Safe Cabinet Testing

Safe inspection mainly conducts scientific testing and analysis on the anti-theft performance testing, fire resistance testing, lock and locking mechanism testing, mechanical combination lock performance testing, electronic combination lock/biometric lock function and safety testing, and structural strength and stability testing, objectively assessing the product quality grade and issuing a detailed test report, providing a basis for manufacturers' quality control and downstream users' product acceptance.

Testing Items

Anti-theft performance testing: This testing is the core of the safe inspection, aiming to evaluate its capability to resist the violent opening. Mainly through the specified static loading, dynamic impact, drilling, cutting, prying and other attack testing on the cabinets, door panels and key locking mechanisms, the actual theft scenarios are simulated, and their structural strengths and the protection levels of the weak links are tested. The different protection grades correspond to the different attack times and tool combinations.

Fire resistance testing: Used to test the capability of the safes to protect the integrity of the internal items in the fire environments. The safes are placed in the fire resistance furnaces with the standard temperature rise curves (such as the EN 1047-1 or UL 72 standards), continuously heated to the specified times (such as 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 120 minutes). After the testing, whether the internal temperatures exceed the preset limits (usually 177°C) and whether the documents are charred and the media are damaged are checked.

Lock and locking mechanism testing: Evaluating the reliability and safety of the mechanical locks, electronic locks or biometric locks. Including the key quantities, interchangeable rates, anti-technical-opening (anti-picking, anti-drilling, anti-prying) testing; the password capacities, wrong input alarms, backup power supplies and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing of the electronic locks; as well as the transmission efficiencies, handle torques, bolt extension lengths and strengths of the whole locking mechanisms.

Mechanical combination lock performance testing: The special testing for the traditional mechanical combination locks. The testing items include the rotation flexibility of the dials, scale definition, password alignment precision and the reliability of the driving cams. Through the thousands or even tens of thousands of password dialing and opening cycles, their durability and password accuracy after the long-term use are evaluated, ensuring that the combination locks do not fail or produce errors due to the wear.

Electronic combination lock/biometric lock function and safety testing: Evaluating the performance of their electronic control parts. Including the keypad lives, display functions, alarm functions (such as the three-times wrong code lockout, vibration and movement alarms), data storage and protection capabilities. For the biometric locks, the false rejection rates, false acceptance rates, response speeds and environmental adaptability (such as the effects of the temperature and humidity changes on the fingerprint/facial recognition) also need to be tested.

Structural strength and stability testing: Testing the firmness of the overall structures of the safes. Including the cabinet welding/splicing strengths, fit clearances between the door frames and door panels, hinge load-bearing and anti-destruction capabilities, and the cabinet anti-toppling testing (such as the cabinet not tipping over when pulling out the first drawer). For the floor-standing safes, the effectiveness of their fixing devices also needs to be tested.

Environmental adaptability testing: Simulating the reliability of the safes under the different use environments. Usually including the high and low temperature cycling testing, heat and humidity testing, salt spray corrosion testing (testing the corrosion resistance of the surface coatings and metal parts), and vibration testing (evaluating the structural integrity under the transportation or slight earthquakes), ensuring that they function normally and do not rust or corrode under the various climatic conditions.

Testing Scope

Household and commercial safes: Mainly used in the places such as the homes, offices and hotels to store the valuables, securities, important documents and a small amount of cash. The testing focuses on the basic anti-theft and fire resistance properties. The appearance dimensions are various, and the requirements for the corresponding protection grades (such as the A1 and A2) in the standards such as GB/T 10409 (Anti-theft safes) need to be met.

Financial industry dedicated safes (vault doors and safe deposit boxes): Referring to the vault doors, large safes and safe deposit box rooms used by the banks and financial institutions. The testing standards of this type of products are extremely high, and the special standards such as GA/T 143 (General technical conditions of vault doors) and JR/T 0002 (Combination locks) need to be met. The testing items are comprehensive and strict, and the protection grades are usually grade C and above.

