Our client required a vacuum system for altitude testing packaging ASTM D6653 test standards. This test simulates the effects of high altitude and pressure differential that packaging would undergo in the cargo hold of an aircraft.
When altitude testing, a typical test cycle pumps a chamber down to a specified pressure level and vents back to atmosphere as rapidly as possible so each test cycle can be accomplished as quickly as possible. Our client, however, required a strict regulation of pump down and rate of return.
We engineered a custom package testing system with a custom Series CI carbon steel vacuum chamber and a VC-2500 Vacuum Controller. This controller enables custom software programming that operated like a PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) type controller and ramped pressure within the chamber up and down according to the ASTM-specified rate using a butterfly valve and a choke.
