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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

How often have you dropped your phone and are thankful that it still works?

We live in an electronic world with increasing dependence on our handheld devices for daily activities. These electronics, ranging from phones to cameras to game controllers and MP3 players, are subject to a variety of grueling conditions be it repetitive use or accidental damage. Most people don’t know the rigorous testing that goes on to ensure that your various electronics can withstand the various bumps and bruises that we inflict on them daily.

Damage to plastic casings, lens covers, keypads or buttons start to accumulate resulting in eventual failure of a piece part and thus rendering the device useless. To keep up with consumers ever growing demands on quality products, mechanical testing on various components and parts is necessary.


Three of the most common types of tests our customers perform on the electronic devices and components they manufacture are as follows:


  1. Puncture/probe test - A puncture, or probe test, is used to test the durability of small parts such as buttons or keypads.
  2. Impact/drop test - An impact test can replicate the way a device reacts to being dropped.
  3. Dynamic/fatigue test – A dynamic or fatigue test helps determine how key components react under repetitive motions as well as give us an estimate of fatigue life of a device.

If you would like more information on the challenges of testing handheld devices and other plastics, please view our plastics brochure.

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