Ometron's new software puts vibration engineers on the spot

Citation

(1999), "Ometron's new software puts vibration engineers on the spot", Sensor Review, Vol. 19 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.1999.08719aad.009

Ometron's new software puts vibration engineers on the spot

Ometron's new software puts vibration engineers on the spot

Keywords Ometron, Vibration

Attaching tens or even hundreds of accelerometers to a car or aeroplane component to see whether it vibrates in the same way as its theoretical design is now firmly in the past with the new MasterScan 6 software from Ometron (see Plate 9).

Using Ometron's scanning laser Doppler vibrometer as the transducer to collect data, the combined non-contact system not only eliminates the need for accelerometers, it also speeds up data collection.

"MasterScan 6 frees the vibration engineers by providing a link between the computer-based model and the real-world structure", explains Ometron's Richard Atkinson. "It enables the VPI Sensor vibrometer to collect data directly from nodes defined by co-ordinates in the CAD model."

Plate 9 The new MasterScan 6 software from Ometron

Running on SDRC's I-DEAS platform, MasterScan 6's graphics capability allows engineers to work directly on the model, not on tables of node positions. Following a simple teaching phase ­ for MasterScan 6 to calculate the position of the VPI Sensor relative to the actual nodes on the structure ­ one press of a button is all that is needed to start automatic data collection.

MasterScan 6 controls VPI Sensor's scanning mirrors so that they address pre-selected nodes on the structure, collecting data at each point.

The combined system not only provides all the advantages associated with laser Doppler vibrometers ­ savings in time for mounting, wiring and removing the accelerometers, plus no mass loading to the structure to interfere with data quality ­ it also enables experimental data to be collected quickly and accurately.

The system can even be used if the original design was not produced on SDRC software, as data entry of the nodes' positions can be made using the I-DEAS Test interface.

The VPI Sensor employs a low-power laser to scan the surface of a vibrating component or structure at a range of up to 200 metres or more. Vibrating surfaces can be unprepared and poor reflectors, and they can also be complex in shape.

The basic principle behind its operation is the Doppler effect. Vibrometers based on this principle can remotely measure surface velocities ­ or vibrations ­ with high spatial resolution and over a broad frequency and amplitude range.

A coherent laser beam is projected on to the surface under investigation. Light scattered back from the surface is shifted in frequency by an amount proportional to the velocity of the surface. The instrument measures this frequency shift to produce an instantaneous surface velocity for further analysis.

Ometron is a world leader in non-contact stress and vibration measurement.

For further information contact Richard Atkinson, Ometron Division, Image Automation Ltd, Kelvin House, Worsley Bridge Road, Sydenham, London SE26 5BX, UK. Tel: +44 (0)181 461 5566.