NATO AEPP-3 PDF

PURPOSE

1. The purpose of this Allied Publication is to establish NATO Standard Packaging Test Procedures. These procedures shall, when applicable, be used to validate that packaging meets the storage and distribution requirements of STANAG 4280. "NATO Levels of Packaging".

2. These test procedures are not applicable to the assessment of packages intended for the storage, shipment or transportation of dangerous goods.

BACKGROUND

1. Participating nations agreed that the test procedures in chapter 3 shall, as applicable, be used to determine conformance to any of the NATO Levels of packaging as described at STANAG 4280. It is also agreed that the test requirements and procedures can be used to verify conformance to those national levels and their deemed NATO equivalent as listed in the Comparison of NATO Levels and Nearest National Level for Packaging given in Table 2 of STANAG 4280.

DEFINITIONS

Related terms used in AEPP-3 are defined in AAP-23.

OUTLINE OF TEST REQUIREMENT

1. Standard test procedures as detailed in chapter 3 shall be performed, as deemed appropriate between participating Nations, to ensure packaging systems protect the contents from damage and deterioration when exposed to the standard storage and distribution requirements defined in STANAG 4280.

2. Appropriate levels of severity, as defined by these tests, shall be selected as required by the NATO level in which the package is to be exposed, as defined in STANAG 4280 NATO Levels of Packaging.

3. If variations occur in conditioning, storage, and distribution requirements of STANAG 4280 and national procedures, the requirements of STANAG 4280 shall take precedence.

4. These standard tests define criteria, methods and severity of tests performed to simulate the hazards and environments described at STANAG 4280.

a. Package testing is primarily intended to assess the overall ability of the package design to provide the required level of protection for the enclosed materiel. This usually involves subjecting a package to tests in a sequence planned to provide evidence for assessment of its performance in a cumulative manner.

b. The scope and degree of package testing is dependent upon the environments and hazards expected to be encountered during the life cycle of the package.

c. To check the total performance of a package design and achieve a high level of confidence in the ability of the designed package to meet the hazards of distribution, an ideal series of tests would accurately simulate the life of the package. In practice, the ideal is moderated either by a belief that the package would survive the hazard/test or by a knowledge that a particular hazard/test is not applicable. A package is not necessarily subjected to all the tests since the nature of the packaged item and the detail of the package design may indicate that only certain tests are appropriate.

d. Evidence for assessment of the performance may be gained by subjecting the test package to climatic and physical tests alternately where one acts as a conditioning test for the next. Evidence may be more usefully gained by simultaneously subjecting two or more packages to the test sequence and withdrawing one at a particular stage for examination.