The purpose of a test is to discover faults of a product. Sometimes people say the contrary, i.e. to confirm that everything is hopefully alright. As a young engineer in automotive industry, once I have enthusiastically discovered a crucial problem in a test. The project manager was not amused and asked to repeat the test. Varying the test conditions slightly, I finally succeeded not to reproduce the fault any longer. Everybody was glad to keep the schedule, but the fault remained unfixed. Only a test showing as many faults as possible will be worth its costs. In order to avoid bad surprises close to delivery, it is reasonable to test during and after the design of a product. Early tests during development are often done in a less-systematic manner relying on the experience of the tester. Later tests approach requirements by standards and laws (precompliance). In the latest steps, compliance tests are done. In contrary to previous tests, now it is truly the goal of a manufacturer to demonstrate the fulfilment of standards and laws (and the goal of society and legislation referring to standards to keep immature or even unsafe products away from customers). This chapter will show equipment and methods for research and development in early stages as well as precompliance and compliance to common standards.

Chapter Contents:

• 9.1 EMC measurements
• 9.1.1 Environment
• 9.1.1.1 Open-area test site
• 9.1.1.2 Anechoic and semi-anechoic chambers
• 9.1.1.3 Reverberation chambers
• 9.1.2 Equipment
• 9.1.2.1 Signal generators and power amplifiers
• 9.1.2.2 Oscilloscopes
• 9.1.2.3 Line-impedance stabilisation networks
• 9.1.2.4 Spectrum analysers and EMI receivers
• 9.1.3 Generating and measuring conducted interferences
• 9.1.4 Generating and measuring electromagnetic fields
• 9.1.4.1 Antennas
• 9.1.4.2 Line-fed measurement waveguides
• 9.2 Vehicle tests
• 9.2.1 Immissions
• 9.2.2 Emissions
• 9.3 Subsystem and ECU tests
• 9.3.1 Radiated immissions
• 9.3.2 Conducted immissions
• 9.3.3 ESD
• 9.4 The permanent gap

Inspec keywords: legislation; product design; conformance testing

Other keywords: research and development; test approach; legislation; automotive industry; compliance tests; test conditions; product design

Subjects: Administration and management; Production facilities and engineering