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From drop testing to ESS, Kistler offers comprehensive measurement technology for consumer electronics product testing.

Consumer electronics product testing

Easy to use and cost-effective measurement technology

The consumer electronics (3C) market is highly competitive. Manufacturers are eager to ensure superior product quality, product safety, durability, reliability and performance. All of this is paramount to controlling life cycle and quality cost, building customer trust, and maintaining the brand reputation. Mechanical, thermal or climate conditions can affect a product during transportation, storage, or operation.

Recalls and warranty claims are highly expensive. Performing extensive consumer electronics product testing is therefore indispensable for assuring that the guaranteed product specifications of a consumer electronic device (3C product) are met in ordinary daily use. 

New technologies, materials, and the persisting trend towards miniaturization in the consumer electronics industry are introducing new challenges facing designers and the product testing scenarios before a device can be launched into the market.

Easy-to-use, cost effective, durable and reliable instrumentation for consumer electronics product testing delivering performance aligned with the test conditions and which is calibrated to the needs of the test

Advantages of piezoelectric sensor technology from Kistler for consumer electronics product testing

Optimize resources

Optimize resources

  • Durability: long life with overload protection and high temperature stability
  • Durable connectors and cabling
  • Cost-effective
  • Easy handling
Maximize efficiency

Maximize efficiency

  • Calibration according to individual test requirements
  • High measurement accuracy
  • Reduced test cycle time
Process reliability

Reliability

  • Long-term stable operation over dynamic temperature 
  • Performance aligned with test conditions

We develop and provide complete calibrated measuring chains that are validated for consumer electronics product testing applications. We provide application expertise and advice regarding installation and use. Solutions are both cost effective and aligned with demanding environmental test conditions.

Impact testing and fast fracture testing of materials for 3C products with load cells featuring fast response time

Miniature piezoelectric 1-component load cells to perform impact testing and fast fracture testing on consumer electronics materials are distinguished by:

  • Longevity and survivability due to high overload capacity
  • Measuring accuracy based on extraordinarily high linearity 
  • Fast response time due to wide bandwidth 
  • Externally adjustable with our charge amplifiers (ex. 5018A, 5167A, 5073B) to optimize the measuring range for the application to best utilize the available dynamic range

What is base material testing? Why perform base material mechanical testing on consumer electronic products?

Material mechanical testing includes impact test, fast fracture toughness test, fatigue testing, etc. It is a process that involves exposing a material (metal, plastic, composite, polymer) to physical stress like tension, compression, shear, to understand its properties and behaviors. The data obtained can help determine if a material is suitable for a particular application and can also be used to predict the material's lifespan and when it may fail. It is an effective means to address the possibility of failures of a consumer electronic device in the field.

Drop/impact testing of consumer electronics devices with dynamometers featuring fast response time

It is necessary to know the impact of force, acceleration and impact orientation when the product contacts the ground. The measurement of high impact forces requires sensors with high stiffness, linearity/low crosstalk errors of the sensor. We provide calibrated single and multicomponent force sensor and accelerometer solutions for precise measurement. Piezoelectric sensors offer considerable advantages over strain gauge sensors that are commonly also used for impact testing. 

Unsurpassed precision, long life, wide bandwidth/ fast response time, long-term operational stability, reliability and easy handling during demanding drop testing / impact testing procedures make piezoelectric load cells from Kistler the preferred choice. 

Piezoelectric dynamometers to perform drop/impact testing on consumer electronics are typically composed of piezoelectric load cells, featuring:

  • Longevity and survivability due to high overload capacity 
  • Measuring accuracy based on extraordinarily high linearity 
  • Much higher frequency response of force plate for fast response time (compared to strain gauge technology) thanks to high stiffness 
  • Externally rangeable with a charge amplifier (e. g. 5018A, 5167A) to optimize the measuring range for the application to best utilize the available dynamic range

You can choose from:

  • Multicomponent dynamometers directly off the shelf
  • Load cells to build your single and 3-component dynamometers on your own 
    • 1-component load cells 
    • 1-component load cell assembly sets with integrated load cells (93x1)
  • Custom Product Lane (CPL), the special Kistler service for tailor-made dynamometers and other measurement equipment

As time duration and frequency are inversely proportional, the dynamometer force plate needs to be designed so that the natural frequency is at least 3 to 5 times higher than the expected frequency content of the drop test.

Piezoelectric accelerometer to perform drop/impact testing on consumer electronics (3C products):

World's smallest miniature triaxial IEPE accelerometer (low mass: 6 mm ( 0.236”) cube, 0.9 gram sensor mass with low mass/flexible cable (1.2 mm OD, 3.2 gram/m) can be mounted to very small test units.