Firearms and ammunition safes: The special safes specially used for the safe storage of the firearms and ammunition. In addition to the routine anti-theft, their testing emphasizes the special structural reinforcement, the dedicated control of the locks (such as the requirements of some regulations that the mechanical locks must be used), fire resistance and explosion resistance properties, and needs to comply with the specific safety storage provisions in the firearms management regulations of the various countries.

Hotel room safes: Specifically referring to the small electronic safes fixedly installed in the hotel rooms. The testing emphatically focuses on the guest functions of the electronic locks (such as the guest self-set passwords and management password resets), emergency opening mechanisms, fixing strengths (anti-removal), clarity of the use instructions, as well as whether the hotel industry safety standards are met.

Fireproof file cabinets/data media cabinets: Although the appearances may be similar to the safes, their core functions are the fire resistance, and the anti-theft properties are relatively secondary. The testing strictly follows the fire resistance standards such as UL 72, EN 1047-1 and GB/T 16810, distinguishing the two different temperature rise limit requirements of the "file fire resistance" and "data media fire resistance".

Lock components of the anti-theft safes: The testing scope can extend to the core components of the safes - the locks. The independent testing and certification are carried out on the lock bodies, lock cylinders, combination mechanisms and electronic control boards, ensuring that as the core safety components, they meet the quality and safety requirements of the relevant industry standards (such as GA/T 73 (Mechanical anti-theft locks)).

Mobile and embedded safes: The types distinguished according to the installation methods. For the mobile type, the overall stability and removal difficulty need to be tested; for the embedded type, the fixing strengths with the wall buildings, installation clearance requirements, as well as the effect evaluation of the installation on the original protection properties of the cabinets need to be tested.

Testing Methods

Anti-theft performance testing method: According to the net working times (such as 15 minutes) specified by the standards (such as GB 10409), the destructive attacks are carried out. The standard tools (such as the chisels, hammers, electric drills, angle grinders and pry bars) are used for the non-directional attacks on the preset weak parts (lock heads, hinges, door gaps and cabinets), recording the time used to open the doors or form the openings not smaller than the specified sizes. The testing is carried out under the supervision with the full video recording.

Fire resistance testing method: The safes are placed in the standard fire resistance furnaces, and the furnace temperatures rise according to the standard time-temperature curves (such as the cellulosic fire curves). The thermocouples are placed in the cabinets to measure the internal temperatures, and the standard test items (such as the paper and USB drives) are placed. After reaching the specified fire resistance time, whether the internal temperatures exceed the limits (file cabinets ≤177°C and data cabinets ≤54°C) and the states of the test items are checked, determining whether they are qualified.

Lock technical opening testing: The experienced locksmiths use the non-destructive technical means (such as the picking tools, eavesdropping devices and decoders) within the specified "net working time" to try to open the locks. The capabilities of the locks against the picking, drilling, tin foil, impact and electromagnetic interference are tested, recording the time required for the successful opening or confirming that they cannot be opened within the specified time.

Mechanical durability testing: The dedicated life testing machines are used to simulate the actual use. The repeated action cycles of tens of thousands of times are carried out on the operable parts such as the door handles, dials, keys and electronic keypads. After the testing, whether the parts are damaged, the functions are normal and the precision is decreased is checked. For example, the mechanical dials may need to undergo the dialing testing of more than 100,000 times.

Electronic lock function and safety testing: In the laboratory environments, the professional instruments are used to simulate the various inputs and attacks. The testing includes: the continuous wrong input triggering the alarm/lockout functions, power switching (main power supply and backup battery) testing, electromagnetic compatibility (ESD electrostatic discharge and RF electromagnetic radiation immunity) testing, and data erasure and recovery testing, verifying their logical security and environmental adaptability.

Environmental adaptability testing method: The temperature and humidity cycling testing is carried out in the high and low temperature heat and humidity test chambers; the neutral salt spray corrosion testing is carried out in the salt spray test chambers; the sinusoidal fixed frequency or random vibration testing simulating the transportation vibration is carried out on the vibration tables. Before, after and during the various testing, the appearances, functions and operation properties of the safes need to be checked.

