Standard No. GB/T 28046

Scope Common domestic OEM standard series

Capability CMA & CNAS accredited laboratory

Scheduling Scheduled per project

The GB/T 28046 series is the Chinese national standard for the environmental conditions and test methods applied to automotive electronic products. It is an identical adoption of the ISO 16750 series and the most widely cited technical basis for supplier validation by Chinese OEMs.

Standard positioning

GB/T 28046 defines what environment a product will fail in and how it should be tested — it does not set the pass line; the limits come from the customer's own standard. That shapes how it is used on a project: it defines the test items and conditions, while the customer standard decides pass or fail.

Scope

Applies to: electrical and electronic equipment used in passenger cars and commercial vehicles, including ECUs, sensors, actuators, display modules and controllers.
Applies at: type testing, design validation, pre-production confirmation and OEM supplier approval.
Does not cover: whole-vehicle EMC approval (use ECE R10) or whole-vehicle environmental testing (the OEM's own specification).

Structure and content

Part 1: Vocabulary

General terms, classification of test types and definitions of environmental conditions. Mainly used as a terminology reference.

Part 2: Electrical loads

Overvoltage, reverse voltage, supply voltage drop and recovery, short circuit, load dump and other electrical stresses.
These correspond to abnormal conditions in the vehicle electrical system and are one of the most common failure triggers for automotive electronics.

Part 3: Mechanical loads

Test methods for random vibration, mechanical shock, toppling and handling.
Severity for vibration and shock is graded by mounting location (body, engine bay, off-road position), which is the core input when selecting a level.

Part 4: Climatic loads

High and low temperature, temperature cycling, damp heat, solar radiation, condensation, salt spray, chemical and ingress protection tests.
This part has the most items and accounts for the bulk of real projects.

Part 5: Chemical loads

Liquid contact, gas corrosion, cleaning agents and fuel, flame retardancy.

Part 6: Tests in the vehicle environment

Whole-vehicle or system-level environmental methods, such as whole-vehicle solar exposure and whole-vehicle vibration.
Component-level projects usually do not involve this part.

Acceptance

GB/T 28046 defines methods only and sets no pass line. Pass or fail follows the severity and limits agreed in the customer's standard or technical agreement.
Typical agreements: function normal after the test (criterion A), no visible damage, and performance change within the allowed range.
Some OEMs add their own items and stricter limits on top, which must be followed as the customer specifies.

Common non-conformities

SMT solder joints cracking after temperature cycling — mismatched thermal expansion plus stress concentration.
Connector contact resistance rising after vibration — fretting wear.
Seals shrinking at low temperature and losing ingress protection — the material was not selected for low temperature.
Optical parts fogging after high-temperature exposure — outgassing from materials, or a seal failure.
Function abnormal during the test but recovered afterwards — needs assessment against the performance criteria.

Relationship to other standards

With ISO 16750

Technically identical — GB/T 28046 is the identical adoption of ISO 16750. The report must state which standard was cited.

With LV 124

LV 124 is more severe on some items and adds items the national standard does not cover. German export customers usually require both.

With OEM standards

OEM standards are usually based on GB/T 28046 but tightened. Where they conflict, the customer's requirement prevails.

Service notes

The laboratory holds both CMA and CNAS accreditations, with approximately 10,000 m² of space and 500+ instruments. All testing is completed in our own laboratories — no subcontracting. On-site visits and witnessed testing are supported.

Testing is scheduled per project. When submitting samples, tell us your expected timeline; we will confirm a feasible plan against current availability and keep you updated at each milestone.

Test Matrix

Test items and typical conditions

GB/T 28046 is organised by part, and each part addresses a different class of environmental stress. The table maps the commonly requested test items to typical condition ranges, so a subset can be selected according to where the product is mounted.

Test part	Typical test items	Common condition ranges	What the verdict hinges on
Part 2 — Electrical loads	DC supply voltage range, overvoltage, superimposed AC voltage, voltage dip and recovery, reverse voltage, ground offset, open circuit and short circuit	12 V systems are commonly tested at the 18 V overvoltage step and 24 V systems at 36 V; exact voltages and timing follow the customer technical agreement	Functional status during and after the test (A / B / C)
Part 3 — Mechanical loads	Random vibration, mechanical shock, free fall, stone impact	Vibration PSD and duration are graded by mounting location (body, engine bay, chassis)	Structural cracking, fastener loosening, solder joint fatigue
Part 4 — Climatic loads	Cold storage and cold operation, high-temperature storage and operation, temperature cycling, thermal shock, damp heat steady state, condensation, salt mist, solar radiation	Cold is commonly tested at the −40 ℃ step; the upper temperature is set by mounting location and differs markedly between passenger compartment and engine bay	Material ageing, seal failure, parameter drift
Part 5 — Chemical loads	Contact with fuel, engine oil, cleaning agents and similar fluids; corrosive gases; flammability	Determined by mounting location and the media actually contacted	Corrosion, swelling, flammability rating
Part 6 — Vehicle environment	Whole-vehicle solar simulation, whole-vehicle vibration	Usually out of scope at component level	System-level function and vehicle integration

A–E functional status: the same test can reach opposite verdicts

Functional status grades are not a fixed classification in the standard; they are acceptance criteria that supplier and buyer must agree before testing. This is also the first thing to pin down before quoting — saying "we will run a vibration test" without saying which grade is agreed is saying nothing.

Functional status	Requirement (Part 1, General)	OEM convention (not a standard requirement)
Grade A	All functions operate within their design specification during and after the test	Safety-related parts and primary vehicle control functions — most OEMs require grade A
Grade B	All functions keep working during the test, but one or more may temporarily exceed specification; they recover automatically afterwards, and memory functions must remain grade A	Common for body electronics and comfort functions
Grade C	One or more functions do not operate as designed during the test; they recover automatically afterwards	Common for infotainment and auxiliary functions
Grade D	One or more functions do not operate as designed during the test; recovery afterwards requires a simple manual action such as a reset	Secondary control units where manual intervention is acceptable
Grade E	One or more functions do not operate as designed during or after the test; repair or part replacement is required to restore them	Generally not an acceptance target; mostly used for failure mode analysis

Conditions and limits above are typical ranges for reference. The actual test levels, sample quantity and acceptance criteria follow the mutually confirmed test plan and standard version. Source: the clauses of each referenced standard.

Have a testing requirement? Send us your product details

Tell us the product model and test requirements. Our engineers will map out the test plan, the applicable standards and the item combination, and provide a quotation reference. The more specific the request, the sharper the answer.

Free scoping of the test plan and standards
Pre-scan testing during R&D to cut rework cost
On-site visits and witnessed testing supported
Scheduling per project, with progress updates at each milestone

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