structure;

2, shell material: high-quality cold-rolled steel electrostatic spray; Inner wall material: stainless steel plate;

3, insulation material: ultrafine glass fiber;

4, the door seal: environmental protection silicone rubber strip. The closure and tightness of the box can be adjusted, and the silicone rubber door sealing ring is formed as a whole to ensure a high vacuum inside the box.

5, the studio is made of stainless steel plate (or wire drawing plate) to ensure that the product is durable.

6, storage, heating, testing and drying are carried out in an environment without oxygen or full of inert gases, so there is no oxidation.

7, the shortest heating time, compared with the traditional drying oven heating time reduced by more than 50%. Because the vacuum oven is provided with heat energy by electricity, and the wet items are conductive, it is advisable to be careful not to have leakage in use, so the general oven should be grounded to ensure safety. If there is no ground wire, it is necessary to confirm that there is no leakage of electricity in the oven; If there is no leakage, it can be used with care, and if there is still leakage, it should be stopped immediately.

Vacuum oven is designed for drying heat-sensitive, easily decomposed and easily oxidized substances, can be filled with inert gas (optional), especially some complex components of the articles can also be fast drying, suitable for industrial and mining enterprises, medical schools, scientific research units in vacuum conditions for drying heat treatment.

Conversion Between Accelerated Aging of Xenon Lamp Aging Test Chamber And Outdoor Aging 

Generally speaking, it is difficult to have a detailed positioning and conversion formula for the conversion between accelerated aging of xenon lamp aging test chamber and outdoor aging. The biggest problem is the variability and complexity of the outdoor environment. The variables that determine the relationship between xenon lamp aging test chamber exposure and outdoor exposure include:

1. Geographical latitude of outdoor aging exposure sites (closer to the equator means more UV).

2. Altitude (Higher altitude means more UV).

3. Local geographical characteristics, such as the wind can dry the test sample or close to water will produce condensation.

4. Random changes in climate from year to year can lead to a 2:1 change in aging at the same location.

5. Seasonal changes (e.g., winter exposure may be 1/7 of summer exposure).

6. Direction of the sample (5° south vs. vertical facing north)

7. Sample insulation (outdoor samples with insulated backing age 50% faster than uninsulated samples).

8. Working cycle of xenon lamp aging box (light time and wet time).

9. The working temperature of the test chamber (the higher the temperature, the faster the aging).

10. Test the uniqueness of the sample.

11. Spectral Intensity Distribution (SPD) of laboratory light sources

Objectively speaking, accelerated aging and outdoor aging have no convertibility, one is a variable, one is a fixed value, the only thing to do is to obtain a relative value, rather than an absolute value. Of course, it is not to say that relative values have no effect; on the contrary, relative values can also be very effective. For example, you will find that a slight change in design may double the durability of standard materials. Or you may find the same looking material from multiple suppliers, some of which age quickly, most of which take a moderate amount of time to age, and a smaller amount that ages after longer exposure. Or you may find that less expensive designs have the same durability against standard materials that have satisfactory performance over actual service life, such as 5 years.

Reliability Testing Acceleration Testing

Most semiconductor devices have lifetimes that extend over many years at normal use. However, we cannot wait years to study a device; we have to increase the applied stress. Applied stresses enhance or accelerate potential fail mechanisms, help identify the root cause, and help labcompanion take actions to prevent the failure mode.

In semiconductor devices, some common accelerants are temperature, humidity, voltage, and current. In most cases, the accelerated testing does not change the physics of the failure, but it does shift the time for observation. The shift between accelerated and use condition is known as ‘derating.’

Highly accelerated testing is a key part of JEDEC based qualification tests. The tests below reflect highly accelerated conditions based on JEDEC spec JESD47. If the product passes these tests, the devices are acceptable for most use cases.

Temperature Cycle

Per the JESD22-A104 standard, temperature cycling (TC) subjects the units to extreme high and low temperatures transitions between the two. The test is performed by cycling the unit's exposure to these conditions for a predetermined number of cycles.

High Temperature Operating Life (HTOL)

HTOL is used to determine the reliability of a device at high temperature while under operating conditions. The test is usually run over an extended period of time according to the JESD22-A108 standard.

