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ABSTRACT
This paper highlights the significant changes introduced with the F-revision of MIL-STD-81 0, "Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests. " The major emphasis on test tailoring presented in Part One ofthe document is described Significant features of each test method in Part Two are briefly summarized. Detailed discussions of each test method are beyond the scope of this document.
Keywords: Acquisition Reform, MIL-STD-810F, climatic testing, environmental engineering specialist, environmental testing, shock testing, temperature testing, test tailoring, vibration testing
Why should we in the environmental testing profession care about MIL-STD-810F, "Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests"? Wasn't MIL-STD-810 thrown out with Acquisition Reform? Why should we bother with a "discarded" document anyway? Hasn't it been replaced by something else? The answer is a resounding "No!"
MIL-STD-8 lOF is still in effect in its new guise as a Test Method Standard. Under Acquisition Reform, test method standards are classified as "good" government documents. Not only is MIL-STD-810 still in effect, it is likewise still very relevant. No other commercial or military test standard has a wider range of tests or greater depth of guidance.12
Most important, no other test standard treats test tailoring and implementation as a systems engineering process. This engineering process is the foundation of MIL-STD-8 IOF. All too often, contract requirements and other test documents treat testing as a loosely linked patchwork of individual test procedures, which may or may not be linked to each other or to the operational requirements of the product being tested. In MIL-STD-810F, the intent is to integrate, rather than separate, all of the design and test elements. (Actually, this conversion of intent from cookbook to systems engineering process began in the D-revision and has evolved progressively through the E- and F-revisions.)
Much has changed in the F-revision of this important document, yet much remains essentially the same. The following discussion highlights the basic changes in MIL-STD810F. Please do not regard what follows as a definitive examination of all of the technical nuances and implications buried in its 539 pages. But rather, consider this discussion as a kind of "blue light special" marking areas of potential interest.
In the following summaries,...