IEC 60068-3-3:2019

Environmental testing - Part 3-3: Supporting documentation and guidance - Seismic test methods for equipment

IEC 60068-3-3:2019 applies primarily to electro-technical equipment but its application can be extended to other equipment and to components. In addition, if some type of analysis is always performed when making a seismic qualification, for example for the choice of the representative sample to be tested or for the extension of the seismic qualification from the tested specimen to similar specimens, the verification of the performance of an equipment by analysis or by a combination of testing and analysis can be acceptable but is outside the scope of this document, which is restricted to verification based entirely upon data from dynamic testing. This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 1991. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- the main aim of this revision is to connect the testing level to the seismic activity level of the zone where the equipment could be installed;
- a standard shape for the required response spectrum is also given for the general seismic class for which the seismic environment is either not known or is imprecisely known;
- Clauses 11 to 15 were renumbered and some adjustments were made as their content is very general and the requirements can be applied both to the general seismic class and to the specific seismic class;
- the word “envelope” is replaced with “dominance” and “to envelop” with “to dominate” in order to provide a more precise meaning from a mathematical point of view.
The contents of the corrigendum of September 2021 have been included in this copy.

Essais d'environnement - Partie 3-3 : Documentation d’accompagnement et recommandations - Méthodes d’essais sismiques applicables aux matériels

L’IEC 60068-3-3:2019 s’applique principalement au matériel électrotechnique mais son application peut s’étendre à d’autres matériels et composants. Par ailleurs, si un certain type d’analyse est toujours effectuée lors de la réalisation d’une qualification sismique, par exemple pour choisir l’échantillon représentatif à soumettre à essai ou pour étendre la qualification sismique du spécimen soumis à essai à des spécimens similaires, la vérification des performances d’un matériel par l’analyse ou par une combinaison d’essais et d’analyses peut être acceptable mais elle n’entre pas dans le domaine d’application du présent document, qui se limite à la vérification uniquement fondée sur les données d’essais dynamiques. Cette deuxième édition annule et remplace la première édition parue en 1991. Cette édition constitue une révision technique. Cette édition inclut les modifications techniques majeures suivantes par rapport à l'édition précédente:
- le principal objectif de la présente révision est d’adapter le niveau d’essai au niveau d’activité sismique de la zone où le matériel est susceptible d’être installé;
- une forme normalisée du spectre de réponse spécifié est également fournie pour la classe sismique générale pour laquelle l’environnement sismique n’est pas connu ou l’est de manière imprécise;
- les Articles 11 à 15 ont été renumérotés et plusieurs ajustements ont été effectués car le contenu de ces articles est très général et les exigences peuvent s’appliquer aussi bien à la classe sismique générale qu’à la classe sismique spécifique;
- le terme «enveloppe» est remplacé par «dominance» et «envelopper» par «dominer» afin d’expliciter ces termes du point de vue mathématique.
Le contenu du corrigendum de septembre 2021 a été pris en considération dans cet exemplaire.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 22-Aug-2019
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• ICS: 19.040 - Environmental testing
• Technical Committee: TC 104 - Environmental conditions, classification and methods of test
• Current Stage: PPUB - Publication issued
• Completion Date: 23-Aug-2019

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC 60068-3-3
Edition 2.0 2019-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Environmental testing –
Part 3-3: Supporting documentation and guidance – Seismic test methods for
equipment
Essais d’environnement –
Partie 3-3: Documentation d’accompagnement et recommandations – Méthodes
d’essais sismiques applicables aux matériels
IEC 60068-3-3:2019-08(en-fr)
---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
THIS PUBLICATION IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED
Copyright © 2019 IEC, Geneva, Switzerland

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from

either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC

copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or

your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

Droits de reproduction réservés. Sauf indication contraire, aucune partie de cette publication ne peut être reproduite

ni utilisée sous quelque forme que ce soit et par aucun procédé, électronique ou mécanique, y compris la photocopie

et les microfilms, sans l'accord écrit de l'IEC ou du Comité national de l'IEC du pays du demandeur. Si vous avez des

questions sur le copyright de l'IEC ou si vous désirez obtenir des droits supplémentaires sur cette publication, utilisez

les coordonnées ci-après ou contactez le Comité national de l'IEC de votre pays de résidence.

