International Electrotechnical Commission

Environmental Testing Part 1: General and Guidance - Edition 7.0
 N 60068-1

Annotation

The IEC 60068 series includes a series of methods for environmental testing along with their appropriate severities, and prescribes various atmospheric conditions for measurements and tests designed to assess the ability of specimens to perform under expected conditions of transportation, storage and all aspects of operational use.

Although primarily intended for electrotechnical products, this standard is not restricted to them and may be used in other fields where desired.

Other methods of environmental testing, specific to the individual types of specimen, may be included in the relevant specifications.

The framework of environmental test tailoring process is given in order to assist the production of test specifications with appropriate tests and test severities. The IEC 60068 series provides a series of uniform and reproducible environmental, climatic, dynamic and combined tests, performed and measured under standard atmospheric conditions, for those preparing specifications and those engaged in the testing of products.

These test methods are based upon available international engineering experience and judgement and are primarily designed to provide information on the following properties of specimens:

a) the ability to operate within specified limits of temperature, pressure, humidity, mechanical stress or other environmental conditions and combinations of these conditions;

b) the ability to withstand conditions of transportation, storage and installation.

NOTE 1 The IEC 60721 series provides a system for classification of environmental conditions and gives relevant definitions.