From smartphones to computers, from smart home devices to industrial automation control systems, the performance and reliability of electronic products are of great concern. However, these products in their entire life cycle, will inevitably face a variety of climate environmental conditions, such as high temperature, low temperature, high humidity, temperature and humidity changes. These environmental factors can have a serious impact on the performance, life and reliability of electronic products, and even cause product failure.
IEC 60068, as an important standard for environmental testing formulated by the International Electrotechnical Commission, provides comprehensive, systematic and authoritative guidance for the climate chamber test of electronic products.
IEC 60068 covers a rich variety of environmental test content, which is closely related to the climate chamber test mainly including temperature test, humidity test and temperature and humidity combination test. Temperature test is divided into high temperature test and low temperature test, designed to evaluate the performance of electronic products under extreme temperature conditions. For example, the high temperature test can detect whether the product will overheat damage, performance degradation and other problems in the high temperature environment; The low temperature test can determine whether the product will suffer from material embrittlement and reduced battery life in a cold environment.
Humidity test mainly focuses on the impact of high humidity environment on electronic products, such as short circuit, corrosion and other faults caused by water intrusion. The combination test of temperature and humidity is closer to the actual use scenario, and tests the structural stability and functional reliability of the product under complex climate conditions by simulating the alternating situation of different temperature and humidity. In addition, the standard also specifies the severity of the test, test equipment requirements, test procedures and other aspects of the test, which provides a unified specification for the global climate chamber test of electronic products.
1. High temperature environment simulation and impact on electronic products
In the high temperature environment, the electronic components inside the electronic products will face a severe test. For example, the performance of semiconductor devices may drift as the temperature increases, resulting in instability of circuit parameters. Excessive temperatures also accelerate the aging process of components and shorten their service life. Take computer CPU as an example, running in a high temperature environment for a long time may lead to poor heat dissipation, which in turn causes an automatic frequency reduction to protect itself, which greatly reduces computer performance. In severe cases, it may even cause permanent damage to the CPU.
2. Low temperature environment simulation and consequences
Low temperatures can also cause problems for electronic products. Some materials will become brittle at low temperatures, such as plastic shells may crack, affecting the appearance and protective performance of the product. For battery-powered electronics, low temperatures will significantly reduce the activity of the battery and reduce the battery's battery life. For example, in the cold winter, the battery life of smartphones tends to be significantly shortened, which is an intuitive reflection of the impact of low temperatures on battery performance.
3. Challenges in high humidity environments
High humidity is one of the biggest enemies of electronics. The presence of moisture may form a conductive path on the circuit board, resulting in short circuit failure and instant failure of the electronic product. At the same time, high humidity will also accelerate the corrosion process of metal components, such as connectors, wires and other metal parts in electronic equipment, corrosion will increase contact resistance, affect the quality of signal transmission, and eventually lead to product performance decline or even failure.
4. The test of temperature and humidity on product structure and function
In practical use, electronic products often experience an alternating temperature and humidity environment, such as entering a warm and humid room from a cold outside. This rapid change in temperature and humidity will cause thermal expansion and contraction stress inside the product, posing a threat to the structural integrity of the product. For example, for some electronic products with poor sealing performance, water vapor may enter the interior during the temperature and humidity alternating process, which may damage the internal components or lead to serious problems such as layering of the circuit board under repeated action.
1. Long-term exposure test to determine product life and durability
The life cycle of electronic products in actual use can be approximated by conducting a long time simulated environmental exposure test in a climate chamber. For example, a batch of electronic products are placed in a climate chamber in a set high temperature and high humidity environment for several months to observe the changes in their performance indicators, such as whether there is a failure, the rate of performance decay, etc., so as to provide a scientific basis for the product warranty period setting and reliability assessment.
2. Cycle test to test the adaptability of products in different environmental switching
The temperature and humidity cycle test can effectively detect the adaptability of electronic products when they are frequently switched in different environmental conditions. For example, some outdoor electronic equipment needs to work stably in an environment with high temperatures during the day, low temperatures at night and large humidity changes. By simulating this temperature and humidity cycle change in the climate chamber, observe the performance changes of the product after multiple cycles, such as whether it can be started normally, whether the functions are intact, etc., to judge the environmental adaptability and reliability of the product.
To sum up, the climate chamber test has irreplaceable importance in the field of electronic products. The climate chamber test conducted according to IEC 60068 standard can fully simulate various climate and environmental conditions that electronic products may encounter in the actual use process, effectively detect the reliability and stability of products, and provide a strong basis for product design improvement and material selection optimization. Through scientific and reasonable test process and accurate parameter setting, combined with actual case analysis and continuous summary of experience and lessons, electronics industry practitioners can better use climate chamber test to improve the quality and competitiveness of electronic products.