Temperature Humidity Bias/Biased Highly Accelerated Stress Test (BHAST)

According to the JESD22-A110 standard, THB and BHAST subject a device to high temperature and high humidity conditions while under a voltage bias with the goal of accelerating corrosion within the device. THB and BHAST serve the same purpose, but BHAST conditions and testing procedures enable the reliability team to test much faster than THB.

Autoclave/Unbiased HAST

Autoclave and Unbiased HAST determine the reliability of a device under high temperature and high humidity conditions. Like THB and BHAST, it is performed to accelerate corrosion. Unlike those tests, however, the units are not stressed under a bias.

High Temperature Storage

HTS (also called Bake or HTSL) serves to determine long-term reliability of a device under high temperatures. Unlike HTOL, the device is not under operating conditions for the duration of the test.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

Static charge is an unbalanced electrical charge at rest. Typically, it is created by insulator surfaces rubbing together or pulling apart; one surface gains electrons, while the other surface loses electrons. The result is an unbalanced electrical condition known as static charge.

When a static charge moves from one surface to another, it becomes Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and moves between the two surfaces in a form of a miniature lightning bolt.

When a static charge moves, it becomes a current that can damage or destroy gate oxide, metal layers, and junctions.

JEDEC tests ESD in two different ways:

1. Human Body Mode (HBM)

A component level stress developed to simulate the action of a human body discharging accumulated static charge through a device to ground.

2. Charged Device Model (CDM)

A component level stress that simulates charging and discharging events that occur in production equipment and processes, per the JEDEC JESD22-C101 specification.

Smart Watch Reliability Test Conditions

In today's society, elementary school students and even kindergarten children have a smart watch. So, what is a smartwatch? In the late period of sports watch promotion due to the rapid takeoff of smart phones, the smart table has no intention to provide the same PIM effect as PDA and smart phones, and appeals to the smart phone agent assistant accessories, similar to Bluetooth headphones are voice AIDS of smart phones, smart tables become information and data AIDS, providing more convenient and fast information display and operation. There are also other names such as Smart Accessory and Android Remote. Positioned as a mobile phone assistant, the idea is that "the reason why the pocket watch is extinct is because it is simply to look at the time, but also take out the pocket, about 2-3 seconds, but the watch is less than 1 second, which is more convenient than the pocket watch." And after observation, now everyone takes out a smartphone and slides open, just to confirm the message, so that about dozens of times, these confirmation even typing reply do not need, if the dozens of confirmation changed on the watch, you do not always have to pull the machine slide unlock, because this is as time-consuming as a pocket watch. Therefore, after becoming the assistant of the mobile phone, the remote control, if you do not take the mobile phone to go out, the watch is useless in addition to showing the time, and the Bluetooth headset without a mobile phone, almost scrap metal.

Combined with smart bracelet to sell better!!

Smart watch from "smaller than the PDA independent computer" to "smart phone remote control AIDS", seems to have been a more successful positioning, but this CES 2014 can be seen, combined with smart bracelet positioning is better. The smart wristband uses acceleration sensors (and gyroscopes, magnetoresistive sensors, etc.) to sense the user's running speed, step count, etc., and can even detect deep sleep and provide suggestions for exercise and sleep. When the wristband is added to the display, it can display the time and information on the mobile phone. Appeal to mobile phone information, if there is no urgent information needs, in fact, only similar to the Bluetooth headset is regarded as an option (Courier, driver need), if everyone can accept the information access speed of sliding, then the market will be limited. However, in addition to the appeal for exercise and sleep record supervision, and emphasize information tips, rather than emphasizing the remote control of the watch on the mobile phone, it is equivalent to a little sacrifice or almost no sacrifice to the end user, but it brings immediate and new application value (sports, sleep assistance), rather than completely repeating the efficacy value of the mobile phone, which further increases the market success of the smart watch. After constantly adjusting the efficacy, application and positioning, and integrating with the smart ring, we believe that we can have a higher market than in the past.

Smart watch for people and functions:

1. Smart watches for adults

Functions: Bluetooth synchronous mobile phone calls, send and receive text messages, monitor sleep, monitor heart rate, sedentary reminder, running, remote photography, music playback, video, compass and other functions, designed for fashion trend people!