IEC Central Office Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé [e-mail]
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes

International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.
About IEC publications

The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the

latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform Electropedia - www.electropedia.org

The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,

variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical containing more than 22 000 terminological entries in English

committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced and French, with equivalent terms in 16 additional languages.

and withdrawn publications. Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary

(IEV) online.
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished

Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published IEC Glossary - std.iec.ch/glossary

details all new publications released. Available online and 67 000 electrotechnical terminology entries in English and

once a month by email. French extracted from the Terms and Definitions clause of

IEC publications issued since 2002. Some entries have been

IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc collected from earlier publications of IEC TC 37, 77, 86 and

If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or CISPR.
need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: [e-mail].
A propos de l'IEC

La Commission Electrotechnique Internationale (IEC) est la première organisation mondiale qui élabore et publie des

Normes internationales pour tout ce qui a trait à l'électricité, à l'électronique et aux technologies apparentées.

A propos des publications IEC

Le contenu technique des publications IEC est constamment revu. Veuillez vous assurer que vous possédez l’édition la

plus récente, un corrigendum ou amendement peut avoir été publié.
Recherche de publications IEC - Electropedia - www.electropedia.org

webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform Le premier dictionnaire d'électrotechnologie en ligne au

La recherche avancée permet de trouver des publications IEC monde, avec plus de 22 000 articles terminologiques en

en utilisant différents critères (numéro de référence, texte, anglais et en français, ainsi que les termes équivalents dans

comité d’études,…). Elle donne aussi des informations sur les 16 langues additionnelles. Egalement appelé Vocabulaire

projets et les publications remplacées ou retirées. Electrotechnique International (IEV) en ligne.

IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished Glossaire IEC - std.iec.ch/glossary

Restez informé sur les nouvelles publications IEC. Just 67 000 entrées terminologiques électrotechniques, en anglais

Published détaille les nouvelles publications parues. et en français, extraites des articles Termes et Définitions des

Disponible en ligne et une fois par mois par email. publications IEC parues depuis 2002. Plus certaines entrées

antérieures extraites des publications des CE 37, 77, 86 et
Service Clients - webstore.iec.ch/csc CISPR de l'IEC.
Si vous désirez nous donner des commentaires sur cette
publication ou si vous avez des questions contactez-nous:
[e-mail].
---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
IEC 60068-3-3
Edition 2.0 2019-08
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Environmental testing –
Part 3-3: Supporting documentation and guidance – Seismic test methods for
equipment
Essais d’environnement –
Partie 3-3: Documentation d’accompagnement et recommandations – Méthodes
d’essais sismiques applicables aux matériels
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 19.040 ISBN 978-2-8322-7097-4

Warning! Make sure that you obtained this publication from an authorized distributor.

Attention! Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez obtenu cette publication via un distributeur agréé.

® Registered trademark of the International Electrotechnical Commission
Marque déposée de la Commission Electrotechnique Internationale
---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
– 2 – IEC 60068-3-3:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS

FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................... 5

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 7

1 Scope .............................................................................................................................. 8

2 Normative references ...................................................................................................... 8

3 Terms and definitions ...................................................................................................... 9

4 General and qualification considerations ....................................................................... 14

4.1 General seismic class and specific seismic class .................................................. 14

4.2 Service conditions ................................................................................................. 14

4.3 Malfunction criteria ............................................................................................... 15

4.4 Qualification criteria .............................................................................................. 15

5 Testing procedures ........................................................................................................ 15

5.1 General ................................................................................................................. 15

5.2 Mounting ............................................................................................................... 15

5.3 Measurements ...................................................................................................... 15

5.3.1 Vibration measurements at the vibration table ............................................... 15

5.3.2 Vibration measurements on the equipment .................................................... 16

5.3.3 Functional monitoring of the equipment ......................................................... 16

5.4 Frequency range ................................................................................................... 16

6 Conditioning .................................................................................................................. 16

7 Test wave selection ....................................................................................................... 16

7.1 General ................................................................................................................. 16

7.2 Multifrequency waves............................................................................................ 16

7.3 Single-frequency waves ........................................................................................ 17

8 Test waves .................................................................................................................... 17

8.1 General ................................................................................................................. 17

8.1.1 Specification of test waves ............................................................................ 17

8.1.2 Simulation with a safety margin of the effects of an earthquake ..................... 17

8.2 Multifrequency wave testing .................................................................................. 18

8.2.1 General requirements .................................................................................... 18

8.2.2 Time-history test ............................................................................................ 18

8.2.3 Other multifrequency tests ............................................................................. 18

8.3 Single-frequency testing ....................................................................................... 19

8.3.1 General requirements .................................................................................... 19

8.3.2 Sine-sweep test ............................................................................................. 19

8.3.3 Sine-beat test ................................................................................................ 19

8.3.4 Continuous sine test ...................................................................................... 20

8.4 Other test wave forms ........................................................................................... 20

9 Testing conditions ......................................................................................................... 20