What is drop testing? Why is it important to perform drop testing on consumer electronic products (3C products)?

Protection against damages caused by the impact forces loaded through dropping is an important concern for the design of wearable or portable consumer electronic products. The damage may include cracking of the screen, break in the device or severe functional damage.

The purpose of drop testing is to validate the design goals and workmanship based on possible operational scenarios to verify durability. It addresses the handling survivability of products and encompasses various testing scenarios including transportation (shipment via train, plane, ship, car). 

Drop testing also validates analytical models which are also used during the development of consumer electronics. Analytical models allow to cost-effectively evaluate designs without testing prior to prototyping which saves costs and supports faster 3C product time to market and satisfying price point requirements. 

How to perform a drop test on a consumer electronics device – testing scenario

Typically, a drop tower comprised of a platform for drop-off on top and a force dynamometer at the bottom is applied. Eventually, a triaxial accelerometer is to be mounted on the unit under test as well.

Drop a 3C consumer electronics device (laptop, smartphone, tablet) without external packaging from various heights and orientations on the dynamometer force plate to measure the impact force. Compare performance to the intended design goals and evaluate the test unit for damage. 

Packaging testing /drop integrity testing /dynamic impact testing of consumer electronics with miniature triaxial IEPE and triaxial MEMS capacitive accelerometers with high bandwidth

The small size and low weight of our accelerometers allow for flexible sensor mounting including mounting them to inside packages, onto or even inside actual products under test. MEMS accelerometers allow the measurement of free fall conditions prior to impact as well as full characterization of the actual impact event. 

Miniature triaxial IEPE and triaxial MEMS capacitive accelerometers to perform packaging testing on consumer electronics are optimized for low frequency measurement with dynamic measurement capabilities, featuring:

  • Longevity and survivability due to high overload capacity 
  • Measuring accuracy based on extraordinarily high linearity 
  • Suitability to measure long or short duration impacts which resonant frequencies well above the signal bandwidth requirements due to high bandwidth 
  • Calibration according to ISO 17025 to accomplish precision measurement and related uncertainties

Accelerometer for drop testing of 3C products:

World's smallest miniature triaxial IEPE accelerometer (low mass: 6 mm ( 0.236”) cube, 0.9 gram sensor mass with low mass/flexible cable (1.2 mm OD, 3.2 gram/m) can be mounted to very small test units.

What is packaging testing? Why should packaging testing be performed for consumer electronic devices?

Packaging testing assesses how a package and its contents react to impacts during shipping and handling. The test helps manufacturers address design flaws, improve durability, minimize product damage, loss, and associated costs, avoid over-packaging, which is more expensive for businesses, avoid under-packaging, which endangers goods resulting in higher costs due to the destruction of products during transportation. The test can also help determine the survivability of a product's packaging and indicates structural and mechanical weaknesses not necessarily detected in shock and vibration tests.

ESS, HASS and HALT testing of consumer electronics products with PiezoStar single axis and triaxial accelerometers

HALT and HASS testing requires accelerometers featuring extreme temperature stability. Applications apply control and response accelerometers. Control accelerometers are used to monitor the input vibration to the test article and are typically single axis accelerometers. Response accelerometers measure the vibration of the test article as a result of the input vibration and are triaxial.

PiezoStar single axis and triaxial accelerometers for ESS, HASS and HALT testing, featuring: 

  • Ultra-low temperature sensivity
  • Long-term stability at extended temperatures
  • Stable operation with dynamic temperature and transients; transition rates of up to 60 °C (160 °F) per minute, with extremes of –100 °C to 200 °C (–212 °F to 392 °F)
  • Low mass to prevent mass loading into lightweight structures
  • Response accelerometers support up to 2KHz and upper end of 10KHz of measurement
  • Lower frequency calibration aligned with the product test program
  • Durable connectors and cabling that withstand the testing levels and long duration testing

What is environmental stress screening (ESS, HASS, HALT)? Why perform environmental stress screening on consumer electronic devices?

Environmental stress screening (ESS) involves applying stresses to a product until it fails. A combination of Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) and Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (HASS), as part of the ESS testing methods, improves product reliability by early detection of such failure mechanisms, helping to reduce repair or replacement costs. ESS is an effective means to address the possibility of failures of a consumer electronic device in the field.

ESS measuring chains utilize control accelerometers, response accelerometers, data acquisition systems, signal conditioning, climatic chambers, shakers and controllers. The testing process usually takes 3 to 5 days. It comprises several stages where the unit under test (UUT) is exposed to conditions such as:

  • Periodic vibration, random vibration and shock
  • Temperature dwells and cycling
  • Combinations of thermal and vibration stresses

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