Railcar Structural Testing Case Study
Obvious signs of fatigue — cracks at the corners of doors — had begun to surface on an in-service Railcar. A railcar structural testing case study.
ITM Blog Posts
The Blog Post category contains blog posts associated with ITM’s testing services, LabVIEW programming, Test & Measurement Hardware, Boiler Monitoring Systems, and iTestSystem applications.
Engineering Data Acquisition Tools: NI-9236 Strain Module
The most common strain gauge installation configuration is a 350 ohm, quarter bridge. Quarter bridge installations a generally the easiest and most economical installation for determining structural strain levels. In the quarter bridge configuration a single element strain gauge is mounted in the principle axial or bending strain direction.
One tool that our engineers and technicians use to collect data from 350 ohm, quarter bridge strain gauge installations is the NI-9236 strain module. The NI-9236 is an 8-Channel C Series 350 ohm strain/bridge input module that is used with a CompactDAQ or CompactRIO chassis. This module provides bridge excitation (3.3 Volts), Wheatstone bridge completion, shunt calibration, and filtering for 350 ohm quarter bridges. Use this module in conjunction with a CompactDAQ chassis and iTestSystem engineering measurement software to collect synchronized, high-speed (10kHz) structure strain data.
For more information about the NI-9236, DAQ module rental, strain gauge installations or our data logging solution iTestSystem, contact Ryan Welker via email: ryan.welker@itestsystem.com or phone: (844) 837-8797 x702
Engine Test Cell Vibration Monitoring
Check out this video of a Lego Test Cell Model that is controlled with an NI CompactRIO. ITM implemented an embedded vibration health monitoring application at an engine manufacturing company in Texas. The distributed system monitored and reported damaging engine dyno vibration levels on 10 engine test cells.
Paper Mill Thermocouple Monitoring
One solution for monitoring steam tube temperature/s located inside its utility boiler to make sure start-up conditions were met.
Quiet Please: ITM Tunes Into Importance of Measuring Sound Levels
Whether manufacturing vehicles, mining natural resources or operating machinery on a construction site, a single common factor can bring your operation and productivity to an absolute halt.
That factor is noise.
In a world where precision and performance rule, measuring and controlling sound levels can be crucial to the success of your product or project. The team at Integrated Test & Measurement (ITM) have developed a customized solution that not only measures and collects sound-level data, but will help your team identify the specific components causing all that noise.
On-Site Sound Testing Capabilities
ITM can assist with all types of sound testing on site including:
- Vehicle/Automotive Noise Vibration & Harshness (NVH) Testing
- Drive by Noise Testing
- Sound Level Testing
- Vehicle/Automotive Component Noise Testing
- Construction Site Sound/Noise & Vibration Level Monitoring
- Mine Sound/Noise & Vibration Level Monitoring
- ISO Noise Testing
- Data Logging
In each of these instances, their engineers will be packing a custom Sound Level Test Kit full of data acquisition hardware, microphones and more. The key to their equipment, however, is that each kit includes ITM’s proprietary iTestSystem software, an intuitive sound-level human machine interface (HMI) that allows for sound-level recording and reporting.
Mark Yeager, ITM Lead Programmer, says building the capability within iTestSystem to measure microphone data now allows customers to look at a real-time display of sound-level measurements.
Yeager says their crew can build out tests on site to do such things as measure pass-by noise, a process by which the team arranges mics inside a vehicle and along both sides of a 40-yard stretch then capture, monitor and analyze a vehicle’s sound and compare it to acceptable standards. By breaking apart the frequencies of components, they can even zero in on trouble spots such as a turbocharger on a car or a loud cooling fan on a piece of construction equipment.
Measuring Dangerous Sound
Yeager also points out the need to measure sound in places like construction sites or mines, where there may be concern over hearing loss for operators. According to the Centers for Disease Control, hearing loss can result from a single loud sound (like firecrackers) near your ear. Or, more often, hearing loss can result over time from damage caused by repeated exposures to loud sounds. The louder the sound, the shorter the amount of time it takes for hearing loss to occur. Sound is measured in decibels (dB). A whisper is about 30 dB, normal conversation is about 60 dB, and a motorcycle engine running is about 95 dB. The CDC advises that noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing, and loud noise above 120 dB can cause immediate harm to your ears.
Test-Ready Sound Level Kits
If you have test engineers on-site and simply need the equipment to help you get to the bottom of your sound issues, ITM will ship their test-ready kit that includes a pair of pelican carrying cases packed with the following components:
- ITM’s proprietary iTestSystem software
- Intuitive sound-level human machine interface (HMI)
- Data Acquisition Hardware
- NI cDAQ Chassis
- 8-Channel Microphone Module
- Wireless Switch
- Power Supply
- BNC Connectors
- Network Connectors
- Sensors
- Six Microphones
- Cables
- Stands
- Accessories
Whether your needs include on-site sound testing and analysis or you simply need the crucial equipment to measure sound and vibration levels yourself, ITM can help.
