What is the goal of an environmental simulation?
Extreme temperature fluctuations, moisture, dust, impacts or strong vibrations even occur simultaneously in many areas of application, but must not have any influence on the functionality of a touchscreen.
The aim of the environmental simulation for touchscreens offered by Interelectronix is to:
Reliable quality
Ensuring Durability and Reliability Through Environmental Engineering
When we think about the products we use daily, rarely do we consider the unseen battles they face against environmental factors. From the harsh glare of the sun to the unexpected spills of coffee, our devices and tools encounter numerous challenges that test their durability and functionality. As product owners, we understand the frustration of dealing with unexpected failures or safety concerns. That's where Interelectronix's expertise in Environmental Engineering comes into play. With years of experience, we know how to protect and enhance your products, ensuring they perform reliably under any condition. Let's explore how this specialized field can make a difference in your product's lifecycle.
The Reality of Environmental Strains
Products are exposed to various environmental strains during their lifespan. Whether it's the scorching heat of a summer day or the corrosive effects of humidity, these elements can significantly impact a product's performance. It's not just about the natural environment; the usage environment—like rough handling or unskilled users—also plays an important role. Products must endure these conditions and more, making it imperative for designers and manufacturers to consider these factors from the very beginning. The demands are clear: end users expect products that can withstand anticipated use and minor mishaps, providing a long, reliable service life.
The Importance of Testing for Performance, Safety, and Reliability
To meet these demands, simply designing a product for functionality isn't enough. It's essential to test and verify the product's performance, safety, and reliability under environmental stress. This involves understanding not just the intended use of the product, but also the potential scenarios in which it might be used. Whether it's a device that needs to function in extreme temperatures or a gadget that should resist water damage, comprehensive testing ensures that the product can handle its intended environment. At Interelectronix, we emphasize rigorous testing protocols to ensure that every product we work on meets the highest standards of quality and durability.
Understanding the Usage Context
Knowing where, when, how, and by whom a product will be used is key in the design process. For example, a touchscreen device used in an industrial setting will face different challenges compared to one used in a household. The environmental factors, such as dust, temperature fluctuations, and user interaction levels, vary significantly. Designers need to account for these variables to ensure the product's longevity and reliability. This requires a deep understanding of the product's lifecycle and the environments it will encounter. Interelectronix excels in gathering and analyzing this data, helping to create products that are not only functional but also resilient.
The Role of Environmental Engineering in Product Design
Environmental Engineering isn't just about reacting to problems; it's about anticipating them. This proactive approach involves creating dimensioning data, design guidance, test methods, and maintenance instructions that align with the environmental challenges a product might face. By integrating these elements into the design process, manufacturers can mitigate potential issues before they arise. This not only saves time and money but also enhances the overall user experience. At Interelectronix, we specialize in Environmental Engineering, applying our knowledge and methodology to ensure that your products are built to last.
Everyday Applications of Environmental Engineering
Many of us practice Environmental Engineering without realizing it. When you treat your car for corrosion protection, use a network disturbance filter for your computer, or affix a zinc washer on your boat's propeller shaft, you're applying principles of Environmental Engineering. These everyday actions protect your devices from environmental strains, extending their lifespan and maintaining their performance. In a broader sense, Environmental Engineering involves a systematic, methodical approach to product design and maintenance, ensuring that products can withstand the rigors of their environment.
Why Interelectronix?
At Interelectronix, we understand the challenges you face as a product owner. Our expertise in Environmental Engineering allows us to design, test, and refine products to meet the highest standards of durability and reliability. We don't just offer solutions; we partner with you to understand your unique needs and provide tailored guidance throughout the product lifecycle. Whether you're dealing with extreme temperatures, moisture, dust, or mechanical stress, we have the experience and knowledge to help you navigate these challenges. Contact us today to learn how we can help protect and enhance your products, ensuring they meet your customers' expectations and withstand the test of time.
Environmental Simulation for Industrial Monitors and Embedded HMI Industrial Computers
The Value of Precision in Harsh Environments
In the demanding world of industrial applications, the performance of your touchscreens and touch panels can make or break your operation. Picture this: a factory floor where extreme temperatures, dust, and moisture are everyday challenges. Now, imagine the costly consequences of a touchscreen failing at a critical moment. Interelectronix understands these stakes. We specialize in crafting high-quality touchscreens designed to withstand the most challenging environments, ensuring reliability when you need it most.
The Essence of Environmental Simulation
Environmental simulation is more than a buzzword; it’s a crucial process that ensures our touchscreens meet the highest standards of durability and performance. This involves rigorous testing that mimics the real-world conditions our products will face. Whether it's extreme temperatures, high humidity, or exposure to chemicals, our touchscreens are put through their paces to ensure they won't let you down when it matters most.
