Overview for management and participants

• Purpose of environmental testing, particularly vibration and shock aboard space vehicles
• Purpose of environmental stress screening (ESS)
• Extensions to HALT (highly accelerated life testing) and to HASS
• Types of vibration tests: resonance search/dwell, fatigue, specification
• Approximate scheduling so managers can audit special topics

Quiz for evaluation of attendee prior knowledge

Classical sinusoidal vibration never observed in service; useful concept

• Introduction: terminology, structural resonant behavior, passive and active isolation
• Sinusoidal vibration measurements: units, sensors, readouts, errors
• Calibration of sensors and systems; traceability to NIST

Most machinery vibration is complex; introduction to spectrum analysis

Sinusoidal vibration testing

• Electrohydraulic and electrodynamic shakers; theory, tradeoffs, limits
• Power amplifier theory, operation, limitations, distortion effects
• Controls for sinusoidal vibration testing
• Sinusoidal vibration test practice
• Vibration and shock test fixtures; fixtures for stress screening
• Practical limits: transverse motion; specimen size and weight

Introduction to random vibration

• Sources of random vibration during launch, orbit, reentry
• No possible equivalence to sinusoidal vibration; terminology and definitions
• Spectral density measurement and analysis – the frequency domain
• Probability density – the time domain

Random vibration test practice

• Interpreting and implementing standards, e.g. MIL-STD-810
• Equalization before testing; methods and limits; controls

Combined environment (CERT) testing; reliability tests, e.g. MIL-STD-781

Environmental stress screening (ESS) of electronics hardware production

• Single vs. multi-axis vibration
• Pneumatic repetitive-shock machines

Extensions to HALT and HASS

Optional extensions to acoustical environment (intense noise) testing

Optional extension to mechanical shock

• Instrumentation for measuring shock in service and during tests
  • Sensors, readouts, errors
  • Calibration
  • Shock spectrum analysis; shock response spectrum
• Shock testing standards and methods
  • Shock testing machines; limitations
  • Use of shaker
  • Explosives

Witnessing of tests

Course summary; optional final examination; award of certificates