Sand and Dust Testing — RTCA DO-160 Part 12 · Defence Testing

What Is Sand/Dust?

This test is carried out to evaluate the resistance of the equipment to fine dust and blown sand within the scope of Chapter 12 (“Sand and Dust”) of the RTCA DO-160 “Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment” standard. DO-160 is the exact same text as EUROCAE ED-14 and is recognized by ISO as ISO 7137.

Purpose of Sand/Dust

The aim is to certify that aviation equipment meets the requirements for assessing the equipment's resistance to fine dust and blown sand in flight and ground conditions and to complete equipment qualification.

Which Products Is Sand/Dust Applied To?

Avionics units and displays
In-flight electronic equipment
Communication and navigation devices
Cabin and cargo compartment equipment
Sensors and actuators

In Which Sectors Is Sand/Dust Used?

DefenceAerospaceSpaceElectronics

Standards Related to Sand/Dust

RTCA DO-160Environmental conditions and test methods in aviation equipment test
EUROCAE ED-14
ISO 7137
MIL-STD-810environmental engineering assessments and laboratory tests test
MIL-STD-461electromagnetic interference in military systems test
MIL-STD-202Testing methods in electronic parts test
MIL-STD-883Test methods in microelectronic devices test
MIL-STD-167mechanical vibration in ship equipment test
MIL-S-901high intensity shock testing on ship equipment test
MIL-STD-704aircraft electrical power characteristics test
MIL-STD-127528 V electrical system in military vehicles test
NATO STANAG TestsTests within the scope of NATO standardization agreements test

Sand/Dust Conditions

Category: D (toz), S (kum)
Konsantrasyon: Defined in standard
air speed: Defined by category
Time: Defined time for each stage

Equipment for Sand/Dust

Sand/dust blowing tunnel
Concentration and air speed control
Surface and optical measurement
Function monitoring

Sample Requirements for Sand/Dust

Category must be defined
The enclosure interior must be clean before the test
Moving parts must be identified

Duration of Sand/Dust

Typically one business day.

Sand/Dust Procedure

1Category, concentration and air speed are set.
2The sample is placed in the tunnel.
3Powder and/or sand stages are applied.
4Access is controlled by opening the enclosure.
5Function and wear are evaluated.

Sand/Dust Acceptance Criteria

The acceptance criteria are that the function continues and dust/sand ingress does not affect safety.

Evaluation of Results

Fan and ventilation openings are critical entry points.

Sand/Dust Report

Applicable standard, revision and Part 12
Selected equipment category and justification
Applied conditions and measurement results
Function monitoring method and observations
Environmental Qualification Form (DO-160 Environmental Qualification Form) entry

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

Aviation equipment qualification requirements
EASA/FAA certification principles

Savunma Testleri — What Does This Testing Field Cover?

The section below describes the field that the Sand/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.

Defence testing shows that equipment keeps working in a military mission environment. What distinguishes it from civil testing is not only the severity of the levels; the ASSUMPTION ITSELF is different. The equipment must work on the first attempt, after months of storage, in an environment where maintenance is not available, inside a platform crowded with its own transmitters and receivers.

This assumption shapes the test plan. For a civil product "normal use" can be defined; for military equipment what is defined is the LIFE CYCLE ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE: the exposure of every stage is listed — from manufacture to storage, from storage to shipment, to transport on a vehicle, to use in the field and to maintenance — and the testing is derived from that list.

On the environmental side, MIL-STD-810 methods are applied: temperature, humidity, altitude, rain, sand and dust, salt fog, fungus, shock, vibration, explosive atmosphere and gunfire vibration. The standard itself sets no acceptance criterion; which method is applied at which level, and what is acceptable, come from the programme specification.

On the electromagnetic side, MIL-STD-461 requirements come into play and interference within the platform is controlled. It measures the same physics as civil EMC but with a different assumption: the equipment will operate on a platform crowded with its own radars and radios, and interference inside the platform puts the mission directly at risk. The limits are therefore far stricter.

Power quality is a separate body of work. MIL-STD-1275 for military vehicles and MIL-STD-704 for aircraft define the supply characteristics: voltage ranges, transients, ripple and interruption behaviour. This is where commercially derived equipment most often gets stuck when integrated into a military platform.

On the shock side, naval vessels carry their own regime: the MIL-S-901 high-impact shock test simulates the effect of an underwater explosion and tests the equipment on a real impact machine. This is an entirely different scale from classical laboratory shock testing.

The suitability of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment for military use is a growing subject in the field. Cost and lead time pressures encourage the use of commercial products; but a commercial product is not considered suitable unless it has been through the military profile, and a gap analysis plus additional qualification is required.

In this family the test plan comes from the PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION. The phrase "complies with MIL-STD-810" is therefore not a verifiable claim on its own; which method, which procedure, which level and which revision must all be answered.

Method groups in this field

Environmental
MIL-STD-810 methods: temperature, humidity, altitude, solar radiation, rain, sand and dust, fungus, salt fog, immersion, explosive atmosphere.
Mechanical
Vibration (random, sine, gunfire), shock, acceleration, free fall and transport simulation.
Electromagnetic
MIL-STD-461 CE/CS/RE/RS requirements; MIL-STD-464 at platform level.
Power quality
Conformity to the MIL-STD-1275 vehicle and MIL-STD-704 aircraft supply characteristics.
High-impact shock
The MIL-S-901 naval shock test; simulation of the effect of an underwater explosion.
Component qualification
MIL-STD-883 microelectronics and MIL-STD-202 electronic parts test methods.

Commonly confused in this field

The phrase "MIL-STD-810 certified" is incorrect; the standard produces no certificate, the output is a qualification report.
A conformity claim that does not state the method, procedure and level cannot be verified.
The revision letter (F, G, H) changes the content of methods and the procedure numbers; the specification must state the revision.
A civil EMC report does not replace MIL-STD-461; the limits, distances and set-ups are different.
Power quality is the requirement most often skipped when integrating a commercial product into a military platform.
Applying a method does not show that the equipment maintains its function in that environment; the functional acceptance criterion is defined separately.

Which decisions these results support

Qualification under a supply contract
Component verification before platform integration
Suitability of commercially derived equipment for military use and gap analysis
Specification compliance in NATO and export programmes
Establishing the life cycle environmental profile

Related Tests

Frequently Asked Questions About Sand/Dust

How is the equipment category determined?

The category is selected based on the equipment's mounting location on the aircraft (pressurized/non-pressurized, heated/unheated area) and aircraft type. Category selection directly determines the test conditions and is declared in the qualification form.

Is there any difference between DO-160 and ED-14?

No. RTCA DO-160 and EUROCAE ED-14 are exactly the same text; the two are considered equivalent.