Designing for Harsh Conditions
Creating touchscreens that can endure harsh environmental conditions requires meticulous design and engineering. At Interelectronix, our approach starts with understanding the specific challenges faced by our clients. We then design our touchscreens with robust materials and advanced technology to ensure they can operate flawlessly in the toughest conditions. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of failure and maximizes the longevity of our products.
The Cost of Inferior Products
The repercussions of deploying subpar touchscreens extend far beyond immediate repair costs. Downtime in industrial settings can be incredibly expensive, not to mention the potential damage to your company’s reputation. Clients rely on your operational efficiency and reliability; a failure can lead to lost trust and business. Interelectronix’s commitment to quality and reliability helps you avoid these pitfalls, safeguarding both your operations and your reputation.
Tailored Solutions for Sensitive Applications
Every industry has unique requirements, and sensitive applications often demand even higher standards. Whether it’s medical devices, aerospace, or military applications, touchscreens in these fields must meet stringent criteria. Interelectronix excels in developing custom solutions tailored to these specialized needs, ensuring our touchscreens deliver optimal performance even in the most sensitive and critical environments.
Comprehensive Testing Protocols
Our testing protocols are exhaustive, covering a wide range of environmental factors. From temperature cycling and humidity resistance to vibration and shock testing, we leave no stone unturned. This comprehensive approach ensures our touchscreens can handle the rigors of real-world use without compromising on performance or reliability. Our clients can trust that our products are not only robust but also consistently reliable.
Innovative Materials and Technologies
To build touchscreens that can thrive in harsh environments, we utilize innovative materials and cutting-edge technologies. This includes advanced coatings that resist scratches and chemicals, robust touch sensors that maintain accuracy under stress, and rugged housings that protect internal components. These innovations are the backbone of our products, providing the resilience needed to excel in demanding industrial applications.
The Role of Quality Assurance
Quality assurance is at the heart of everything we do at Interelectronix. Our stringent QA processes ensure that each touchscreen we produce meets our exacting standards. This involves detailed inspections and rigorous testing at every stage of production. By maintaining such high standards, we can confidently deliver products that perform reliably in even the most challenging environments.
Partnering with Clients for Success
At Interelectronix, we see ourselves as partners in our clients’ success. We work closely with you to understand your specific needs and challenges, providing tailored solutions that deliver real value. Our expertise in environmental simulation and touchscreen technology ensures that you get products that not only meet but exceed your expectations. By choosing Interelectronix, you’re investing in a partnership that prioritizes your operational efficiency and reliability.
Future-Proofing with Advanced R&D
Our commitment to innovation doesn’t stop with our current product line. We invest heavily in research and development to stay ahead of industry trends and emerging challenges. This forward-thinking approach allows us to continuously improve our products and develop new solutions that keep you ahead of the curve. With Interelectronix, you’re not just getting a product; you’re getting a partner dedicated to your long-term success.
Why Interelectronix
Choosing the right partner for your touchscreen needs is crucial. At Interelectronix, our unparalleled expertise in environmental simulation and commitment to quality make us the ideal choice for industries that demand reliability and performance. We understand the challenges you face and have the solutions to meet them head-on. Reach out to us today to learn how we can help you achieve operational excellence with our high-quality, durable touchscreens. Let's work together to ensure your success in even the harshest environments.
Each touch technology has its own failure mechanisms and is exposed to different environmental influences over the course of its service life. The special competence of Interelectronix is to tailor suitable environmental simulation tests for the loads that occur. These application-specific tests consist of several specific individual tests for the respective touch technology and the specific characteristics of the place of use.
Explore the relationship between system security, durability, and product quality on our site. Unterstand into how materials, design, and environmental simulations ensure the optimal performance of touchscreens in various conditions. Essential reading for developers and manufacturers focused on creating resilient tech.
In addition to the individually determined environmental simulations we offer, we offer Environmental Stress Screening (ESS).
In this process, early failures can be detected in the context of production tests due to loads on the touchscreen with application-specific defined environmental influences. The aim of the ESS is to expose production-ready products to mechanical, thermal or chemical stress factors in order to uncover latent weak points of the finished product.
The use of requirement-specific environmental simulations is part of our reliability engineering approach, which specifies the reliability of our touchscreens and touch panels as a premise for development, testing and manufacturing.
The stress factors that affect a touch screen can be determined not only by environmental influences that occur by the operation of the touch screen, but in many cases also by the device in which the touch screen is installed.
Application-specific environmental simulations
The application-specific environmental simulations as well as the Environmental Stress Screening procedure we use are part of our reliability engineering strategy, which as a result means that Interelectronix 's touchscreens and touch panels are not only of particularly high quality, but also optimally aligned with real requirements.
