Visakhapatnam, Jan. 1 : The Naval Science and Technological Laboratory in Visakhapatnam will set up a new environmental test centre soon.

This was disclosed by Dr. V. Bhujanga Rao, Director, NSTL.

The foundation stone for the centre will be laid at NSTL on January 2 by M Natarajan, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Ministeri and Director General, DRDO.

This centre will house several state of the art test facilities for carrying out stringent simulated environmental tests of various underwater weapons and naval products being developed at this Laboratory. The facility will be built with a plinth area of 7200 sq. mtrs. The test facilities range from mechanical to climatic and also combination of both.

These tests will ensure that developed products will meet total quality requirements and international defence standards. Some of the test facilities that are being set up are Vibration, Mechanical Shock, Bump, Drop, Low Temperature, High Temperature, Thermal Shock, Humidity, Mould growth, Salt spray, Dusting, EMI/EMC and Highly Accellerated Life Tests and Highly accelerated stress Screening.

The NSTL has been nurturing the technologies of shock, noise and vibration for years. Advanced facilities such as under water shock simulation tank, Vibration shakers and acoustic test centers have already been set up. Several weapons, related systems and warship technology products have been handed over to Indian Navy in the recent past.

For such developments, environmental testing plays a vital role. NSTL performed several shock, vibration and temperature tests with limited facilities that were set up. However, as the technology is advancing rapidly, to match the stringent quality requirements, setting up different types of more advanced, and high rated environmental test facilities has become a necessity.

The test facilities are also useful for various indigenous industries developing products for defence. By setting up these test facilities, NSTL will be in a position to evaluate weapons and products under development in simulated marine environmental conditions as well as onboard dynamic conditions. The products thus developed would function even in adverse conditions while delivering optimum performance.

Once these facilities become operational and the Products are evaluated at NSTL, our Weapon Systems, Warship Technology Products will be on par with any international standards. (ANI)