Environmental Test Chambers for the Packaging Industry
Packaging impacts our everyday lives. Whether it’s holding our everyday food items or a cardboard box containing a product you ordered online, each package is created with materials meant to protect traveling goods. Packaged goods on the road or the shelf are subject to leaks, breaks, and various stressors due to environmental challenges, which is why packaging designers and manufacturers rely on test chambers to assess the durability of their products. Learn more about what specific chambers are essential to ensure safety and reliability and how Associated Environmental Systems (AES) can help.
Environmental Test Chamber Standards
Manufacturers are held to the highest standards to meet packaging regulations. Before a product can be brought to market, environmental tests must be completed to ensure it can withstand challenges such as extreme temperatures, vibration, compression, or drops. Standards protect not just the manufacturer but also the consumer from potential harm.
Relevant Standards
- ASTM D4332: Many materials used in containers and packages, especially cellulosic materials, change physical properties due to temperature and relative humidity (RH) changes. This standard calls for tested packages to be placed in a specific atmosphere for enough time so that the subsequent measurements of physical properties will benefit the study.
- International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) 1A: International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) 1A package testing evaluates the integrity of the package and how it performs when holding a packaged product that weighs under 150 pounds.
- ISO 11607-1: Specifies requirements and methods for materials that are intended to maintain sterility of terminally sterilized medical devices such as preformed sterile barrier systems and packaging systems.
What Types of Environmental Testing Are Needed for Packaging?
Packaging manufacturers turn to a variety of environmental chambers for testing needs. Each one can provide unique opportunities for research, discovery, and growth.
Temperature-Only Test Chambers:
Temperature testing, also known as thermal testing, can evaluate how a packaging material withstands extreme hot or cold temperatures while being transported or in storage. AES’s heating systems support temperatures upwards of 180°C (356°F), and our standard cascade refrigeration systems have the fastest standard change rates of any environmental test chamber manufacturer. Chambers come in a wide range of sizes to match the dimensions of your product, from benchtop to reach-in model to walk-in room options.
Temperature/Humidity Test Chambers:
Packaging is exposed to various moisture levels. To help guarantee durability and reliability, temperature and humidity chambers check for signs of product deterioration. AES’s chambers, ranging in size from benchtop humidity chambers to stackable to walk-in room options, use vapor generator systems to give you control over the precise humidity levels of your chamber, with additional features if needed.
Thermal Shock Test Chambers:
Packages may suddenly be dropped or exposed to extreme temperatures during travel. By placing these materials in a thermal shock test chamber, manufacturers can determine the product's durability through the chamber’s three optional zones: heat, cold, and ambient.
Thermal Shock Test Chambers:
Packages may suddenly be dropped or exposed to extreme temperatures during travel. By placing these materials in a thermal shock test chamber, manufacturers can determine the product's durability through the chamber’s three optional zones: heat, cold, and ambient.
Salt Spray Test Chambers:
Packages can be vulnerable to corrosion, triggered by subjection to increased fluctuations in temperatures or humidity. By placing their packaging materials in salt spray test chambers, also known as salt fog chambers, manufacturers can test the lifespan and performance of their product’s design.
How Can We Help?
As the packaging industry expands, AES will be here to provide first-class, American-made, innovative solutions. We understand and embrace the big and small challenges labs face, and we’ll support you with an uncompromising and strategic outlook.
So, how can we help? Are you looking for small humidity chambers or large walk-in temperature chambers? Please browse our list of chambers to find a solution that will move your business forward. We can’t wait to get in touch.
