Environmental Testing Service
The Environmental Test Facility (ETF) at EPG provides laboratory-based testing to evaluate equipment and systems under controlled climatic and dynamic stress conditions. Testing supports developmental, qualification, and sustainment assessments for military and commercial systems to ensure performance and survivability in extreme operational environments. The facility accommodates both component-level articles and full system configurations (such as shelters, vehicle-mounted systems, and ruggedized electronics), utilizing instrumented test monitoring to capture high-resolution data on environmental exposure, structural response, and component performance in real time.
Capabilities
- Facility Capabilities & Compliance
- Facility scalability from small components to full vehicles (3×3×3 ft to 20×20×50 ft chambers)
- DoD and industry testing expertise, ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and compliance
- Full support for climatic and dynamic tests per MIL-STD-810, ITOPs, DO-160, IEC, and other DoD standards
- Comprehensive test support equipment monitors all variables, enabling real-time and post-test analysis
- Precisely controlled and repeatable conditions
- Natural and Induced Environmental Acceptance Tests, covering systems from early research and development through deployment and follow-on modifications.
- Climatic Control:
- Extreme temperatures: -75 °C to +200 °C
- Humidity control: 10% to 95% RH
- Altitude simulation: 400 m below sea level to 100,000 ft
- Rapid and explosive decompression
- Environmental Stressors:
- High-velocity winds: up to 75 mph
- Full-spectrum solar radiation (thermal loading & actinic effects)
- Salt fog, blowing rain (up to 4 inches per hour), immersion (up to 8 feet), and fording
- Icing, freezing rain, snow generation, and snow loading on small through vehicle-sized SUTs
- Contamination by fluids
- Blowing sand (concentration up to 2.2 grams per cubic meter) and dust (concentrations up to 10.6 ±7 grams per cubic meter) in dedicated temperature-controlled chambers
- Fungus (28-day tests)
- Settling dust
- Combined Profiles:
- Temperature + humidity + altitude
- Temperature + humidity + vibration (ESS & reliability demonstrations)
- Outdoor combined blowing sand and dust for operationally realistic exposures
- Specialized Test Environments:
- Explosive atmosphere testing with n-Hexane or hydrogen and simulated altitude from 40,000 ft to sea level (0 ft).
- Integrated multi-domain test profiles (temperature, humidity, and altitude or vibration).
- Global Positioning System (GPS) Chamber Testing & Satellite Simulator (SATSIM) integration
- Remote System Under Test (SUT) Operation during environmental exposure
- Search and Rescue Beacon Certification Facility
- Dynamic Testing & Structural Endurance:
- Vibration Testing
- Electrodynamic shakers rated up to 26,000 lbf.
- Frequency range: 5 Hz to 2,000 Hz.
- Profiles supported:
- Sine Sweep
- Sine-on-random
- Narrowband random-on-random
- Resonant dwell
- Burst chirp
- Classical shock
- Shock Response Spectra (SRS)
- Shock Testing
- Free-fall shock machine for crash hazard safety testing.
- Package drop machine (transit drop) for handling and transportation simulation.
- Bench handling.
- Gunfire simulation testing.
- Structural Endurance
- Fatigue and cyclic loading for durability assessments.
- High-fidelity structural response tracking utilizing real-time instrumentation.
Expertise
Expertise & Custom Test Solutions
The ETF test team has delivered premier environmental test support for over 60 years. Our skilled personnel are highly experienced in executing advanced climatic, vibration, and shock testing to rigid military and industry standards. Additionally, our subject matter technical experts remain available to travel to commercial contractors and other government facilities to assess test chamber capability/suitability and act as a Government Representative witness to report on the conduct of first article acceptance tests.
While our capabilities cover standard MIL-STD profiles, our true expertise lies in designing custom testing apparatus and integrated test profiles for complex systems. Email our Engineering Team or call today (520-538-3928) to discuss your specific System Under Test (SUT) requirements and receive a tailored test plan assessment.
Value
Our Value to the Customer and the Warfighter
The true value of the ETF lies in our unmatched technical expertise and our absolute commitment to the end user. We partner with our customers to deliver rigorous, high-fidelity environmental simulations that go beyond mere compliance. By leveraging our deep engineering knowledge and world-class facilities, we help you identify hidden design vulnerabilities early, optimize system performance, and achieve mission success.
Ultimately, our work is dedicated to the warfighter. Every test we execute ensures that when critical systems are deployed to harsh, unpredictable tactical environments, they will function flawlessly. We deliver the peace of mind that your equipment is as resilient and dependable as the service members relying on it in the field.