2, Smart watch for the elderly

Functions: ultra-accurate GPS positioning, family calls, emergency calls, heart rate monitoring, sedentary reminders, medicine reminders and other customized functions for the elderly, providing an umbrella for the elderly's travel, bring this watch, refuse to lose the elderly!

3, Children positioning smart watch

Functions: multiple positioning, two-way call, SOS SOS, remote monitoring, intelligent anti-loss, historical track, electronic fence, pedometer, love reward and other functions, to ensure the safety of children, give children a healthy and safe growth environment!

Smart watch specification:

IEC 60086-3: Watch batteries

ISO 105-A02: Colour fastness test -A02 - Grey scale assessment for discoloration

ISO 105-A03-1993: Tests for colour fastness -A03- Grey scale assessment of dyeing

ISO 764: Horological anti-magnetic watches

ISO 1413: Horological shockproof watches

ISO 2281: Horological waterproof watches

ISO 11641-1993: Leather - tests for colour fastness - Colour fastness to perspiration

ISO 14368-3: Impact resistance test of table glass

MIL 810G: Environmental engineering considerations and laboratory testing

QB/T 1897-1993: Waterproof watch inspection

QB/T 1898-1993: Inspection of shockproof watches

QB/T 1908-1993: Key reliability test

QB/T 1919-2012: Type inspection of digital quartz watches with hands and liquid crystal

QB/T 2047-2007: Inspection of metal watchbands

GB/T 2537-2001: leather color fastness test reciprocating grinding color fastness

QB/T 2540-2002: Leather strap inspection

GB/T 6048-1985: digital quartz electronic watch

GB/T 18761-2007: electronic digital display indicator

GB/T 18828-2002: Standard for diving watches

GB/T 22778-2008: LCD digital quartz stopwatch type inspection

GB/T 22780-2008: Type inspection of LCD quartz watches

GB/T 26716-2011 idt ISO 764-2002: Inspection of anti-magnetic watches

HJ216-2005: Eco-Drive watch

Smart watch pilot project:

Reliability, time period measurement accuracy, instantaneous daily difference, operating temperature, voltage range, average temperature coefficient, voltage coefficient, moisture resistance, shock resistance, waterproof performance, battery replacement cycle, key fatigue resistance, light and weather resistance, antistatic performance Ambient temperature range: -25℃ ~ 55℃ Operating temperature: -5 ~ 50℃/80%R.H.(Requirements: each function and liquid crystal display should be complete and normal) High and low working temperature test: 50±1℃/24h→RT/1h→-5±1℃ Temperature change test conditions: (IEC60068-2) High temperature: 30, 40, 55℃ Low temperature: 5, -5, -10, -25℃ Nb residence time (including rising and cooling time) : 10min, 30min, 1hr Nb temperature variability: 3±0.6℃/min, 5±1℃/min.

Wet heat test:

1.40±1℃/85 ~ 95%R.H./24h

2.8±1℃/85 ~ 95%R.H./4h

Warehouse storage humidity test:

40℃/20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%

49℃/10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%

Each step37 hours

Air transport temperature change simulation test:

Specification: IEC60721.2 Electrical and electronic products application environmental conditions - transport national standard

Category: 2K5 (Applicable to the climatic range of unventilated and unpressurized internal transport worldwide)

Temperature range: -65℃←→85℃

RAMP: 5℃/min

Air transport temperature change simulation test:

Specification: IEC60721.6 Electrical and electronic products application environmental conditions - Marine

Category: 6K5 (subject to cold weather, installed in weather-protected but unheated parts)

Temperature range: -25℃←→40℃

RAMP: 3℃/min

Water temperature change resistance test:

5min in 40℃ water → 5min in 20℃ water, 5min in 40℃ water, water depth of 10cm

Water pressure resistance test:

Soak the watch in a container of water, apply an overpressure of 2*10^5Pa[or 20m water depth] within 1 minute, maintain 10 minutes, and then in 1 minute the pressure will be to the standard pressure of the surrounding environment

Salt water resistance test:

