ASTM D999-2008(2015) S

Designation:D999−08(Reapproved2015)StandardTestMethodsforVibrationTestingofShippingContainers1ThisstandardisissuedunderthefixeddesignationD999;thenumberimmediatelyfollowingthedesignationindicatestheyearoforiginaladoptionor,inthecaseofrevision,theyearoflastrevision.Anumberinparenthesesindicatestheyearoflastreapproval.Asuperscriptepsilon(´)indicatesaneditorialchangesincethelastrevisionorreapproval.1.Scope1.1Thesetestmethodscovervibrationtestsoffilledship-pingcontainers.Suchtestsmaybeusedtoassesstheperfor-manceofacontainer,withitsinteriorpackingandmeansofclosure,bothintermsofitsstrengthandoftheprotectionitprovidesitscontentswhenitissubjectedtovibrationsuchasitexperiencesintransportation.Theseproceduresaresuitablefortestingcontainersofanyform,material,kind,designofinteriorpacking,meansofclosure,andanysizeandweight.Theyarenotintendedfordeterminingtheresponseofproductstovibrationforproductdesignpurposes,noraretheyintendedfortestsofproductsintheiroperationalconfigurationasothermoresuitableproceduresareavailableforthesepurposes.2,31.2Thefollowingmethodsappear:MethodA1—RepetitiveShockTest(VerticalMotion).MethodA2—RepetitiveShockTest(RotaryMotion).MethodB—SingleContainerResonanceTest.MethodC—PalletizedLoad,UnitizedLoad,orVerticalStackResonanceTest.1.3Fortestingofintermediatebulkcontainers(IBCs)con-tainingliquidhazardousmaterials,refertoTestMethodD7387.1.4ThesetestmethodsfulfilltherequirementsofInterna-tionalOrganizationforStandardizationstandardsISO8318andISO2247.TheISOstandardsmaynotmeettherequire-mentsforthesemethods.1.5Thevaluesstatedininch-poundunitsaretoberegardedasstandard.ThevaluesgiveninparenthesesaremathematicalconversionstoSIunitsthatareprovidedforinformationonlyandarenotconsideredstandard.1.6Thisstandarddoesnotpurporttoaddressallofthesafetyconcerns,ifany,associatedwithitsuse.Itistheresponsibilityoftheuserofthisstandardtoestablishappro-priatesafetyandhealthpracticesanddeterminetheapplica-bilityofregulatorylimitationspriortouse.Specificprecau-tionarystatementsaregiveninSection6.2.ReferencedDocuments2.1ASTMStandards:4D996TerminologyofPackagingandDistributionEnviron-mentsD3580TestMethodsforVibration(VerticalLinearMotion)TestofProductsD4169PracticeforPerformanceTestingofShippingCon-tainersandSystemsD4332PracticeforConditioningContainers,Packages,orPackagingComponentsforTestingD7387TestMethodforVibrationTestingofIntermediateBulkContainers(IBCs)UsedforShippingLiquidHaz-ardousMaterials(DangerousGoods)E122PracticeforCalculatingSampleSizetoEstimate,WithSpecifiedPrecision,theAverageforaCharacteristicofaLotorProcess2.2ISOStandards:ISO2247Packaging—Complete,FilledTransportPackages—VibrationTestatFixedLowFrequency5ISO8318Packaging—Complete,FilledTransportPackages—VibrationTestsUsingaVariableFrequency53.Terminology3.1Definitions:3.1.1Fordefinitionsoftermsusedinthesetestmethods,seeTerminologyD996.3.1.2doubleamplitude,n—themaximumvalueofasinu-soidalquantity(peak-to-peak).3.1.3octave,n—theintervalbetweentwofrequencieshav-ingaratiooftwo(2).1ThesetestmethodsareunderthejurisdictionofASTMCommitteeD10onPackagingandarethedirectresponsibilityofSubcommitteeD10.21onShippingContainersandSystems-ApplicationofPerformanceTestMethods.CurrenteditionapprovedOct.1,2015.PublishedOctober2015.Originallyapprovedin1948.Lastpreviouseditionapprovedin