Thermotron Presents at 2011 IEEE Accelerated Stress Test & Reliability Workshop

Reveals Patented EXTREME AST Invention With Compelling Case Study
Thermotron made a presentation on its patented EXTREME AST innovation at this year's IEEE Accelerated Stress Test & Reliability Workshop held September 27-30 in San Francisco, California. The ASTR Workshop is an annual gathering of the world's finest reliability engineers with focus on accelerated stress testing techniques. The presentation by Clint Peterson, VP of Engineering at Thermotron, began with an overview of the company's patent and its pertinent claims followed by a description of the advantages of the invention. Video footage of four distinct modes of repetitive shock vibration were then shown to the audience: High Frequency Mode, Low Frequency Mode, Synchronized Shock Mode and Programmable Synchronized Shock Profiling.

Mr. Peterson described the benefits of EXTREME AST vibration. Among the most favorable characteristics of the invention are:

• Acceleration exceeding 100 Grms
• Shock acceleration exceeding 1,500 Gpk applied in six axes simultaneously
• Significant displacement in all directions
• Greater energy content at lower frequencies
• Improved consistency and repeatability
• 50% decrease in compressed air consumption
• Range of operation from <1 Grms to > 100 Grms

A case study was presented by Steve Laya from Elite Electronic Engineering, an independent third party test lab. The case study concluded that the EXTREME AST vibration system has the additional performance capabilities to find failures where traditional HALT methods did not. Elite also concluded that the machine found failures more quickly using the Synchronized Shock test mode.

Thermotron is a leading manufacturer of HALT & HASS systems for Accelerated Stress Testing. The EXTREME AST system from Thermotron provides superior performance and begins to pave the way for future test methods that may alter the way the HALT & HASS industry defines accelerated stress testing. With complete and independent control of the frequency and amplitude of each impactor the shape of the vibration profile can be configured in different ways. The dual strike impactor makes contact in the upward direction and the downward direction. Some of the benefits of this dual strike action are:

• Increased number of high force impacts
• Increased fatigue and shorter time to failure
• Higher levels of table motion and displacement

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