Structure measurement and inspection method: The measuring tools such as the callipers, feeler gauges and torque wrenches are used for the physical measurement. Including the measurement of the door gap clearances (usually required to be ≤1mm), bolt extension lengths (usually ≥14mm), steel plate thicknesses (sampling measurement), welding qualities (visual inspection and flaw detection), paint film thicknesses and adhesion, ensuring that the manufacturing precision meets the design drawings and standard provisions.

Testing Standards

Domestic Standards:

1. GB/T 10409, Anti-theft safes

2. GA/T 143, General technical conditions for vault doors

3. GA/T 73, Mechanical anti-theft locks

4. JR/T 0002, Combination locks

5. GB/T 16810, Fire resistance of safes

6. GB/T 10125-2021, Corrosion tests in artificial atmospheres — Salt spray tests

International Standards:

1. EN 1047-1, Secure storage units — Classification and methods of test for resistance to fire — Part 1: Data cabinets and diskette inserts

2. UL 72, Standard for tests for fire resistance of record protection equipment

3. ISO 834-1, Fire resistance tests — Elements of building construction — Part 1: General requirements

4. ISO 9227, Corrosion tests in artificial atmospheres — Salt spray tests

Note: The applicable standard can be selected according to the product use and customer trade requirements; standards agreed in the contract take precedence over general standards.

Testing Instruments and Equipment

Fire resistance furnace system: The core equipment is the horizontal or vertical fire resistance furnaces conforming to ISO 834 or similar standards, equipped with the precision fuel or gas heating systems, temperature control systems and a large number of thermocouples. The furnace chamber sizes need to accommodate the safes under test, and ensure the uniform temperature fields in the furnaces. The supporting data acquisition systems are used to record the temperature curves of dozens of temperature measurement points in the furnaces and cabinets in real time.

Destructive attack tool group: A set of standardized and quantifiable manual and power tools. Including but not limited to: the chisels of the multiple specifications, hammers (such as the 3.6kg sledgehammers), electric drills (with the multiple drill bits), angle grinders (with the cutting discs and grinding wheels), hydraulic pry bars, pullers and welding torches. The types, sizes and powers of these tools all need to meet the specific provisions in the testing standards.

Lock testing dedicated equipment: Including the lock life testing machines (which can simulate the actions such as the key rotation, dial dialing and keypad pressing), interchangeable rate testers, key quantity analysers, bolt thrust/tension testing machines and precision torque wrenches. For the electronic locks, the programmers, logic analysers, DC power supplies and EMC testing equipment (such as the electrostatic guns and surge generators) also need to be equipped.

Mechanical property testing equipment: Used to evaluate the structural strengths. Mainly including the universal material testing machines (testing the tensile and bending strengths of the parts such as the steel plates and bolts), floor-standing safe tilting testing devices, hinge static load testing machines and impact testing machines (used to simulate the dynamic loads such as the hammering), to obtain the quantitative mechanical parameters of the materials and structures.

Environmental testing equipment: Mainly including the high and low temperature heat and humidity test chambers (providing the temperature ranges from -40°C to +150°C and the humidity control), salt spray corrosion test chambers (simulating the marine or industrial atmospheric environments) and vibration test tables (simulating the vibration conditions during the transportation and use). These equipment are used to verify the environmental reliability and durability of the safes.

Precision measuring instruments: Used for the dimension and geometric tolerance testing. Including the digital callipers, micrometers, depth gauges, feeler gauges, coating thickness gauges, laser distance meters and roughness testers. Ensuring that the manufacturing processes and assembly precision of the safes meet the design requirements, for example, the strict control of the door gap clearances directly affects the anti-prying performance.

Data recording and monitoring system: The key supporting equipment running through the whole testing process. Including the high-definition monitoring camera systems (recording the whole destructive testing processes from the multiple angles), multi-channel data acquisition instruments (synchronously recording the various signals such as the temperatures, forces, displacements and voltages), time recording devices and professional testing management software, ensuring the objectivity, traceability and data accuracy of the testing processes.