2008asD999–08.DOI:10.1520/D0999-08R15.2MilitaryStandardEnvironmentalTestMethods,MIL-STD-810F,Method514,Vibration,availablefromwww.dodssp.daps.mil/dodssp.htm.3InternationalElectrotechnicalCommissionRecommendation,Publication68-2-6,Part2,TestF:Vibration,BasicEnvironmentalTestingProceduresforElectronicComponentsandElectricalEquipment,availablefromAmericanNa-tionalStandardsInstitute,Inc.,25W.43rdSt.,4thFloor,NewYork,NY10036.4ForreferencedASTMstandards,visittheASTMwebsite,www.astm.org,orcontactASTMCustomerServiceatservice@astm.org.ForAnnualBookofASTMStandardsvolumeinformation,refertothestandard’sDocumentSummarypageontheASTMwebsite.5AvailablefromAmericanNationalStandardsInstitute(ANSI),25W.43rdSt.,4thFloor,NewYork,NY10036,http://www.ansi.org.Copyright©ASTMInternational,100BarrHarborDrive,POBoxC700,WestConshohocken,PA19428-2959.UnitedStates13.1.4powerspectraldensity(PSD),n—usedtoquantifytheintensityofrandomvibrationintermsofmean-squareaccel-erationperunitoffrequency.Theunitsareg2/Hz((m/s2)2/Hz),wheregistheaccelerationofgravity,equalto386in./s2(9.8m/s2).Powerspectraldensityisthelimitingmeansquarevalueinagivenrectangularbandwidthdividedbythebandwidth,asthebandwidthapproacheszero.3.1.5repetitiveshock,n—impactsofapackageonatestplatformwhichoccurcyclicallyfrominputoscillatorymotion.3.1.6resonance,n—forasystemundergoingforcedvibration,thefrequencyatwhichanychangeoftheexcitingfrequency,positiveandnegative,inthevicinityoftheexcitingfrequencycausesadecreaseintheresponseofthesystem.4.SignificanceandUse4.1Shippingcontainersareexposedtocomplexdynamicstresseswhensubjectedtovibrationpresentinalltransporta-tionvehicles.Approximatingtheactualdamage,orlackofdamage,experiencedinshippingmayrequiresubjectingthecontainer(s)andcontentstovibrationinputs.4.2Resonantresponsesduringshipmentcanbesevereandmayleadtopackageorproductfailure.Identificationofcriticalfrequencies,andthenatureofpackagestressescanaidinminimizingtheeffectoftheseoccurrences.4.3Vibrationtestsshouldbebasedonrepresentativefielddata.Whenpossible,theconfidencelevelmaybeimprovedbycomparinglaboratorytestresultswithactualfieldshipmentdata.Itishighlyrecommendedthatoneunderstandthemostcommonfailurestoone’sproductsandpackagingindistribution,andthenattempttoreplicatethosefailuresinthelaboratory.Oncesuchreplicationisestablished,thenthattestcanbecometheminimumnecessarytestforfuturepackagedproductstopass.4.4Exposuretovibrationcanaffecttheshippingcontainer,itsinteriorpackaging,meansofclosure,andcontents.Thesetestsallowanalysisoftheinteractionofthesecomponents.Designmodificationtooneormoreofthesecomponentsmaybeutilizedtoachieveoptimumperformanceintheshippingenvironment.4.5MethodsA1andA2,RepetitiveShockTests,aresuitablefortestsofindividualcontainersthataretransportedunre-strainedonthebedofavehicleandmaybesuitablefortestsofcontainersthatmightbesubjectedtorepetitiveshocksduetomagnificationofvibrationsinunitloadsorstacks.NOTE1—MethodsA1andA2producedifferentvibrationmotions,andtherefore,willgeneratedifferentforceswhichmayresultindifferentdamagemodesandintensities.Resultsfromthesetwomethodsmaynotcorrelatewithoneanother.4.6MethodB,SingleContainerResonanceTest,testsordeterminestheabilityofanindividualcontaineranditsinteriorpackagingtoprotectthecontentsfromtransportationvibration,particularlywhenthecontaineranditscontentsmightexhibitresonantresponses.NOTE2—IndividualproductsthatarepalletizedmightbebettertestedusingMethodC.4.7MethodC,PalletizedLoad,UnitizedLoadorVerticalStackResonanceTest,coversthedeterminationofthepresenceandtheeffectsofresonanceinpalletizedloadsandmultiple-unitstackedloads,andwhetherornotthestrengthofthecontainersissufficienttowithstanddynamicloadswhenstacked.4.8Anyorallofthesetestmethodsmaybeemployed,asdeterminedbytheappropriateperformancespecification,withtestintensities,frequencyranges,andtestdurationsascalledforinthespecification.Althoughthesetestsdonotsimulatetheshippingenvironment,theyareintendedtocreatethedamage-producingpotentialoftheshippingenvironment.Resultsofanyoneofthesemethodsmaydifferfromtheresultsoftheothers.5.Apparatus5.1MethodA1—RepetitiveShockTest(VerticalMotion):5.1.1VibrationTestMachine,withaplatformhavingahorizontalsurfaceofsufficientstrengthandrigiditysothattheappliedvibrationsareessentiallyuniformovertheentiretestsurfacewhenloadedwiththetestspecimen.Theplatformshallbesupportedbyamechanismthatvibratesitsothemotionisapproximatelyaverticalsinusoidalinput.(Arotarymotionoftheplatformisnotacceptable.)Thedoubleamplitudedisplace-mentofthevibrationshallbefixedatorcontrolledto1in.(25mm),andthefrequencyshallbevariablewithintherangefrom2toatleast5Hz(cyclespersecond).Thevibrationtestmachineshallbeequippedwithfences,barricades,orotherrestraintstokeepthetestspecimenfromfallingofftheplatformwithoutrestrictingitsverticalmotion.5.2MethodA2—RepetitiveShockTest(RotaryMotion):5.2.1VibrationTestMachine,withaplatformhavingahorizontalsurfaceofsufficientstrengthandrigiditysothattheappliedvibrationsareessentiallyuniformovertheentiretestsurfacewhenloadedwiththetestspecimen.Theplatformshallbesupportedbyamechanismthatvibratesitsothatthemotionisarotationalinputwiththeverticalcomponentapproximatelysinusoidal.Thedoubleamplitudedisplacementofthevibrationshallbefixedat1in.(25mm),andfrequencyshallbevariablefrom2toatleast5Hz(cyclespersecond).Thevibrationtestmachineshallbeequippedwithfences,barricades,orotherrestraintstokeepthetestspecimenfromfallingofftheplatformwithoutrestrictingitsverticalmotion.5.3MetalShim:5.3.1AmetalshimisusedinMethodsA1andA2fordeterminingwhentheshippingcontainerisleavingthetestingplatformbyasufficientamountasdescribedinSection9.5.3.2SpecificationsformetalshimusedinMethodsA1andA2:Width:50mm(20.in.)minimumThickness:1.6mm(1⁄16in.)Length:254mm(10in.)minimum5.4MethodsBandC—ResonanceTests:5.4.1VibrationTestMachine,withaplatformhavingahorizontalsurfaceofsufficientstrengthandrigiditysothattheappliedvibrationsareessentiallyuniformovertheentiretestsurfacewhenloadedwiththetestspecimen.TheplatformshallbesupportedbyamechanismcapableofproducingvibrationinD999−08(2015)2theverticallinearplaneatcontrolledaccelerationsordisplacements,orboth,overacontrolledcontinuouslyvariablerangeoffrequencies.