Micom Laboratories, a third party organization, offers a wide range of test types. The services we offer encompass material testing, technical consulting and research and development. Micom offers routine and non-routine material testing for a wide range of materials, products and assemblies. Whether it is for climatic chamber testing, accelerated weathering, coating testing or package testing, our experts will be happy to help you put together a meaningful test plan that will address your needs and give you real answers.

The technical services we offer include:

Accelerated Aging

Accelerated aging is used to predict how a product/material will perform over time under normal or adverse conditions. UV testing, Corrosion testing, Heat aging and Thermal shock testing are examples of the types of accelerated aging processes we can test your products with. Once the aging process is completed, sometimes while it is happening, various measurements can be made to assess the aging process impact on the product; see coating testing.

Coating Testing

Coatings are widely used on various products and materials and are likely to be exposed to different conditions requiring different physical properties. Coating tests include: sun exposure such as ASTM G-154, ASTM G155, or corrosion testing such as ASTM B117, ASTM D5894, ASTM G85, impact resistance and many others.

Once these tests are done on the samples, their surface coating properties can then be measured for evaluating the test outcome: adhesion upon bending – ASTM D522, Specular Gloss – ASTM D523, Friction Coefficient – ASTM D1894, Hardness – ASTM D2240, Adhesion – ASTM D3359, abrasion resistance –ASTM D4060.

Cold Chain Testing

Cold chain is a term used in industries where temperature sensitive materials or equipment are manufactured, stored and delivered under temperature constraints. From manufacturing to end-use, these products need to be maintained at a temperature allowing them to maintain their performance characteristics. Micom can help qualify, through testing, that during distribution the temperature chain is protected.

Corrosion Testing

Corrosion damages structures and infra-structures causing huge and continuous economical impacts. To a large extent, this is why the coating industry exists. This is also why coating performance needs to be evaluated on an accelerated basis to ensure their efficiency. We accelerated corrosion testing according to many standards such as ASTM B117, ASTM D5894, ASTM G44, ASTM G85, which is the one our customers ask for most of the time.

Custom Testing

There is a multitude of test standards out there. Yet, very often, they don’t give our customers the exact answers they need. This is why we are often called upon to create tests protocols/equipment to measure a product’s unique characteristics. What we do is simulate real life in the lab under controlled, accelerated and realistic conditions. If you can make it, we can test it.

Environmental Testing

Environmental testing is a type of accelerated aging process used to evaluate how a product will behave under adverse atmospheric conditions. We offer different Environmental testing conditions: ASTM B117, ASTM G155, ASTM G154, Heat aging, thermal shock testing, Climatic chamber testing.

Flammability Testing

Micom does Flammability testing to various test procedures including Cal 133, horizontal Flammabity and 45 degrees flammability tests.

Furniture Testing

Micom tests furniture for conformity, safety, wear resistance and mechanical strength. Micom offers furniture testing, according to the following standards and many others:

ANSI/BIFMA X5.1-2011: Office Chairs
ANSI/BIFMA X5.3-2011:Vertical Files
ANSI/BIFMA X5.4-2012: Lounge Seating
ANSI/BIFMA X5.5-2014: Desk Products
ANSI/BIFMA X5.6-2010: Panel Systems
ANSI/BIFMA X5.9-2012: Storage Units
BIFMA HCF 8.1 – Health Care Furniture Design – Guidelines for Cleanability

ANSI/SOHO S6.5-2011: Home office, small office furniture
CAN/CGSB 44.227
CAN/CGSB 44.229
CAN/CGSB 44.232
ASTM F1169 – Baby cribs
SOR/2010-261

ISTA Testing

As an accredited ISTA lab, Micom offers compliance testing for distribution packaging to all ISTA standards. The standards we test the most for are:

ISTA 1A – Packaged Products Weighing 150 lbs or Less
ISTA 2A – Packaged Products Weighing 150 lbs or Less (used often for medical devices)
ISTA 2B – Packaged Products Weighing Over 150 lbs
ISTA 3A – Packaged Products for Parcel Delivery System Shipment weighing 150 lbs or less
ISTA 3B – Packaged Products for Less Than Truckload (LTL) Shipment

ISTA 3E – Unitized Load of Same Product
ISTA 4AB – Packaged Products for Shipment in Known Distribution Channels
ISTA 6-SAMSCLUB – Packaged Products FOR Sam’s Club Distribution System Shipment
ISTA 6-Amazon.com – Packaged Products for Amazon.com Distribution System Shipment
Other ISTA test methods are also offered: ISTA testing

Material Testing

Micom offers material testing services for a wide range of standards including ASTM, BIFMA, ISTA, ISO, SAE, MIL-STD and many others. Only for ASTM, we offer test services for over 200 test methods. In an era of composite materials, design, quality control and global competition, Material/product testing is used over a wide range of industry types.

Package Testing

Package testing can be done for many reasons; cost optimization, certifications, regulatory or quality control. We can test all aspects of packaging from ISTA certification, ASTM D4169, to Hazardous Materials testing for Transport Canada’s regulation, to TAPPI testing for corrugate quality control monitoring.

Plastics & Polymer Testing

Polymers today are everywhere and are used in numerous applications. As a result, there is a wide range of test methods available to test product/material performance under different conditions. Micom offers many test services for polymers: accelerated aging such as ASTM G154, ASTM G155, abrasion resistance (ASTM D4060), Flexural Strength (ASTM D790), flatwise tensile strength (ASTM C297) and many others.

Salt Spray Test

Damages caused by corrosion have a huge financial impact on today’s society. This is why there are many types of coatings, platings and surface treatment systems. There are different ways to validate material corrosion resistance. Micom offers corrosion testing to ASTM B117 also known as “Salt spray test”. There are other test methods for salt spray testing such as ASTM D5894, ASTM G44, ASTM G85. Furthermore in MIL-STD-810 or in SAE J14563. However, in the end they all refer to ASTM B117 with the exception that they specify the exposure duration and the acceptance criteria.

UV Testing

Sun exposure, outdoor or through windows, can be simulated at Micom on an accelerated basis. All carbon based materials are susceptible to color fading and loss of mechanical properties as a result of sun exposure. Photochemical reactions caused by the ultraviolet portion of the sunlight spectrum favor many deleterious chemical reactions such as thermal oxidation and free radical oxydation. Different aging techniques can be used for simulating sun exposure. The most popular ones being ASTM G154 and ASTM G155. Each technique has pros and cons and can be used with different test parameters that will change altogether the test outcome. Our experts will be pleased to recommend test conditions appropriate for your specific application.

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