9.1 General ................................................................................................................. 20

9.2 Vibration response investigation ........................................................................... 21

9.3 Test methods ........................................................................................................ 21

9.3.1 Test method for equipment without critical frequencies .................................. 21

9.3.2 Test method for equipment with critical frequencies ....................................... 22

9.4 Selection of damping ............................................................................................ 22

9.5 S1-earthquake and S2-earthquake testing ............................................................ 23

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
IEC 60068-3-3:2019 © IEC 2019 – 3 –

9.6 Specific application testing .................................................................................... 23

9.7 Assembly testing ................................................................................................... 23

9.8 Component testing ................................................................................................ 23

10 Single and multi-axis testing .......................................................................................... 24

10.1 General ................................................................................................................. 24

10.2 Single-axis testing ................................................................................................ 24

10.3 Biaxial testing ....................................................................................................... 24

10.3.1 General requirements .................................................................................... 24

10.3.2 Two horizontal axes ....................................................................................... 24

10.3.3 One horizontal axis and one vertical axis ....................................................... 24

10.4 Triaxial testing ...................................................................................................... 25

10.4.1 General ......................................................................................................... 25

10.4.2 Triaxial installation ......................................................................................... 25

10.4.3 Biaxial installation (one horizontal axis, one vertical axis) .............................. 26

11 Conditioning for the general seismic class ..................................................................... 26

11.1 Selection of test type ............................................................................................ 26

11.2 Test method .......................................................................................................... 26

12 Calculated amplitude test method for the general seismic class ..................................... 27

12.1 Application ............................................................................................................ 27

12.2 Testing conditions ................................................................................................. 27

12.2.1 General ......................................................................................................... 27

12.2.2 Performance level .......................................................................................... 27

12.2.3 Test wave selection ....................................................................................... 27

12.2.4 Damping ratio ................................................................................................ 27

12.2.5 Ground acceleration (a ) ............................................................................... 27

12.2.6 Superelevation factor (K) ............................................................................... 29

12.2.7 Direction factor (D) ........................................................................................ 29

12.2.8 Floor acceleration (a ) .................................................................................... 30

13 Testing parameters for the general seismic class .......................................................... 30

13.1 Duration of test ..................................................................................................... 30

13.2 Test acceleration (a ) ............................................................................................ 30

13.2.1 General ......................................................................................................... 30

13.2.2 Wave factor (α) .............................................................................................. 31

13.2.3 Geometric factor (G) ...................................................................................... 31

14 Required response spectrum for the general seismic class ............................................ 31

15 Testing procedures for the general seismic class ........................................................... 32

15.1 Vibration response investigation (VRI) .................................................................. 32

15.2 Types of test ......................................................................................................... 33

15.2.1 Sine-beat test ................................................................................................ 33

15.2.2 Sine-sweep test ............................................................................................. 33

15.2.3 Time-history test ............................................................................................ 33

15.2.4 Other test wave forms .................................................................................... 33

16 Conditioning for the specific seismic class ..................................................................... 33

17 Test wave selection for the specific seismic class .......................................................... 34

17.1 General ................................................................................................................. 34

17.2 Multifrequency waves............................................................................................ 34

17.3 Single-frequency waves ........................................................................................ 34

18 Test waves for the specific seismic class ....................................................................... 34

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
– 4 – IEC 60068-3-3:2019 © IEC 2019

18.1 General ................................................................................................................. 34

18.2 Single-frequency testing ....................................................................................... 34

18.2.1 General ......................................................................................................... 34

18.2.2 Sine-sweep test ............................................................................................. 34

18.2.3 Sine-beat test ................................................................................................ 34

18.2.4 Continuous sine test ...................................................................................... 35

18.3 Other test wave forms ........................................................................................... 35

19 Testing conditions for the specific seismic class ............................................................ 35

20 Single and multi-axis testing for the specific seismic class ............................................. 35

Annex A (informative) Flow charts for test selection ............................................................. 43

A.1 Selection of test type ............................................................................................ 43

A.2 General seismic class – Calculated amplitude test ................................................ 44

A.3 Specific seismic class – Single axis testing ........................................................... 45

A.4 Specific seismic class – Multi-axis testing ............................................................. 46

Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 47

Figure 1 – Shape of a required response spectrum in generalized form (log-log scale)

(as recommended by IEC 60068-2-57) .................................................................................. 32

Figure 2 – Typical envelope response spectrum .................................................................... 35

Figure 3 – Types of response spectrum envelopes ................................................................ 36

