Project Portfolio Spotlight: Materials Test and Measurement System

Gas Technology Institute selected Signal.X to supply a custom control system for measuring material properties on PE pipe samples. This system is based on the LabVIEW Real-Time module and utilizes distributed I/O,high-speed closed-loop control in FPGA, a flexible and intuitive user interface and configuration application. This project used a distributed model for control that leveraged the power of the FPGA Ethernet expansion chassis to control the test and take data. The test system included 4 temperature chambers with 9 samples in each chamber, for a total of 36 independent samples. Data can be logged at a configurable rate from 10 samples per second to once per minute, allowing for high logging rates in profiles of interest, but keeping file size to a minimum over long duration tests. All data is logged in the National Instruments TDMS file format. All data from the test samples are stored in a central database, and data can also be reviewed locally using Scout.

This system provided GTI with a unique test capability beyond what normal tensile test and measurement systems can do. The ability to arbitrarily define standard or cyclic test profiles, control samples in either load or displacement, and log data the entire test has given them new insights into model validation and experimental techniques. Click here to learn more about this case history.

To learn about other Signal.X projects, click here. If you have any questions about this or any other of our projects, or would like to learn how our projects’ applications can be customized to your needs, please contact us.