30 inch Vacuum Chamber

Testing electronic equipment in a reduced pressure allows for two important scenarios in thermal measurement, i) simulated environmental conditions for high altitude operation and ii) microscale simulation through a change in density as opposed to working with extremely small scale test components.

The 30 inch diameter vacuum chamber can achieve vacuum pressures of 10^-3 torr and can be used for both natural and forced flows. Possible projects include:

• modelling and testing of electronics enclosures consisting of heated printed wiring boards
• forced convection modelling and testing of fundamental body shapes used for circuit board analysis
• radiation measurements
• examine the transition between a continuum and rarefied gases