Drop test simulation and experiments

Does our product survive when it drops to the floor?’  We can predict, measure, and improve the drop and shock robustness of a product.

Many portable and tabletop products must meet severe drop and shock testing requirements. Often these tests can only be carried out towards the end of the development process and if failures occur they can cause high costs and serious delays in time to market. This can be a particular problem for plastic parts where injection-molding tooling has to be modified.

Solution: non-destructive drop test simulations at an early stage

Philips Engineering Solutions can perform computer monitored simulations of the drop behavior of a product at a much earlier stage in development (even during concept design) when changes are cheaper and faster to implement and much more design freedom is available.

We are experienced in modeling and performing impact simulations with specialized FEM software (Abaqus). A dedicated measurement set-up can be used to mimic the impact of a crash under specified conditions, such as height (crash speed) and impact angle.

For realistic results, the correct material properties used for the models can be measured with our dedicated equipment. In addition, capturing the behavior with a high-speed camera and measuring forces and accelerations. This is very useful for validation or qualification of a product or for investigating failure mechanisms.

How we can help you with drop test simulations

To serve you more, the knowledge that we built up during the years with drop test simulations can be used by suggesting improvements of your design. We can help you with:

• Finite Element Modelling and simulation of crashes (drop test simulation)
• Impact measurements (drop test experiments) for verification, qualification, and troubleshooting
• Improving the drop and shock robustness of your product

Pen can feel like 10 kilo’s on impact: back of envelope calculation. Did you know that a pen feels 1000 times as heavy as its own weight when you drop it on a table from 10 cm?

Simple calculations and understanding the basics of shock theory can reveal surprising results. To determine the worst case impact of a pencil falling on a table, only information on the drop height, gravity, mass and stiffness of the pencil is needed. The difficulty, however, is not in de formula to be used, but in the knowledge on e.g. the relevant stiffness and the validity of the assumed drop conditions.

The difficulty in determining the worst case impact is not in de formula to be used, but in the knowledge on, for instance, the relevant stiffness and the validity of the assumed drop conditions.