Shock testing subjects hardware to brief, high-energy mechanical events to evaluate its ability to withstand launch, separation, handling, transport, and operational shock environments.
Pyro-shocks commonly occur during spacecraft missions when rocket stages separate, and in military environments when weapons are fired or munitions are detonated.
Conducted from heights of up to 80ft (24m), this testing assesses an item’s ability to withstand incidents that may occur during transport, handling, or normal use.
These methods can generate shock levels of up to 15,000g (147,000 m/s2).
The item is secured in place while an impactor, such as a hammer, pendulum, or free-falling weight, is dropped from a specified height.
A shock pulse is defined by its peak acceleration, duration, and waveform shape, such as half sine, triangular, or trapezoidal. Electrodynamic shakers can produce a wide range of classical pulse shapes, providing an efficient solution for routine testing.
Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) and Pseudo Velocity Shock Spectrum (PVSS) – SRS testing is used to recreate complex shock pulses. Synthetic pulse profiles can be generated to match the frequency response of real operational environments.
Recorded signals can be reproduced and processed through an iterative shock control loop to generate and control complex waveforms.
This testing confirms that equipment continues to perform within specified limits after exposure to shocks encountered during normal operation. It also verifies that equipment remains securely mounted and does not separate in a way that could create a hazard during a crash or collision.
Used to assess the structural strength of aerospace hardware as an alternative to static pull and centrifuge testing.
A commonly used synthetic pulse type within the testing industry, particularly for earthquake simulation testing.
Resonates team of experienced engineers carries out testing to a wide range of industrial and military standards, including RTCA DO-160, MIL-STD-810, DEF STAN 00-35, and EN 60068. Our engineers also support complex and bespoke projects through assistance with prototype development, product development, and specification selection.
Whether you are validating an engineering model, preparing for qualification, planning acceptance testing or assessing mission readiness, an early engineering review can help identify the most practical route through mechanical shock or SRS testing.
Share your hardware description, shock profile, complex shock or SRS requirement, fixture assumptions, mass properties, instrumentation needs and programme objectives. Resonate Testing can review setup, monitoring and reporting expectations before quotation.
Qualification and acceptance testing support
Space hardware, CubeSat, satellite and payload assessment
Mechanical shock for automotive or aerospace applications
Standards and customer requirement review
Integrated vibration, shock and environmental campaign planning
Resonate provides shock testing services for New Space, aerospace and advanced engineering programmes. Our shock testing capability in the UK and Ireland supports the qualification and verification of space hardware by simulating the high-impact shock environments encountered during launch, deployment and operation. Combined with vibration and environmental testing services, it offers a single-source solution for environmental testing of space hardware, helping reduce handling risks and maintain consistent test conditions throughout development.
Mechanical shock testing is rarely defined by one standard alone. Classic pulse campaigns, SRS-based tests and complex pyroshock simulations are normally built from the product environment, customer specification, qualification level and evidence needed for acceptance.
For space hardware, requirements may reference ECSS guidance, NASA GEVS, ESA project requirements, launch-provider specifications and mission-specific shock response spectra. These documents help define launch, separation, deployment or pyrotechnic event environments, including axes, levels, tolerances, frequency range, instrumentation and reporting expectations.
Across defence, aerospace, automotive, rail, electronics, battery and industrial sectors, shock requirements can come from MIL-STD-810, RTCA DO-160, IEC 60068, ISO 16750, EN 61373, UN 38.3 or customer-specific documentation. The key is translating the standard into a practical test plan covering fixtures, mounting, pulse verification, accelerometer locations, functional checks and usable evidence.
Early standards review reduces the risk of under-testing, over-testing or generating data that does not satisfy the end customer, launch authority, certification body or project reviewer.
NASA GSFC-STD-7000 / GEVS
ECSS standards
ECSS standards
RTCA DO-160
IEC 60068 environmental testing
NASA GSFC-STD-7000 / GEVS
ECSS standards
ECSS standards
RTCA DO-160
IEC 60068 environmental testing
Plan: Review the requirement, standards, acceptance criteria, safety considerations and success measures.
Prepare: Confirm fixtures, instrumentation, feedthroughs, telemetry and functional checks.
Mount and instrument: Install the hardware, position agreed accelerometers and verify the fixture, orientation and data acquisition setup.
Set up the pulse: Confirm pulse shape, SRS limits, tolerances, control strategy and abort criteria before the test run.
Test: Run the agreed shock pulses, drops, bumps, SRS profile or pyroshock simulation across the required axes.
Functional checks: Inspect, power or operate the hardware at defined points when this is part of the agreed plan.
Review and report: Check achieved conditions, observations, plots, photographs and agreed outputs.
Hardware dimensions, drawings and keep-out zones
Mass, handling constraints and fixture requirements
Required shock type, axes, levels, pulse shape or SRS profile
Applicable standard, launch-provider requirement or customer specification
Number of shocks, preloads, tolerances, notching and pass/fail criteria
Power, signal, RF, data or functional monitoring requirements
Telemetry channels and functional checks during test
Battery, pressure vessel, hazardous material or stored-energy safety information
Instrumentation locations, response channels and data format expectations
Reporting, photographic evidence and witness requirements
While classical shock tests are often defined by peak acceleration, the true purpose of shock testing is to introduce a change in velocity and assess its effect on a product. The Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) provides a more meaningful representation of shock severity by showing how a range of idealised single‑degree‑of‑freedom systems would respond across their natural frequencies.
SRS is calculated from a transient input and enables the damage potential of a shock event to be characterised in a standardised and repeatable way. This allows direct comparison between different shock environments and establishes equivalence between measured field shocks and laboratory simulations.
Originally developed for the defence and space industries, SRS testing is particularly suited to extreme events such as explosions, pyroshock and rocket stage separation, where very high G levels are imparted over extremely short durations. MIL‑STD‑810 recognises SRS as the preferred method for these environments, recommending classical shock pulses only where SRS testing is not achievable.
Resonate Testing uses SRS shock testing to recreate pulses that are technically equivalent to the specified requirement in terms of damage potential, delivering realistic, defensible test assurance without unnecessary over‑testing.
Transportation shock testing is a packaging and product qualification method used to assess the effects of sudden impacts and mechanical shocks that may occur during distribution. Products can experience shock events during loading, unloading, handling, vehicle movement, and accidental impacts. The testing evaluates whether the product and its packaging can withstand these conditions without damage, performance loss, or functional issues.
The test simulates hazards encountered during road, rail, air, and sea transportation. Controlled shock inputs are applied to packaged products to evaluate their ability to absorb and disperse impact energy. This process helps identify weaknesses in product or packaging design and supports safe transportation through the supply chain. Common evaluations include drop testing, which simulates accidental drops during handling, and topple testing, which assesses the impact of a package tipping from an upright position. These tests replicate handling conditions that may occur during distribution and storage.
Space hardware often needs more than one environmental test. Coordinating TVAC, vibration and shock within one campaign, at one test location, helps reduce handover friction, align fixtures and documentation, and keep the engineering review connected across the full programme.
For projects that also need mechanical environmental testing, review the related vibration and shock services before finalising the campaign sequence.
Outputs are agreed before the test so the evidence matches the programme need. A typical package may include:
Recorded temperature, pressure and agreed telemetry data
Plots showing the achieved profile, ramp periods, dwell points and vacuum conditions
Observations from setup, test execution and post-test review
Photographic evidence where agreed
Confirmation of functional checks completed during the profile
An agreed test report or data pack aligned to the quotation scope
Repeatedly moving the test item between defined hot and cold temperatures to reveal issues such as expansion, contraction, fatigue or changing operating conditions.
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