ITM is a structural test & measurement engineering service and software company located in Milford, Ohio, that helps companies reduce costs and improve efficiencies in their product development, manufacturing, and production activities. ITM is a recognized NI Gold Alliance Partner that provides software development, structural and mechanical testing services, industrial monitoring, strain gauging, and data analysis solutions to clients around the globe.
For more information about sound and noise level testing or our sound level test system or other data collection solutions, contact Ryan Welker via email at ryan.welker@itestsystem.com or phone at (844) 837-8797 x702.
Video: Custom Rugged Data Acquisition Systems
Check out this video showing one of our custom rugged data acquisition systems! We provide custom systems like this for aerospace, vehicle, off-highway, and civil applications. This system shown in this video was designed for collecting strain, vibration, and other sensors on a civil structure.
For more information about our testing services and custom test systems, contact Ryan Welker via email: ryan.welker@itestsystem.com or phone (844) 837-8797 x702
Silo Load Monitoring
Plant operators need to continuously measure bulk material levels/weight in their silos and hoppers to ensure their processes are running safely, efficiently, and without bottlenecks. Measuring these levels allows operators to automate vessel filling, verify material consumption, and prevent overfilling.
What we offer
ITM provides its customers with a variety of structural load monitoring systems. Using strain gauge based transducer technology, ITM can design and implement a real-time system to continually monitor load responses of the supporting members on an array of structures.
Strain gauge based measurements are more accurate and typically less expensive than load cell retrofitting. The addition of a monitoring system can also reduce the risks associated with manual measurements including contamination of product and, more importantly, injury to a worker.
How do you measure bulk material levels/weights in silos and hoppers?
The two ways to measure bulk material quantity in silos/hoppers are level indicators (laser, ultrasonic, radar) and weight measurements (load cells, strain gauges). Weight measurements are more accurate, safer to install, and can be installed during operation. Of the types of weight measurements, ITM prefers to implement strain gauge-based solutions since they do not require structural modification of the vessel.
An ITM silo monitoring system typically consists of weatherproofed strain gauges for each silo leg and a NI CompactRIO embedded controller to acquire data, process signals, and output results. Systems are scalable to accommodate all the silos at the plant.
The graph above shows a typical trend of real silo data during unloading. Weight levels are sent directly to factory DCS systems and historians via common communication protocols like Ethernet/ip and Modbus, or they can be viewed on the system’s webpage or a local/remote workstations and panels.
What are the challenges when measuring bulk material levels/weights?
Most bulk material storage is outside, so temperature and other environmental factors must be accounted for not only in the durability of the equipment, but in the sensor design and data processing. Changes in temperature, wind, and humidity can result in changes to the load path in silo legs. Load changes are account for by instrumenting all or most of the silo legs and selecting the appropriate strain gauge bridge design which results in continuously accurate weight measurements.
While other systems require calibrating the system with known loads (point calibration), ITM calibrates the system using a shunt voltage across the strain gauge bridge. This process automatically calibrates the system and eliminates the requirement of having pre-known material weight added to the vessel.
For more information about silo monitoring, contact Ryan Matthews @ 1.844.837.8797 x706. To see how ITM’s structural load monitoring systems work watch this video below.
Lattice Boom Crane Structural Design Validation
A case study describing a strain gauge DAQ system used to validate several new designs of a heavy lift lattice boom crane to comply with SAE J987 standards.
Engineering Data Acquisition Tools: cDAQ-9189
When our engineers go on the road to troubleshoot structural component failures or machine vibration problems, they grab their laptop with iTestSystem installed and Pelican case containing an NI CompactDAQ (cDAQ) chassis and an assortment of C-Series modules, accelerometers, and strain gauges. The cDAQ chassis that they typically use is a cDAQ-9189 ethernet chassis, which is ideal for data logging.
The cDAQ-9189 is an extended temperature TSN enabled 8-Slot Ethernet chassis designed for distributed sensor measurement systems. The chassis controls the timing, synchronization, and data transfer between C Series I/O modules and your laptop. Since the chassis has an integrated network switch and is TSN enabled, measurements from multiple chassis are synchronized by simply daisy-chaining chassis with an ethernet cable.
For more information about the cDAQ-9189, DAQ hardware rentals or iTestSystem, contact Josh Fishback at (844) 837-8797 x705 to assist with your data collection needs.
Structural Validation & Testing of Generator Sets
A case study describing a reliable system for testing generator vibration levels after production in order to verify proper unit design and assembly.
ITM provides software development, structural and mechanical testing services, industrial monitoring, strain gauging, and data analysis solutions to clients on six continents. ITM is a recognized National Instruments Gold Alliance Partner.
