Thermal Transient

The Santa Barbara Automation Thermal Transient Test System is a desktop instrument for engineering, quality control and low volume production applications. This system is available with or without a protective stainless steel and polycarbonate test chamber and 4-wire (Kelvin) connector fixture for the part under test. A personal computer is required for operation. The software application maintains a database of testing parameters and archives the data in a variety of formats. For faster test times an optional multimeter may be added to the system.

Time-synchronous acquisition of voltage and current combined with a near-ideal current source give state of the art accuracy, resolution, and stability. User selectable test durations to 800 milliseconds and test currents to 1000 milliamperes are configurable on a per-part basis. Higher current models are available on request.

The host software displays zoomable graphs of current, voltage and resistance and may be used offline to view saved test data along with testing parameters.

Production test is now fully implemented with Pass/Fail status shown on screen and archived in the results database. Testing recipes are selectable by part number.

Our latest software application (available for download free of charge) offers extensive bridgewire analysis tools. View, analyze and compare test results on any computer without test hardware. An invaluable tool for optimizing your manufacturing process.


A variety of options are available for the Thermal Transient System, including different size test chambers, tooling for both wire-lead and pin-lead initiators and custom adapters to match unique initiators.

The test chambers are extremely rugged. Manufactured from 1.25mm (.048 inch) stainless steel and completely lined with 12mm (.50 inch) polycarbonate. The chamber door is magnetically latched with a closure sensor for safety.

Download the fully functional thermal software application and sample waveforms to evaluate our latest application. The Thermal 2010 manual is also available for download and explains the latest features.

2705A De La Vina Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93105, Telephone: (805) 682-0900, Facsimile: (805) 682-9617
info@designconsultants.cc