AUTOMATED PRODUCTION LINE TESTING OF HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH USE OF MATERIALS TESTING SYSTEM
03 August 2006 - Lloyd Instruments

Fully automated production line testing of precision strain gauges has been made possible through the use of a Lloyd Instruments' materials testing system. The automated method tests 100% of the manufactured output and replaces a manually operated dead weight system. Not only are results acquired fully automatically, eliminating possible errors due to human reporting and result interpretation, but also up to 30% operator time can be saved.

The equipment consists of an LR 50KPlus 50 kN twin column materials testing machine together with NEXYGEN MT data analysis software and Ondio application software, a data acquisition card and a signal conditioning amplifier for the strain gauge products. The advanced automation facilities built into the NEXYGEN MT/Ondio software programs allow the test routines to be customised for different strain gauges. The program performs cycle through zero tests to verify the linearity, accuracy and repeatability of the strain gauge.

For each strain gauge, the tests are initialised on the basis of a product identification code entered into the computer manually or by scanned bar codes. The machine performs a cycle routine from maximum tension through to maximum compression to exercise the component under test. Once exercised, a multi-stage program runs automatically. The product under test is provided with signal conditioning and the output fed into the NEXYGEN MT/Ondio software via a data acquisition card.

The test program stores the measured zero point under no load conditions for both the test machine load measurement system and the device under test. The multi-stage test then drives to 100% of the device capacity in both tension and compression, whilst taking a reading from both the machine reference cell and the device under test at 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% of device capacity.

A tolerance of 0.5% of reading is applied as a pass/fail limit to each of the spot readings throughout the whole cycle. The data from the test give an immediate visual indication of the pass/fail status of the product and the nature of the failure, whether in accuracy, linearity of repeatability.

http://www.lloyd-instruments.co.uk

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  • For August 2006
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