Put the watch under test into 30g/L sodium chloride solution at 18 ° C ~ 25 ° C for 24h. Check the case and accessories after the test should not have significant changes; Check the moving parts, especially the rotating front ring should be able to maintain normal function

Underwater reliability test:

The watch under test is immersed in 30cm±2cm of water and placed at a temperature of 18 ° C ~ 25 ° C for 50h, and all mechanical devices should still work normally. During the test, mechanical devices that need to be operated in water, such as time presetting devices and light switches, should be able to work normally; Do condensation test, the inner surface of the table glass shall not appear condensation fog, and the mechanical function should not be damaged

Thermal shock resistance test:

Immerse the watch in water of different temperatures with a depth of 30cm±2cm successively: place it in water of 40 ° C ±2 ° C for 10 minutes; Put in 5℃±2℃ water for 10 minutes; Put in water at 40 ° C ± 2 ° C for 10 minutes (the watch shall not be removed from the water and re-immersed in another water temperature for more than 1 minute). Do condensation test, the inner surface of the table glass shall not appear condensation fog, and should operate normally.

Chemical resistance test:

Citation Specifications: ASTM F 1598-95, ASTM D 1308-87, ASTM D 1308-02

Ingredients: Household chemicals (dirt, dust, oil, fumes and peanut butter, cosmetics, hand cream... Etc.)

Time: 24 hours

Corrosion resistance to artificial sweat test:

QB/T 1901.2-2006 "Gold alloy covers of shell and its accessories - Part 2 Test for purity, thickness, corrosion resistance and adhesion"

Test principle: The artificial sweat is used to contact the object under high temperature (40±2) ℃, and after a long time (not less than 24 hours), the condition of its surface is observed to determine its resistance to sweat corrosion.

Vibration test:

Acceleration (19.6m/s^2), frequency 30Hz ~ 120Hz, scanning cycle 1min

Requirements: The functions and the LCD display should be complete and normal, and the parts should not be loose and fall off

Drop test:

1m drop lithographic hardwood, once watch side, once surface glass

Requirements: Normal function after each impact, no appearance damage [broken glass, case foot bent, case component bent, case broken, button damaged]

Impact test:

Impact cone pad material: polytetrafluoroethylene, impact speed 4.43m/s, impact height 1m

Arm swing test:

2 to 10Hz

Solar Module Test

Solar energy is a kind of renewable energy, refers to the sun's thermal radiation energy, the main performance is often said that the sun rays, in the modern generally used for power generation or to provide energy for water heaters. In the case of decreasing fossil fuels, solar energy has become an important part of human energy use and continues to develop. The use of solar energy has two ways of photothermal conversion, solar power generation is an emerging renewable energy, so the related solar energy research and application industry has also stepped up the pace of development. In the research and production process of the solar module, the relevant reliability test and environmental test specifications have been formulated to ensure that the solar module can be durable for more than 20 to 30 years and its power generation conversion rate when used in outdoor environment.

Solar module HAST and PCT test illustration

Temperature and humidity test IEC61215-10-13:

Temperature and humidity test  conditions are 85℃/85%R.H., time: 1000 hours, to determine the ability of the module to resist long-term moisture penetration, through the temperature and humidity test  can be found defects: CELL delamination, EVA(delamination, discoloration, bubble generation, atomization, Browning), string line blackening, TCO corrosion, solder joint corrosion, Thin-film yellow discoloration, junction box degumming off... However, according to the test results of relevant Solar plants,1000 hours is not enough, and the actual situation finds that the test time to enable the module to find the problem needs to be at least 3000 to 5000 hours.

Test method of HAST [Highly Accelerated Temperature and Humidity Stress Test]:

HAST is short for Highly Accelerated Temperature and Humidity Stress Test in English. The highly accelerated humidity resistance evaluation test method is based on the environmental parameters of temperature and humidity. HAST and PCT [Pressure Cooker Test] are different from the two tests, HAST is called unsaturated test, while PCT is saturated humidity test, and the biggest difference from the general humidity evaluation test method is that it is in the field of temperature and humidity above 100℃, and is in the high-density water vapor environment test. The purpose of HAST is to accelerate the test of humidity intrusion into the sample for humidity resistance evaluation by taking advantage of the fact that the water vapor pressure in the test tank is much higher than the water vapor partial pressure inside the sample.

