ASTM D6653 or D6653M in a Transparent Vacuum Chamber

The ASTM D6653 or ASTM D6653M is a standard test used to determine how the effects of higher altitude will affect package integrity. As you know, altitude can be simulated inside a Vacuum Chamber by altering absolute pressure to correspond to a specific altitude.

The Yogurt Story: Why you should implement the ASTM D6653 Protocol?

There are many reasons to perform the ASTM D6653 one of the reasons is the “Yogurt Story”. This is one of our favorite failure stories. Well, we must keep things confidential but let’s just say that a Manufacturer of Dairy products located at a lower altitude was delivering a trailer load (40,000 lbs) of Yogurt cups and Pudding to a customer of theirs. Their customer is located at a higher altitude city right on the Rocky Mountains. As soon as their customer opened the trailer door to unload the Yogurt, they were terrified to see what had happened. It was the most horrendous sight! The yogurt and pudding oozed out of the cups and most of the seals were broken. It was summer and the smell of fresh Yogurt, Vanilla, Strawberries, and Chocolate quickly filled the customers warehouse.

As the driver walked over to see for himself, he mentioned that: “That’s where I have been hearing the popping sounds from, it’s the Yogurt… I thought it was my suspension” Right after he finished his sentence, the forklift driver started laughing uncontrollably, the supervisor came over to see what the laugh was all about and when the forklift operator told him, the supervisor started laughing too. The forklift operator took a picture of the trailer and shortly after placed it onto their “Receiving Wall of Shame”. The Dairy Product Manufacturer, on the other hand, did not find this story funny because they just had 40,000 lbs delivery of broken yogurt cups rejected.

This is where we were contacted by them. We were referred to them by a client of ours. As we did our investigation, we determined that they did not have proper heat seal integrity procedures for higher altitude, nor did they use the ASTM D6653 protocol as a guide for their high-altitude package testing because “They were not shipping their products by air”.

The ASTM 6653 test procedure should be implemented not only on packaging to be transported by air, but on all packages. If the packages are transported from east to west or vice versa, chances are that the shipment may reach altitudes of up to 12,000 ft. Just because products are not shipped by air, does not mean that these will not be exposed to the effects of higher altitudes. It is imperative that you incorporate the ASTM D6653 if you don’t want the yogurt story to happen to your packages.

Fortunately, it all worked out in the end because we were able to deliver an ASTM D6653 compliant test system. And today it is just a funny story for the Shipper as well as the Receiver, but it was not as funny at the time it was happening.

In conclusion, if you are transporting products across the country and a good seal is important, contact us now so that you don’t have to live through the “Yogurt Story” with your products.

Did you know that we carry a many more products?

We are an Engineering Excellence Company. What are you building? Take a look at the links below and discover some of the cool things we make.

Internal Pressurization ASTM F2096 Leak Testing Systems
Internal Pressurization (ASTM F2096) Leak Testing Systems are instruments that are used during the Quality Control process to discover leaks in sealed packages. As opposed to the vacuum bubble leak test, where the specimen is subjected to a vacuum, the internal pressurization integrity test creates a pressure difference and drives the air through a leak by internally pressurizing the specimen. Our Internal Pressurization Leak Testing Systems are designed and built to conform to the ASTM F2096 Protocol Standard.
Micro-D Vacuum Feedthroughs
Micro D Vacuum Feedthroughs are Micro D connectors rated for vacuum and are generally installed on the vacuum chamber wall. You can then connect from the outside to the inside of your chamber.
Our Work: Research, Development, and Testing of Weather Balloons inside a Clear Vacuum Chamber
A wonderful company (more like one of the best companies in the world) which is currently involved with the research, development, and testing of high-altitude weather balloons, had a need for a vacuum chamber capable of achieving about 100 micro Torr (Micron) of ultimate Pressure for their testing environment. Fortunately, acrylic vacuum chambers are the perfect choice when it comes to Low, Rough, and Medium Vacuum.
Related Articles: Anatomy of the Pressure Decay, Vacuum Decay, and Force Decay Curve
How do you know that you have a good part during your leak test? In order to understand your leak test, you must first understand the Test Decay Curve and what it tells you about your test specimen. There is a certain way that a test specimen behaves during the leak test.