In many cases, touchscreens are exposed to aggressive harmful gases that lead to corrosion of the materials used.
The list of air pollutants with which touchscreens can come into contact in outdoor areas is already very extensive.
In industrial applications, on the other hand, considerably more and more aggressive harmful gases occur, which immensely accelerate the wear and tear of the touchscreen surface and can thus lead to premature failure of a touchscreen.
Reduce harmful gas impairments
Interelectronix specialises in the production of particularly vibration-resistant touchscreens.
The high durability of our touchscreens has been proven and certified in various test procedures.
Test methods for shock and vibration loads
Test of resilience
This test method tests the functionality and resistance of the touchscreens to loads caused by oscillations, vibrations and sudden shocks.
In the shock-vibration test carried out by Interelectronix , loads are simulated that can occur according to the planned areas of application.
Vibrations can occur during the transport of the touchscreen as well as in numerous applications such as printing presses, electronic control units in vehicles or marine engine control during normal operation. Portable devices such as handhelds are also exposed to shocks and vibrations during normal use.
The nature of the vibrations and oscillations depends on the polluter. For example, the type of vibrations that occur during transport with a truck, an airplane or a ship is different from vibrations caused by a printing press or in a vehicle wash.
Mechanical stress in touch screens can occur in the form of vibration or mechanical shock.
Depending on the touch technology, type and cause of vibration or mechanical shock, different test procedures are required. Interelectronix 's environmental simulation specialists analyze the use of a touchscreen and the expected environmental influences over the entire product life cycle and determine the appropriate test procedures.
Environmental simulation tests for vibration in touchscreens
These are possible for
The touchscreens manufactured by Interelectronix are already suitable for use in unusual climatic conditions in their standard version.
In order to prove the functionality of our touchscreens under extreme climatic conditions, we carry out extensive climate change tests. These prove that the touchscreens of Interelectronix can withstand extreme cold and heat without any problems and that both abrupt and extreme temperature changes have no effect on the functionality of the touchscreens.
More info Touchscreens for extreme temperatures
Climatic test for special use
Climatic tests for touchscreens that simulate the natural climate recreate the characteristic processes in the atmosphere for the specific location of a touchscreen.
Natural Device Stressors
The natural climatic stressors acting on a device are:
-Rain
Climatic stress is caused by the impact of a variety of environmental influences on a touchscreen. Stress factors can be caused by the
- natural climate,
- climatic influences caused by civilization,
- as well as high humidity.
Closely related to the environmental simulation of climatic influences is the thermal stress, which can be caused by the climate as well as by internal issues in the touch system.
A mechanical shock is a short-lasting, one-time acceleration impulse in one direction.
Shock tests are of particular importance in touch screens, especially for outdoor applications such as ticket machines or ATMs.
A touch system can be subject to numerous thermal stress factors that have different causes.
While in most cases the development of a touch system pays special attention to the exposure to heat, error mechanisms caused by cold or a permanent alternation of heat and cold are not sufficiently taken into account in the design.
Thermal stress factors can be differentiated into:
Humidity as a stress factor
High humidity can be caused by natural climatic conditions as well as by artificial, civilization-related situations.
High humidity caused by civilization-related situations occurs, among other things, in numerous industrial applications, in swimming pools or in canteen kitchens. The temperature determines the amount of water bound in the air. The moisture content in the air is therefore given as relative humidity. The relative humidity indicates the percentage to which the absolute humidity exhausts the maximum value.
CIVILIZATION-INDUCED CLIMATE STRESS
Of the natural climate influences, with regard to the environmental simulation and the species
of the tests to be carried out, the climatic stress factors caused by civilization
distinguish. These are industrial influences, i.e. artificial
Stress factors that have only arisen as a result of people's technical activities.
The loads that occur on the touchscreen are very different and depend on whether:
a touch system
•
•
in an enclosed space
or outdoors
The use of tailor-made Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) procedures serves to significantly reduce early failures of touch screens. The Environmental Stress Screening procedure is used to identify manufacturing defects that could possibly lead to the failure of a touchscreen at an early stage. As part of the Environmental Stress Screening, every single touchscreen is fully tested.
Many touch applications are subject to sudden temperature shocks or very strong climatic temperature fluctuations. These include, for example, handhelds that are used in cold stores or out-door devices that are used in climatically extreme climates.
For all these applications, an environmental simulation test is recommended, which simulates the special environmental influences in the real conditions.
Delaying or preventing material embrittlement
The continuous operation of a system at a constantly high temperature is a very common requirement for the design. High temperatures have an influence on the electronics as well as on the materials.
Surfaces and housing parts that are made of plastic are particularly affected by high temperatures. In the case of thermoplastics and elastomers, high temperatures cause the material to become brittle over a long period of time due to outgassing of the plasticizers.