Figure 4 – Multifrequency response spectrum with superimposed sine beats ........................ 37

Figure 5 – Sequence of five sine beats with five cycles ......................................................... 37

Figure 6 – Typical time history .............................................................................................. 38

Figure 7 – Continuous sine ................................................................................................... 39

Figure 8 – Biaxial table along an inclined plane .................................................................... 40

Figure 9 – Wave amplification factors ................................................................................... 41

Figure 10 – Vibration amplitudes for ground acceleration a with crossover frequencies

at 0,8 Hz and 1,6 Hz ............................................................................................................. 42

Figure A.1 – Selection of seismic class ................................................................................. 43

Figure A.2 – Calculated amplitude test flowchart ................................................................... 44

Figure A.3 – Single-axis testing flowchart ............................................................................. 45

Figure A.4 – Multi-axis testing flowchart ................................................................................ 46

Table 1 – Typical damping ratios (per cent of critical) ........................................................... 22

Table 2 – Selection of test type ............................................................................................. 26

Table 3 – Ground acceleration levels .................................................................................... 27

Table 4 – Correspondence between peak ground acceleration and some seismic

scales ................................................................................................................................... 28

Table 5 – Recommended superelevation factors (K) ............................................................. 29

Table 6 – Direction factors (D) .............................................................................................. 29

Table 7 – Wave factor ........................................................................................................... 31

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
IEC 60068-3-3:2019 © IEC 2019 – 5 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING –
Part 3-3: Supporting documentation and guidance –
Seismic test methods for equipment
FOREWORD

1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising

all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote

international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To

this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,

Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC

Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested

in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-

governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely

with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by

agreement between the two organizations.

2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international

consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all

interested IEC National Committees.

3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National

Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC

Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any

misinterpretation by any end user.

4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications

transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence

between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in

the latter.

5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity

assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any

services carried out by independent certification bodies.

6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.

7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and

members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or

other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and

expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC

Publications.

8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is

indispensable for the correct application of this publication.

9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of

patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

International Standard IEC 60068-3-3 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 104:

Environmental conditions, classification and methods of test.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 1991. This edition

constitutes a technical revision.

This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous

edition:

a) the main aim of this revision is to connect the testing level to the seismic activity level of

the zone where the equipment could be installed;

b) a standard shape for the required response spectrum is also given for the general seismic

class for which the seismic environment is either not known or is imprecisely known;

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
– 6 – IEC 60068-3-3:2019 © IEC 2019

c) Clauses 11 to 15 were renumbered and some adjustments were made as their content is

very general and the requirements can be applied both to the general seismic class and to

the specific seismic class;

d) the word “envelope” is replaced with “dominance” and “to envelop” with “to dominate” in

order to provide a more precise meaning from a mathematical point of view.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
104/835/FDIS 104/841/RVD

Full information on the voting for the approval of this International Standard can be found in

the report on voting indicated in the above table.

This document has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

This International Standard is to be used in conjunction with IEC 60068-1.

A list of all parts in the IEC 60068 series, published under the general title Environmental

testing, can be found on the IEC website.

The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the

stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data related to

the specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
IEC 60068-3-3:2019 © IEC 2019 – 7 –
INTRODUCTION

Guidance is included in each of the two test methods referred to in this document but it is

specific to the test method. The guidance in this document is directed towards choosing the

appropriate test method and applying it to seismic testing.
---------------------- Page: 9 ----------------------
– 8 – IEC 60068-3-3:2019 © IEC 2019
ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING –
Part 3-3: Supporting documentation and guidance –
Seismic test methods for equipment
1 Scope

This part of IEC 60068 applies primarily to electro-technical equipment but its application can

be extended to other equipment and to components.

In addition, if some type of analysis is always performed when making a seismic qualification,

for example for the choice of the representative sample to be tested or for the extension of

the seismic qualification from the tested specimen to similar specimens, the verification of the

performance of an equipment by analysis or by a combination of testing and analysis can be

acceptable but is outside the scope of this document, which is restricted to verification based

entirely upon data from dynamic testing.

This document deals solely with the seismic testing of a full-size equipment which can be

tested on a vibration table. The seismic testing of an equipment is intended to demonstrate its

ability to perform its required function during and/or after the time it is subjected to the

stresses and displacements resulting from an earthquake.

The object of this document is to present a range of methods of testing which, when specified

by the relevant specification, can be applied to demonstrate the performance of equipment for

which seismic testing is required with the main aim of achieving qualification.
NOTE Qualification by so-called “fragility-testing” is not
...