Environmental Simulation

Environmental Simulation – Comprehensive Validation in an Accredited Test Lab

The environmental influences on vehicles, technical equipment and materials vary significantly from one part of the world to another. Bertrandt has a highly efficient testing infrastructure and many years of expertise in carrying out all kinds of environmental simulation tests. Using ultra-modern test systems and applying our analytical skills and product and application experience, we test and validate the reliability and service life of products during the prototyping phase. We provide a solution-based, efficient service that complies with all the relevant international testing standards and industry requirements.

With around 200 climatic test chambers at six locations in Germany, we can offer our customers a local, flexible service. They also benefit from our 25 years of testing experience. Our network of test labs allows us to provide all the services needed for component, material and system tests at any time. We make use of all the established test methods, including thermal, climatic, mechanical and chemical tests and a variety of specialist evaluations, such as sunlight simulation, which takes the effects of radiation into consideration.

For the vehicle trends of tomorrow

Digitalization, electric mobility and autonomous driving are the main trends behind innovations in the automotive industry. We specialize in the climatic validation of sensors, systems and vehicle concepts of the future and are already working with our customers to design individual test processes for new materials and products.

Important features in brief

Our local, networked test labs

Total area for environmental simulation > 10,000 m²
Around 200 climatic test chambers: 0.13 m³ to 180 m³
> 6,000 individual tests per year in our test labs
550,000 hours per year of climate simulations
Climatic test chambers with a variety of specialist test equipment, such as precipitation, exhaust gas testing, robots, explosion protection etc.
16 salt spray chambers: 0.4 m³ to 8 m³
20 infrared lamps
140 lamps for sunlight simulation (which apply radiation from all sides, including simulating sunrise and sunset)

A journey through the world’s climate zones in Bertrandt’s local test lab

All climatic regions
In our climatic chambers we can maintain a consistent climate at temperatures between -80°C and +300°C with a relative ambient humidity between 10% and 95%. Our high-temperature oven can reach up to 1,100°C. Using a wide variety of climate profiles, we can simulate all the climatic regions and subject products to testing for use throughout the world.

Climate extremes at the equator
We can also complete a ten-year aging cycle at the equator in our climatic chambers within only 30 days, with the use of additional infrared and/or UV radiation. In a very short period of time, we can cause a car, a truck or a construction machine to age by ten years and evaluate the interaction between sunlight and a wide range of different climatic conditions.

Out at sea or in the middle of winter
In our salt spray chambers, we test the resistance of vehicle components to a coastal climate or road salt. We also cover applications outside the automotive industry, such as shipping and offshore wind farms.

From -80°C to +220°C in only ten seconds
Our thermal shock chambers can cause a temperature difference (Delta t) of up to 300°C in a very short period of time. We expose components to these extremes of temperature to produce microcracks of the kind caused by different types of tension, which can then be enlarged by further tests (for example vibration).

At great heights
In August 2020, we installed two altitude chambers where we can simulate different air pressures and altitudes of up to 4,200 meters. This enables us to test the use of products in the Alps, for example.

Digitalization and cloud services

Faster test results, data in the cloud, new video-based presentation methods – customers can benefit from our digital services in the fields of testing, evaluation and presentation:

Transparent test data in the cloud
Live tracking of tests and raw data
A variety of presentation methods for test results (for example videos under different climatic conditions, time-lapse recordings etc.)