About the Standard
Scope title: prevention and detection of counterfeit electronic parts
SAE AS5553 is a standard published by SAE International (SAE). It publishes engineering standards for automotive, aerospace and heavy machinery; the AS series for aerospace quality management also belongs to this organisation.
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Aerospace Testing — What Does This Testing Field Cover?
The section below describes the field that code SAE AS5553 belongs to; it is not the text of the standard or the regime itself. The scope title of the code is given above, and technical requirements are shared at the quotation stage.
Aerospace testing shows that equipment keeps working in the flight environment and provides evidence for the airworthiness file. In this family the acceptable probability of failure is several orders of magnitude lower than in other sectors; this directly determines the scope of testing and the certification burden.
The most distinctive feature of the field is TRACEABILITY. Which melt an aircraft part came from, in which heat treatment furnace and with which cycle it was processed, which operator made the weld and which inspector approved it are all recorded. The test report is one link in this chain; if the chain is broken, the report carries no value on its own.
Environmental qualification runs through RTCA DO-160, with categories selected according to the equipment's MOUNTING LOCATION in the aircraft. A device mounted on the cockpit panel and one mounted inside the wing pass the same section under different categories. When reading a DO-160 report it is therefore essential to know which sections were applied at which categories.
On the software and complex hardware side the approach changes entirely: the evidence is not testing but PROCESS ASSURANCE. DO-178C for software and DO-254 for complex electronic hardware define how the development process is to be run and which evidence is to be produced. Every step, from requirement to code, from testing of the code to coverage analysis, must be traceable. Testing software does not make it certifiable; the process record does.
A separate body of work applies on the material and special process side. AWS D17.1 is used for welding, SAE AMS 2750 for pyrometry in heat treatment and NAS 410 for non-destructive testing personnel. For special processes (heat treatment, coating, welding, NDT, bonding) NADCAP accreditation is effectively mandatory in the supply chain; without NADCAP it is not possible to sell parts to many OEMs.
On the quality system side the AS/EN 9100 series is used: 9100 for manufacturers, 9110 for maintenance organisations and 9120 for distributors. Without these certificates it is practically impossible to enter the aerospace supply chain, and audits are markedly more detailed than in other sectors.
Counterfeit part risk is a subject peculiar to the field. Separate standards and verification methods (visual inspection, X-ray, decapsulation and internal structure examination, XRF) are used to detect counterfeit or reworked parts in the electronic component supply chain.
Space applications add further layers: outgassing in vacuum, radiation tolerance, long-duration thermal vacuum cycling and assessment of single event effects.
Method groups in this field
Environmental qualification
RTCA DO-160 sections: temperature and altitude, vibration, shock, humidity, sand and dust, fungus, salt fog, fluid susceptibility, icing, lightning.
Electromagnetic
The EMC sections of DO-160; MIL-STD-461 and MIL-STD-704 power characteristics on military platforms.
Software and hardware assurance
DO-178C software life cycle and DO-254 hardware design assurance evidence; requirement traceability and coverage analysis.
Materials and welding
Welding qualification under AWS D17.1, mechanical testing of materials, metallography and non-destructive examination.
Special process control
SAE AMS 2750 pyrometry, coating and heat treatment process verification, preparation for NADCAP audits.
Space environment
Thermal vacuum cycling, outgassing, radiation tolerance and acoustic/vibration qualification.
Commonly confused in this field
- There is no such document as a "DO-160 certificate"; DO-160 is a test specification and its output is a qualification report.
- The selection of sections and categories comes from the customer's equipment specification; the laboratory cannot make that selection on its own.
- DO-178C and DO-254 cannot be satisfied by testing; the evidence is the traceability of the development process.
- An AS9100 certificate is not a product approval; it is a quality system certificate and part approval runs separately.
- For special processes, work carried out without NADCAP is not accepted in the supply chain even when it is technically correct.
- MIL-STD-810 and DO-160 are often confused: one is a military and the other a civil aviation specification, and their profiles differ.
Which decisions these results support
- Airworthiness and TSO/ETSO files
- Entry into the aerospace supply chain and supplier approval
- Special process approval and NADCAP preparation
- Determining the impact of a design change on qualification
- Managing counterfeit part risk and component verification
Scope
Related Tests and Services
A separate test page based on this code has not yet been released. The code falls within the scope of the following test families.
Technical Requirements
Standard texts are copyright of the relevant organization; test condition, sample and acceptance criteria cannot be fitted here.
Technical requirements specific to your product, once we clarify the scope At offer stage shared in writing.
Related Standards
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this standard mandatory for my product?
Whether it is mandatory depends on the product group, the target market and the applicable legislation. Once you tell us your product and market, we clarify in writing whether this standard is required.
How long does the test process take?
Duration depends on the scope of the standard, the number of specimens and current capacity. The exact duration is shared, together with the specimen and scope details, at the quote stage.
Do you issue certification against this standard?
Which activity is carried out under which accreditation scope is separately confirmed at the application stage. Up-to-date scope information is published on our corporate page.
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