(Arotarymotionoftheplatformisnotacceptable.)SuitablefixturesandattachmentpointsshallbeprovidedtorigidlyattachthetestcontainertotheplatformforMethodB.Restraintsshallbeprovidedtorestrainthehorizon-talmotionofthetestspecimensontheplatformwithoutrestrictingtheverticalmotionofthespecimen(s),forMethodC.5.5Instrumentation—Accelerometers,signalconditioners,anddatadisplayorstoragedevicesarerequiredtomeasureandcontroltheaccelerationsatthetestsurfaceinMethodsBandC.Instrumentationmayalsobedesirableformonitoringtheresponseofthecontainersandpackageditems.Theinstrumen-tationsystemshallhavearesponseaccuratetowithin65%overtherangespecifiedforthetest.Accelerometersshouldbesmallandlightweightenoughastonotinfluencetheresponseoftheitembeingmeasurednorinfluencetheresultsofthetest.DetailedinformationonsuitableinstrumentationmaybefoundintheShockandVibrationHandbook.65.6ConditioningApparatus—Adequatefacilitiesshallbeprovidedforconditioningtestspecimensatselectedhumidityandtemperaturepriortoorduringthetest,orboth,inaccordancewiththerequirementsoftheapplicablespecifica-tion.6.SafetyPrecautions6.1Thesetestmethodsmayproduceseveremechanicalresponsesofthetestspecimens.Therefore,fences,barricades,andotherrestraintsmusthavesufficientstrengthandmustbeadequatelysecured.Operatingpersonnelmustremainalerttopotentialhazardsandtakenecessaryprecautionsfortheirsafety.Stopthetestimmediatelyifadangerousconditionshoulddevelop.Forexample,causingthecontainertogointoresonanceduringtestingmayresultinuncontrollablerespon-sivebouncing.Thismayalsoleadtoadangeroussituation,over-testing,orprematurefailuresandpotentialsafetyissuestotestingpersonnelandequipment.7.TestSpecimens7.1Thetestspecimenshallconsistofthecontainer,asintendedforshipment,loadedwiththeinteriorpackagingandtheactualcontentsforwhichitwasdesigned.Blemishedorrejectedproductsmaybeused,ifthedefectisrecordedpriortothetest.Dummytestitemsshouldbeusedfordevelopmentaltestingwhennecessary,butmaynotbeusedforfinalaccep-tancetesting.NOTE3—Surrogatematerialmaybeusedwhenactualproductisunacceptableforuse(forexample,packagetestingforhazardousmateri-als).Forpackagingintendedtocontainliquiddangerousgoods(hazardousmaterials),watershouldbeusedasthestandardtestmedium.7.2Sensorsandtransducersmaybeappliedwiththemini-mumpossiblealterationofthetestspecimen,toobtaindataonthecontainerorpackageditem.Whenitisnecessarytoobservethecontentsduringthetest,holesmaybecutinnoncriticalareasofthecontainer.7.3Wheneversufficientcontainersandcontentsareavailable,itishighlydesirablethatfiveormorereplicatetestsbeconductedtoimprovethestatisticalreliabilityofthedataobtained(seePracticeE122).8.Conditioning8.1Conditiontestspecimenspriortothetestorduringthetest,orboth,inaccordancewiththerequirementsoftheapplicablespecification.Whennoconditioningrequirementsaregiven,andthecontainermaterialsareclimaticallysensitive,aconditioningatmosphereisrecommended(seePracticeD4332forstandardandspecialconditions).9.Procedure9.1MethodsA1andA2—RepetitiveShockTests:9.1.1Placetheshippingcontaineronthetestmachineplatforminitsnormalshippingorientation.9.1.1.1ForMethodA1,placetheshippingcontainerinthecenteroftheplatform.ForMethodA2,placetheshippingcontainernearthebackstoporfence,equidistantfromeachsideoftheplatform.9.1.1.2Restrainingdevicesmaybeneededtopreventtheshippingcontainerfrommovinghorizontallyortopreventexcessiverocking.Restrainingdevicesmayeffecttheverticalmovementoftheshippingcontainerandattentionmustbegiventohowandwhererestraintsareused.9.1.1.3Whenrestrainingdevicesareused,orientandadjusttherestrainingdevicestoallowfreehorizontalmovementoftheshippingcontainerwithoutrestrictingtheverticalmove-ment.Thereshouldbenoseverehorizontalimpactingofcontainersagainstrestraints.9.1.2Startthevibrationoftheplatformatafrequencyofabout2Hz,andsteadilyincreasethefrequencyuntilthemetalshimcanbeinsertedunderonelongedgeofthecontainerandmovedintermittentlyalongtheentirelengthofthecontainer.Wheninserted,theshimmustbeflat,notatanangle.9.1.2.1Theshimmustbeinsertedaminimumof100mm(4in.)undertheshippingcontainerwhendeterminingthepropertestfrequency.9.1.2.2Theshimmustbecapableofbeinginsertedbetweentheshippingcontainerandtestplatformthroughoutthedura-tionofthetest.Adjustmentstothetestfrequencymayberequiredtomaintainproperseparationofcontainerfromplatformbecauseofcontainermovementorphysicalchangestothecontainer.Whenadjustmentsaremade,theyshouldberecorded.9.1.3Continuethetestatthisfrequencyforalengthoftimestatedintheapplicablespecification,ifany,orforapredeter-minedperiod,oruntilapredeterminedamountofdamagemaybedetected.Thetestmaybestoppedmomentarilytoinspectfordamage.9.1.4Ifthecontainermightpossiblybetransportedinanyotherorientations,testatleastonecontainerineachpossibleorientationforthefullspecifiedtestduration.NOTE4—Whennotestdurationisspecified,atestdurationof1hisrecommended.PracticeD4169mayalsobereferredtofortestdurations.6Harris,C.M.,ShockandVibrationHandbook,McGraw-Hill,NewYork,NY,1988,Chapter16.D999−08(2015)39.1.5Inspectthecontaineranditscontentsandrecordanydamageordeteriorationresultingfromthetest.9.2MethodB—SingleContainerResonanceTest:9.2.1Fastenthetestspecimen,initsnormalshippingorientation,securelytotheplatformofthevibrationequipmentsothatthespecifiedvibrationconditionistransmittedtotheouterpartofthecontainer.Mounttheaccelerometertoeitherthetoporbottomoftheplatform,asclosetothetestitemaspossible,(insuringtheaccelerometerisnotdamagedbytheproduct)orinalocationthatproducesdatarepresentativeoftablemotion.Monitortheamplitudeandfrequencydataachievedontheplatformtoensurethatthedesiredtestconditionsareproduced.9.2.2Determineresonancefrequencyorfrequenciesinoneoftwoways:sinesweeporrandominput.9.2.2.1ResonanceSearchUsingSineSweep—Adjustthevibrationtestapparatustoproducethespecifiedconstantaccelerationamplitude(zero-to-peak)overthespecifiedrangeoffrequencies.Startingatthelowestfrequency,sweepthefrequencyofthevibrationatacontinuouslogarithmicrateof0.5to1.0octavesperminutetotheupperfrequencylimitandbacktothelowerlimit.Repeatthiscompletecycletwice,recordingalltheresonantresponsesofthetestspecimen.Theseresonancefrequenciescanbedeterminedinavarietyofways,includingauditory(listeningtotheresponse),visual(astrobo-scopeorvideosystemmaybebeneficialaids),orwithanaccelerometer.NOTE5—Resonancefrequencyorfrequenciesmaydifferbetweensweepupandsweepdown.Thenaturalfrequencyofthetestspecimenisapproximatelymidwaybetweentheapparentresonancefrequency(ies)foundonthesweepupversusthesweepdown.NOTE6—Ifnotestseverityisspecified,anaccelerationamplitudeof0.25g’s−0.5g(2.45m/s2−4.9m/s2)(zerotopeak)overthefrequencyrangefrom3to100Hzisoftensufficienttoexciteresonance.PracticeD4169alsomaybereferredtofortestlevelanddurationrecommenda-tions.9.2.2.2ResonanceSearchUsingRandomVibrationInput—Asanalternativetousingsinesweepforidentifyingresonancefrequencyorfrequenciesofapackagedproduct,itmaybefastertouserandomvibrationinput,whereawidefrequencyinputbandexcitesallofthenaturalfrequenciesofapackagedproductsimultaneously.PleaseseeTestMethodD3580forfurtherdiscussionofusingrandomvibrationinput.Toutilizethismethodology,itisnecessarytoattachanaccelerometer,oraccelerometers,totheproducttomonitormaximumresponsefrequencies.ItisalsonecessarytoattachanaccelerometertotheplatformtoassuretheplatformmotionisrepresentativeofthedesiredPSDinputspectrum.Mountatransducerinsuchawayastoidentifytheresonantfrequencyorfrequenciesofthepackageinthedirectionofthetablemotion.9.2.2.3Theminimumfrequencyrangeshouldbefrom3to100Hzataminimumpowerspectraldensity(PSD)levelof0.005g2/Hz(0.049(m/s2)2/Hz),oraspectrumknowntobeappropriate.Notethatthisspectradoesnotrepresentanyparticularrealworldenvironmentbutsimplyallowsonetoidentifypackagenaturalfrequencieswithintheareaofforcingfrequenciesfoundmostoftenintransportation.StartthevibrationsystemsuchthatthePSDlevelsdonotovershootthedesiredspectrumduringstartup.Initiatethetestatleast6dBbelowfulllevelandincrementinoneormoresubsequentstepstofulltestlevel.Allowthecontrolsystemtostabilizesuffi-cientlytorepresentastablespectrumshapeandlevel.Comparetheinputwiththeresponse.Recordtheresonanceresponsesofthetestitem.NOTE7—Itshouldbenotedthatsomeexistingvibrationtestequipmenthaslimitedfrequencyrangecapabilityandadditionalequipmentmaybeneededtocovertheentirerecommendedfrequencyrange.9.2.3Dwellforthespecifiedlengthoftimeateachresonantfrequencydeterminedin9.2.2.1(limitedtoamaximumofthefourmostsevereresonances),oruntildamagetothecontainerisnoted,whicheveroccursfirst.Adjustthefrequencyofvibrationasnecessarytomaintainresonance.NOTE8—Ifnodwelltimeisspecified,adwellof15minisrecom-mended.PracticeD4169mayalsobereferredtofortestdurations.9.2.4Repeattheproceduresof9.2.1,9.2.2.1,and9.2.3withthecontainerorientedinthoseorientationsthatmightbeexpectedtooccurindistribution.9.2.5Inspectthecontaineranditscontentsandrecordanydamageordeteriorationresultingfromthetest.9.3MethodC—PalletizedLoad,UnitizedLoad,orVerticalStackResonanceTest:9.3.1Placethefull-sizeunitizedorpalletizedload(s)oftestspecimen(s)onthetestmachineplatformtoaheightequaltothatusedinthemodeofshipment.Itisbesttotesttheloadexactlythewayitispreparedfornormalshipment,thatis,stretchwrap,banding,stackingconfiguration,etc.Asingleverticalcolumnofcontainersmaybeusedifverticalstackingalignmentisusedinshipping.Attachrestrainingdevicestotheplatformtopreventthespecimen(s)fromhorizontalmovementofftheplatform,andtopreventtopplingandexcessiverocking.Adjusttherestrainingdevicestopermitfreemovementofthetestspecimen(s)ofapproximately10mm(0.4in.)inanyhorizontaldirection.Attachtheaccelerometertotheplatformascloseaspossibletothetestspecimen(s),butprotectedsothatitwillnotbecontacted.9.3.2Determineresonancepoint(s)inoneoftwoways:sinesweeporrandominput.9.3.2.1ResonanceSearchUsingSineSweep—Adjustthevibrationtestapparatustoproducethespecifiedconstantaccelerationamplitude(zero-to-peak)overthespecifiedrangeoffrequencies.Startingatthelowestfrequency,sweepthefrequencyofvibrationatacontinuouslogarithmicrateof0.5to1.0octaves/mintotheupperfrequencylimit,andthenbacktothelowerlimit.Repeatthiscompletecycletwice,andrecordalltheresonanceresponsesofthetestload.Theseresonancefrequenciescanbedeterminedinavarietyofways,includingauditory(listeningtotheresponse),visual(astroboscopeorvideosystemmaybebeneficialaids),orwithanaccelerometerlocatedonanupperpackageinthestack.NOTE9—Multiple-unitloadslikelyaretoexhibitseveralresonantresponses.NOTE10—Resonancefreque