Testing: Environmental

MIRA operates one of Europe’s largest and most comprehensive independent environmental testing facilities.

Click to view Video describing MIRA's Environmental Test Facility in Basildon

The facilities range from 180-litre environmental chambers to full-size vehicle climatic wind tunnels, together with both ambient and climatic vibration test facilities. The facilities are located at two UK sites, the main engineering centre at Nuneaton and a dedicated environmental test site established in 2000 – Quatro Park, located in Basildon, Essex.

High Quality Service and Accreditation

MIRA is UKAS ISO 17025 / IEC 17025 Accredited for environmental and vibration testing, and is staffed by engineers widely experienced in environmental testing and product development. They are well versed in the guidance provided by BS EN 60068, IEC 60068 Environmental testing. Similarly, when it comes to enclosures they have a working knowledge of IEC 60529 & DIN 40050 - Degrees of protection provided by enclosures.

Many of our defence and aerospace customers find our expertise in environmental testing to the following standards and procedures invaluable:

• MOD's Def Stan 00-35
• DOD's MIL-STD-810
• RTCA DO160 - Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment

Facilities and capabilities include:

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Diverse Product Test Capacity

Products can be tested from across a broad range of industries that include automotive, aerospace, defence, rail and medical.

Products tested include items such as:

• Automotive instrument clusters
• Optical systems from the defence and medical industries
• Radios/CD players/DAB radios
• Aircraft seats
• Communications electronics from the defence and aerospace industries
• Electronic climate control
• Interior trim components
• Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) items for the defence industry
• Powertrain components
• Coolant systems
  

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Test Programmes

In addition to providing an environmental testing service, undertaking tests to customer test specifications or International Standards and assisting in the product development process, advice on the generation of full component Design Verification (DV) and Product Validation (PV) test programmes can be provided to customers if required for a wide range of products.

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Teardown and Analysis Service

To investigate the condition of a component upon the completion of a test a full teardown analysis service is available. This is particularly useful for electronic components where any physical damage to both the assembly and the circuit boards resulting from the test is investigated and reported. The dimensional stability of a product after undergoing an environmental test can also be assessed using a CMM system. Further investigations include flash testing of electrical and electronic equipment to evaluate its insulation and determine whether or not it has sufficient dielectric strength for its working voltage.

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Environmental Testing Facilities

2 Full Scale Climatic Wind Tunnels

Chamber sizes up to 19.5m x 8 m x 6m high.

Performance ranges: 200kph max air speed, -40°C to +55°C, 5 to 95%RH,

1200W/m² solar heating, single or twin axle with up to 600kW DC absorption.

19 Temperature and Humidity Chambers

Ranging from 180 litres to 2000 litres capacity, -70°C to + 180°C, 10 to 98% RH.

5 Walk-in Temperature Chambers

Sizes up to 7m x 4m x 3.35m high, -40°C to +125°C

6 Thermal Shock Chambers – (Automatic Transfer)

Maximum capacity 330 litres, -77°C to +220°C

4 Corrosion Chambers

Ranging from 500 litres to a full size vehicle chamber.

2 Dust Chambers

1000 litres capacity

2 Walk-in Combined Environmental and Vibration Chambers

Maximum dimensions 4m x 3m x 3m high (semi acoustic, suitable for Squeak

and Rattle evaluation), performance ranges -50°C to +150°C, 10 to 98% RH.

Maximum vibration capability ±25mm, 35kN thrust, 600kg Payload.

2 Muti-Axis Combined Environmental and Vibration Chambers

1 off 6-Axis TEAM CUBE™:  ±50mm maximum vertical amplitude

                                               62kN vertical thrust, 0 to 250Hz

                          Chamber:  3.5m x 4.5m x 4.1m high, -40°C to +120°C, 10 to 95% RH

                                               1200 W/m² Solar loading

1 off 5-Axis Multi Axis Simulation Table (MAST): ±100mm maximum vertical amplitude

                                                                                      100kN vertical thrust, 0 to 40 Hz

                                                                   Chamber: 2m x 2m x 1.5m high, -40°C to 125°C

5 Combined Environmental and Electro Magnetic Vibration Chambers

3 tri-axial and 2 vertical vibration systems, ±25mm, 33.5kN thrust.

Maximum chamber size and performance 3400 litres, -70°C to +180°C, 10°C/min, 10 to 98% RH

8 Ambient Electro Magnetic Vibration Systems

3 tri-axial, 4 vertical axis and 1 horizontal axis. Maximum performance ±25mm, 42kN thrust.

1 Mechanical Shock Machine

600g Max, variable pulse width up to 60ms, 227kg payload.

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Environmental Testing Brochure (pdf 805KB)		Environmental Testing Brochure for Defence & Aerospace (pdf 826KB)

Complementary Services and Facilities

MIRA offers a comprehensive service for developing all aspects of a product's durability.  Further details of which can be found using the following links:

Durability Consultancy

Key Life Testing

MIRA - Testing Facilities - Durability and Fatigue
Servo-Hydraulic Test Rigs
Extensive Proving Ground test circuits

Corrosion Chamber
Test Facility Engineering
Access your data from your desk
Road Load Data Acquisition & Analysis Equipment
Virtual Test Rigs and Virtual Proving Ground
FEA Modeling& Simulation Systems

Case Studies

Developing MIRA's Linear guided head impact rig

Contact Details:

For more information, to book a test or request a quotation:

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