Test specifications and conditions of JESD22-A118[Accelerated Moisture Resistance-Unbiased](HAST unbiased test) :

It is used to evaluate the reliability of the device in wet environment, that is, the penetration of harsh temperature, humidity and increased water vapor pressure through the external protective material (encapsulation or sealing material) or along the interface of the external protective material and metal conductor, the failure mechanism is the same as that of the [85℃/85%RH] high temperature and high humidity steady-state humidity life test (JESD22-A101-B). In this test process, no bias is applied to ensure that the failure mechanism is not covered by bias, and this test is used to determine the failure mechanism in the package. The sample is in a non-condense humidity environment, only the temperature is increased a little, and the failure mechanism is the same as the [85℃/85%RH] high temperature and high humidity steady-state humidity life test without bias. It should be noted that, Since absorbed water vapor reduces the glass transition temperature of most polymer materials, an unreal failure mode may occur when the temperature is higher than the glass transition temperature.

85℃/85%/1000H(JESD22-A101)→110 ℃/85%/264H(JESD22-A110, A118)

Specifications: JEDEC22-A110(with bias), JEDEC22-A118(without bias)

Common conditions: 110℃/85%R.H./264h Applicable: PET, EVA, modules

Test method of PCT [Pressure Cooker Test]:

Generally known as the pressure cooker cooking test or saturated steam test, the most important is to test the product under harsh temperature, saturated humidity (100%R.H.)[saturated water vapor] and pressure environment, test the high humidity resistance of the test product, for solar packaging materials or modules, used for material moisture absorption test, high pressure cooking... For the purpose of the test, if the product to be tested is a Cell, it is used to test the moisture resistance of the Cell. The product to be tested is placed in a harsh temperature, humidity and pressure environment for testing. If the package is not well packaged, moisture will penetrate into the package along the colloid or the interface between the colloid and the wire frame. Popcorn effect, open circuit caused by metal wire corrosion, short circuit caused by contamination between package pins... And other related issues, and HAST accelerated aging is not the same.

Test specifications and conditions of PCT JESD22-A102:

To evaluate the integrity of non-airtight packaged devices against water vapor in a condensed or saturated water vapor environment, the sample is placed in a condensed, high-humidity environment under high pressure to allow water vapor to enter the package, exposing weaknesses in the package, such as delamination and metallization layer corrosion. The test is used to evaluate the new package structure or the update of the material and design in the package body. It should be noted that some internal or external failure mechanisms will appear in the test which are not consistent with the actual application situation. Since absorbed water vapor reduces the glass transition temperature of most polymer materials, an unreal failure mode may occur when the temperature is higher than the glass transition temperature.

Test conditions: 121℃/100%R.H./80h(COVEME), 200h[toyalSolar]

Applicable: PET, EVA, modules

Pressure cookers (PCTS) and Highly Accelerated Life Test Equipment (HAST) :

At present, most solar materials and modules can withstand long-term DHB(temperature and humidity + bias) test without failure, in order to improve the test efficiency and shorten the test time, the pressure cooker test method is used. Pressure cooker test methods are mainly divided into two types: That is, PCT and HAST, if the defects of solar packaging materials and modules can be found through HAST tests, and the degradation can be reduced by 1%, the LCOE[Levelized Cost of Electricity(actual energy output value, power generation cost per KWH)] will be reduced by 10%. The purpose of the PCT test is to increase the ambient stress (temperature & humidity), and to evaluate the sealing effect of the module and the moisture absorption of the backplane by exposing it to a wetting vapor pressure of more than one atmosphere.

