Climatic Chamber Configurator
Discover the Climatic Chamber Configurator
Our guide to choosing the climate chamber best suited to your needs.
All products are subject to the loss of their capabilities and functions over time, and this is natural. However, some of them have manufacturing defects and flaws that lead to premature failure right from the start of use.
For battery and accumulator testing, discover our battery testing chambers, designed for testing under controlled conditions.
To overcome this problem, producers perform Environmental Stress Screening, often abbreviated to ESS.
Perform Climatic Stress Tests
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Definition of ESS
Environmental stress screening includes a series of tests that subject the product to extreme stress in order to uncover defects and malfunctions. These include in thermal cycles a climatic chamber , as well as physical tests that subject the sample to vibration, pressure, and torsion.
What is the ESS for?
As we mentioned, the primary goal of ESS is to reduce the so-called infant mortality of products. It has been studied that in the life cycle of a sample of untested products, failures occur mostly during the initial period of use, then stabilize for a fairly long period, and finally reemerge after years of use have worn out most of the samples.
It is called the “bathtub effect” because of the characteristic shape of the parabola that describes this trend on the Cartesian plane.
By subjecting products to ESS before marketing them, the aim is to eliminate the first curve of the pool, the one where all products with shape defects and manufacturing defects emerge.
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What Type of Sectors Are Affected by ESS?
ESS is a series of tests performed primarily on various types of electronic devices . They range from consumer electronics to components found almost everywhere, and therefore involve industries such as automotive, aerospace , and the military sector.
In all these fields, it is clear that it is vitally important to eliminate any possibility of early malfunctions.
For this reason, the results of environmental stress tests are regulated by a series of international bodies that prescribe the procedures to be implemented.
The ESS Standards
As regards climate tests – which are a fundamental part of the broader ESS and under our direct responsibility – there are essentially two standards to keep an eye on.
IEC 60068 , which in all its subchapters covers all climatic and thermal tests on electronics in general. For the military sector specifically, we must refer to the MIL-STD , which are:
We've already written an article specifically dedicated to climate testing on electronic equipment , and you can read it here.
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The ESS FDM Chamber
FDM environmental chambers can perform all the main climatic and thermal tests found in the broader set of environmental stress screening.
With a temperature range of -70/180°, adjustable humidity up to 98° and rise and fall rates of +5/-4°/min respectively, they are the perfect tool for applying the stresses needed to verify the infant mortality of electronic products.
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Reference Standards
- MIL-STD-202H — Electronic and Electrical Component Parts – Test Methods. Method 107 (Thermal Shock), 103 (Humidity).
- MIL-STD-883L — Test Methods and Procedures for Microelectronics. Method 1015 (Burn-in Test), Method 1010 (Temperature Cycling).
- MIL-STD-750-3 — Test Methods for Semiconductor Devices – Environmental Tests, Method 1056 (Thermal Shock), 1038 (Burn-in).
- IEC 60068-2 (series) — Environmental testing for electronics: -1 cold, -2 dry heat, -14 change of temperature, -64 random vibration.
- IPC-9592B — Performance Parameters for Power Conversion Devices, includes ESS section on power supply.
- IES-RP-PR-001.2 — Environmental Stress Screening Guidelines for Assemblies (IEST guidelines).
- NAVMAT P-9492 — Navy Manufacturing Screening Program, historical reference for ESS profiles.
Authoritative Sources
- IEST – Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology. American organization that authored the IES-RP Recommended Practices on ESS and controlled environments.
- EverySpec. Online collection of public domain MIL-STD military standards.
- JEDEC Solid State Technology Association. Publishes JESD22 and JEP122 standards on semiconductor reliability and screening.
- IPC – Association of Connecting Electronics Industries. Publishes IPC-9592 guidelines and IPC-TM-650 methods applicable to PCBs and assemblies.
Frequently Asked Questions about Environmental Stress Screening
What is the difference between ESS and HALT/HASS?
ESSeliminate samples with latent defects (“infant mortality”), using stresses below operating limits. HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Test) is applied in the R&D phase, pushing prototypes beyond design limits to uncover weaknesses and determine margins. HASS (Highly Accelerated Stress Screening) is the evolution of ESS, using profiles derived from HALT, with more severe but repeatable stresses, reducing screening times (typically 1-4 hours vs. 50-100 hours for ESS). The logical sequence is HALT (uncover weakness) → HASS (optimized screening) → production. The chambers used vary: ESS requires climatic chambers with sinusoidal or random vibration, HALT/HASS 6-DoF chambers with pseudo-random vibration 5-10 G RMS, ramps 30-60 °C/min, extended range -100/+200 °C.
What thermal profiles are typical in electronic ESS?
Standard ESS profiles prescribe thermal cycling between -40°C and +75°C (consumer electronics) or -55°C and +125°C (aerospace/military), with ramps of 5-15°C/min, dwell times of 10-15 minutes at each end, and 10-20 cycles total. The most widely used profile is NAVMAT P-9492: 8 cycles from -55 to +75°C at 5°C/min with a 10-minute dwell, combined with 6 G RMS 10-2000 Hz random vibration. IEC 60068-2-14 Nb is cited as the basic method. The combination with power-on cycling (continuous power during testing) is mandatory for effective screening: the device must be functionally monitored to detect transient faults. Profiles must be sized based on: ramp transition time, chamber volume, and thermal mass produced. For large volumes, walk-in environmental chambers with integrated electrodynamic vibrators are used.
How do you demonstrate the effectiveness of an ESS process?
Effectiveness is assessed through Screening Strength (SS), the probability that a latent defect is detected during the ESS cycle. Standard IEC 61164 and MIL-HDBK-344 formulas estimate SS as a function of: temperature extremes, ramp, number of cycles, vibration, and power-on duration. For an effective process, SS ≥ 95%. The Defect Density Ratio (DDR), the ratio between defects detected in the ESS and total field defects, is monitored: a good target DDR > 70%. First Pass Yield (FPY) measures the percentage of products that pass the ESS on the first attempt: target > 98%. Periodic process auditing includes Weibull failure analysis to verify that “infantile mortality” has been effectively eliminated (β < 1 per wear stage). Documentation includes FMEA, FRACAS database (Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action), and quarterly review of acceptance criteria.
What temperature and vibration range is required for an automotive ESS chamber?
Automotive OEM specifications require environmental chambers with a range of -40/+125 °C (AEC-Q100 Grade 1) or -40/+150 °C (Grade 0), ramps ≥ 5 °C/min, uniformity ± 2 °C. Vibration must cover at least 5-2000 Hz with acceleration 3-10 G RMS random (typical profile 0.04 g²/Hz flat). For combined temperature-vibration tests, an expander head with a vibration table integrated into or under the chamber is used . Multi-pin electrical connections must be high density (100-500 channels) for power-on and in-situ monitoring. The chamber must comply with ISO 16750-4 (thermal cycling), ISO 16750-3 (mechanical vibration), LV 124 (Volkswagen/Audi) for full qualification. The dedicated ESS FDM chambers integrate the revoFACE with a library of ready-made automotive and aerospace profiles, as well as 21 CFR Part 11 audit-trail recording for batch traceability. programmer
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