 Cover of original 1975 issue | |
| Abbreviation |
|
|---|---|
| Status | Published |
| Year started | 1975 |
| Latest version | G December 2010 |
| Organization | |
| Committee | RTCA SC-135 EUROCAE WG-14 |
| Domain | Aviation |
| Website | rtca.org |
DO-160, Environmental Conditions and Test Procedures for Airborne Equipment is a standard for the environmental testing of avionics hardware. It is published by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) and supersedes DO-138.
The DO-160 document was first published on February 28, 1975 to specify test conditions for the design of avionics electronic hardware in airborne systems. Since then the standard has undergone subsequent revisions up through Revision G.
This document outlines a set of minimal standard environmental test conditions (categories) and corresponding test procedures for airborne equipment for the entire spectrum of aircraft from light general aviation aircraft and helicopters through the jumbo jets and supersonic transport categories of aircraft. The purpose of these tests is to provide a controlled (laboratory) means of assuring the performance characteristics of airborne equipment in environmental conditions similar of those which may be encountered in airborne operation of the equipment. The standard environmental test conditions and test procedures contained within the standard, may be used in conjunction with applicable equipment performance standards, as a minimum specification under environmental conditions, which can ensure an adequate degree of confidence in performance during use aboard an air vehicle. The Standard Includes Sections on:
| Section | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Standard conditions | ||
| 4.0 | Temperature | This checks the effects of temperature on the system. Condensation also can be a factor coming from cold temperatures. |
| Altitude | These tests check the effects (in terms of performance) of altitude, including loss of cabin pressure on the device/system/equipment. Factors tested include dielectric strength, cooling under low pressure, and resilience to rapid change in air pressure. The norm defines the different temperature profiles under which the equipment must be tested. Due to the variety of aircraft, the equipment are classified in categories. | |
| 5.0 | Temperature variation | These tests exercise the assemblies capability of surviving extreme temperature changes and the effects of differing coefficients of thermal expansion. |
| 6.0 | Humidity | These tests under humidity check the effects of high concentrations of humidity and the articles ability to withstand moisture effects such as corrosion. Typically moisture sensitive devices have issues with this test and require conformal coat or other types of protection. |
| 7.0 | Shock & crash safety | This aircraft type dependent test checks the effects of mechanical shock. Crash safety test insures the item does not become a projectile in a crash. The norm describes the test procedure for airborne equipment. |
| 8.0 | Vibration | Aircraft type dependent test checks the effects of vibration and the equipment's ability to operate during all vibration scenarios. |
| 9.0 | Explosion proofness | These tests subject the test article to an environment under vacuum, with a gaseous mixture of combustibles. The unit must operate and be subjected to any actuation including knob turns and button pushes and not ignite the environment. |
| 10.0 | Water proofness | These tests subject the test article to various scenarios of dripping water or pooled water to verify the unit will fully operate in the given condition. |
| 11.0 | Fluids susceptibility | Aviation related fluids susceptibility including a variety of fluids ranging from carbonated sugared beverage to various cleaners and solvents. |
| 12.0 | Sand & dust | This test subjects the unit to an environment of blowing sand and dust of specific particle sizes in which the unit must operate at the end of exposures. |
| 13.0 | Fungus resistance | These tests determine whether equipment material is adversely affected by fungi under conditions favorable for their development, namely, high humidity, warm atmosphere and presence of inorganic salts. |
| 14.0 | Salt & fog | This test verifies the test articles ability to survive multiple exposures of salt fog and drying and the environment's ability to cause accelerated corrosion. |
| 15.0 | Magnetic effect | This test determines the magnetic effect of the equipment and ensures it can operate properly without interference which may affect the nearby equipment, particularly the aircraft's compass. |
| 16.0 | Power input | Input power conducted emissions and susceptibility, transients, drop-outs and hold-up. The power input tests simulate conditions of aircraft power from before engine start to after landing including emergencies. |
| 17.0 | Voltage spike | This test determines whether equipment can withstand the effects of voltage spikes arriving at the equipment on its power leads, either AC or DC. |
| 18.0 | Audio frequency conducted susceptibility | This test determines whether the equipment will accept frequency components of a magnitude normally expected when the equipment is installed in the A/C. These frequency components are normally harmonically related to the power source fundamental frequency. |
| 19.0 | Induced signal susceptibility | This test determines whether the equipment interconnect circuit configuration will accept a level of induced voltages caused by the installation environment. This section relates specifically to interfering signals related to the power frequency and its harmonics, audio frequency signals, and electrical transients that are generated by other on-board equipment or systems and coupled to sensitive circuits within the EUT through its interconnecting wiring. |
| 20.0 and 21.0 | RF emission and susceptibility | Radio frequency energy: -- radiated emissions and radiated susceptibility (HIRF) via an electromagnetic reverberation chamber. |
| 22.0 and 23.0 | Lightning susceptibility | Direct and indirect effects depending on mounting location; includes induced transients into the airframe or wire bundle. |
| 24.0 | Icing | This test determine performance characteristics for equipment that must operate when exposed to icing conditions that would be encountered under conditions of rapid changes in temperature, altitude and humidity. |
| 25.0 | ESD | This checks for resilience vs ESD in handling and operation. |
| 26.0 | Flammability | This analysis and test verifies the assembly will not provide a source to fire. |
The user of the standard must also decide interdependently of the standard, how much additional test margin to allow for uncertainty of test conditions and measurement in each test.
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Avionics software is embedded software with legally mandated safety and reliability concerns used in avionics. The main difference between avionic software and conventional embedded software is that the development process is required by law and is optimized for safety. It is claimed that the process described below is only slightly slower and more costly than the normal ad hoc processes used for commercial software. Since most software fails because of mistakes, eliminating the mistakes at the earliest possible step is also a relatively inexpensive and reliable way to produce software. In some projects however, mistakes in the specifications may not be detected until deployment. At that point, they can be very expensive to fix.
A traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS, pronounced TEE-kas), also known as an Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS), is an aircraft collision avoidance system designed to reduce the incidence of mid-air collision (MAC) between aircraft. It monitors the airspace around an aircraft for other aircraft equipped with a corresponding active transponder, independent of air traffic control, and warns pilots of the presence of other transponder-equipped aircraft which may present a threat of MAC. It is a type of airborne collision avoidance system mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization to be fitted to all aircraft with a maximum take-off mass (MTOM) of over 5,700 kg (12,600 lb) or authorized to carry more than 19 passengers. CFR 14, Ch I, part 135 requires that TCAS I be installed for aircraft with 10-30 passengers and TCAS II for aircraft with more than 30 passengers. ACAS/TCAS is based on secondary surveillance radar (SSR) transponder signals, but operates independently of ground-based equipment to provide advice to the pilot on potentially conflicting aircraft.
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