The Relationship Between the Altitude of the Standard Atmosphere and Air Temperature and Pressure

The standard atmosphere referred to here refers to the "1964, ICAO Standard atmosphere" adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Below an altitude of 32 km, it is the same as "1976, U.S. standard atmosphere". Changes in air temperature near the surface (below 32 km) are:

Ground: The air temperature is 15.0℃, the air pressure P=1013.25mb= 0.101325MPa

Temperature change rate from ground to elevation 11 km: -6.5 ℃/ km

On the 11km interface:

The air temperature is -56.5 ℃ and the air pressure P=226.32mb

Temperature change rate at elevations of 11-20 km: 0.0℃/ km

Temperature change rate at altitude 20-32 km: +1.0/ km

The following table lists the temperature and pressure values of the standard atmosphere at different altitudes. In the table, "gpm" is the altitude meter, and its negative sign represents the altitude

Unit conversion relation

1mbar=100Pa=0.1KPa=0.0001 Mpa

1ft=0.3048m=304.8mm

55000ft*0.3048=16764m

Lab Companion focused on the production of reliability environmental test equipment for 19 years, successfully helped 18,000 enterprises to test the reliability and environmental performance of products and materials.

The main products are: high temperature test chamber, high and low temperature and humidity test chamber, walk-in environmental test chamber, rapid temperature cycling test chamber, thermal shock test chamber, high and low temperature low pressure test chamber, vibration of the comprehensive chamber and other test equipment manufacturing solutions to help enterprises R & D bigger and stronger!

If you need to know more about the products of the environmental test chamber, you can search the official website of "Lab Companion", feel free to contact us for consultation, we can provide you with one-on-one professional technical advice and guidance.

Thin Film Solar Cell

Thin film solar cell is a kind of solar cell manufactured by thin film technology, which has the advantages of low cost, thin thickness, light weight, flexibility and bendability. It is usually made of semiconductor materials such as copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), cadmium telluride (CdTe), amorphous silicon, gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc. These materials have high photoelectric conversion efficiency and can generate electricity under low light conditions.

Thin film solar cells can be used in inexpensive glass, plastic, ceramics, graphite, metal sheet and other different materials as substrates to manufacture, forming a film thickness that can generate voltage only a few μm, so the amount of raw materials can be significantly reduced than silicon wafer solar cells under the same light receiving area (thickness can be lower than silicon wafer solar cells more than 90%). At present, the conversion efficiency of up to 13%, thin film solar cells are not only suitable for flat structure, because of its flexibility can also be made into non-plane structure, has a wide range of application prospects, can be combined with buildings or become a part of the building body.

Application of thin film solar cell product:

Translucent solar cell modules: Building Integrated Solar Energy Applications (BIPV)

Application of thin film solar energy: portable folding rechargeable power supply, military, travel

Applications of thin film solar modules: roofing, building integration, remote power supply, defense

Features of thin film solar cells:

1. Less power loss under the same shielding area (good power generation under weak light)

2. The loss of power under the same illumination is less than that of wafer solar cells

3. Better power temperature coefficient

4. Better light transmission

5. High cumulative power generation

6. Only a small amount of silicon is needed

7. There is no internal circuit short circuit problem (the connection has been built in the series battery manufacturing)

8. Thinner than wafer solar cells

9. Material supply is secure

10. Integrated use with building materials (BIPV)

Solar cell thickness comparison:

Crystalline silicon (200 ~ 350μm), amorphous film (0.5μm)

Types of thin film solar cells:

Amorphus Silicon (a-Si), Nanocrystalline Silicon (nc-Si), Microcrystalline Silicon, mc-Si), compound semiconductors II-IV [CdS, CdTe(cadmium telluride), CuInSe2], Dye Sensitized Solar cells, Organic/polymer solar cells, CIGS (Copper indium selenide)... Etc.

Thin-film solar module structure diagram:

Thin film solar module is composed of glass substrate, metal layer, transparent conductive layer, electrical function box, adhesive material, semiconductor layer... And so on.

Reliability test specification for thin film solar cells:

IEC61646(Thin-film solar photoelectric module test standard), CNS15115(thin-film silicon onshore solar photoelectric module design validation and type approval)

Temperature & humidity test chamber of Lab Companion

Temperature & humidity test chamber series, passed the CE certification, offer 34L, 64L, 100L, 180L, 340L, 600L, 1000L, 1500L and other volume models to meet the needs of different customers. In design, they use environment-friendly refrigerant and high-performance refrigeration system, parts and components are used in the international famous brand.