Sand and Dust – RTCA DO-160

What Is Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160?

The sand and dust test examines two distinct phenomena. In the fine dust procedure, the goal is to see whether dust ingresses into the equipment and accumulates on moving parts. In the blowing sand procedure, the abrasion of surfaces by larger particles impacting at high speed is assessed.

Purpose of Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160

The purpose is to verify equipment operating in desert and unpaved field settings does not lose function due to dust ingress and its optical/mechanical surfaces are not degraded by sand abrasion.

Which Products Is Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160 Applied To?

Field equipment and enclosures
Optical and electro-optical systems
Ventilated electronic enclosures
Engine and air intake systems
Equipment on helicopters and UAVs

In Which Sectors Is Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160 Used?

DefenceAerospaceMaritimeElectronics

Standards Related to Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160

RTCA DO-160Environmental conditions and test methods in aviation equipment test

Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160 Conditions

Procedure: Fine dust ingress and/or blowing sand abrasion
Dust/sand type: Test dust with the particle distribution defined in the standard
Air velocity and concentration: From the exposure scenario in the specification
Temperature: Applied together with high temperature, if required

Equipment for Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160

Sand and dust test chamber and feed system
Air velocity and concentration measurement equipment
Temperature and humidity control setup
Functional check and leak-tightness measurement equipment
Optical surface inspection setup

Sample Requirements for Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160

The specimen must represent the final configuration of the design being qualified.
The product's environmental life cycle profile and procurement specification must be supplied together with the test.
If the unit is to be operated during the test, power, load and monitoring interfaces must be provided.
The functional check procedure and success criterion must be provided in writing by the manufacturer.
Tests may be destructive; the qualification specimen must be set aside from series use.

Duration of Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160

Exposure duration for each procedure is defined in the specification; the overall study usually takes several days. Reorienting the specimen to expose every surface adds to the duration.

Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160 Procedure

1The procedures to apply and the exposure scenario are determined.
2A functional check and visual inspection are performed before the test.
3The specimen is placed in the chamber with its critical surfaces facing the flow.
4Dust or sand is blown at the defined concentration and air velocity.
5The specimen is operated if required, and the exposure is repeated with a different orientation.
6Deposits on the external surface are cleaned per the standard at the end of exposure.
7The specimen is opened to examine internal deposits and a functional check is performed.

Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160 Acceptance Criteria

The severity level and acceptance criterion come not from the method standard but from the specification the product is subject to: for MIL-STD-810 applications, the product's environmental life cycle profile and procurement specification are decisive; for DO-160 applications, it is the category corresponding to the equipment's installation zone on the aircraft. This page therefore gives no numerical limit.

Evaluation of Results

The result is assessed on the equipment maintaining function and the absence of internal dust deposits that would impede it. In the sand procedure, clouding of optical surfaces and coating abrasion are additionally examined.

Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160 Report

Equipment identification, part number and configuration
Standard, revision and method/section number applied
Selected severity level or category and its basis
Test rig, mounting arrangement and measurement points
Functional checks performed before, during and after the test
Measurement results, observations and photographs
Non-conformities and any test deviations
A statement that the result applies only to the specimen submitted for testing

Accreditation

EUROLAB holds internationally recognised accreditation obtained from accreditation bodies party to the IAF and ILAC multilateral recognition arrangements, under ISO/IEC 17025 for laboratory testing, ISO/IEC 17020 for inspection and surveillance, and ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO/IEC 17065 for system and product certification. This chain ensures the reports and certificates issued are accepted worldwide.

Whether this test can be offered within accredited scope depends on your product and the standard applied; since accreditation is method-based, the scope is confirmed in writing at the quotation stage.

Scope and authorisations

Related Regulations

MIL-STD-810 (environmental engineering considerations and laboratory tests)
The procuring authority's technical specification and qualification plan
AQAP / NATO quality assurance requirements (where applicable)

Aerospace Testing — What Does This Testing Field Cover?

The section below describes the field that the Sand and Dust test belongs to; the conditions and acceptance criteria of this particular test are given in the sections above. The scope specific to your product is confirmed in writing 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

Related Tests

Frequently Asked Questions About Sand and Dust — RTCA DO-160

Does an IP6X rating substitute for this test?

No. The dust test in IEC 60529 defines a different dust and exposure; the MIL-STD-810 and DO-160 procedures are based on the field scenario and additionally address sand abrasion.

Is the equipment operated during the test?

It depends on the scenario. For equipment with fans or moving parts, exposure while running is usually required because it shows dust being drawn in.