Machine condition based monitoring plays an important role in securing the stealth of the submarine, as any vibration related tone passed through the hull to the outside world could betray the vessel. All onboard equipment must be meticulously monitored and maintained.
Read moreNoise and Vibration Monitoring for Construction Sites
Anyone who has lived or worked at or near a construction site is familiar with the sound of pile driving, or the mechanical driving of specialized poles into the earth to provide foundational support for buildings. The noise and vibrations of the work may continue at high decibels over a prolonged period of time.
Read moreVibration Testing could save "The Martian" Probe Launch
In the new flick The Martian, vibration testing becomes a matter of life and death, survival or starvation, when a supply probe bound for Mars and loaded with nourishment for our lonely red planet hero (Matt Damon) fails mid-launch.
Read moreUsing Fatigue Damage Spectrum with Vibration Control
Fatigue Damage Spectrum (FDS) allows users to compare the potential damage caused by different Random profiles, swept Sine profiles or a combination of both.
Read moreVisualizing Mode Shapes with a Stroboscope and Cola Output
It is not easy for human eyes to see the modal shape at various frequencies. If we can freeze the motion at the desired frequency, we can capture the modal shape created. A stroboscope is a device which flashes light at a resonance frequency of an object to make the object appear stationary.
Read moreIntroducing New Software EDM 5.1
The new Engineering Data Management software release from Crystal Instruments, EDM 5.1, improves ease of use, performance, and scalability of the associated hardware. The updated software version, introduced approximately 7 months from the previous 5.0 release, features enhancements to the high channel count configuration, as well as Multi-Sine control, Multi-exciter single-control for Sine, Fatigue Damage Spectrum (FDS) in Random, and Transient Random control. The release also supports the brand-new handheld dynamic signal analyzer, Spider-20.
Read moreCrystal Instruments Introduces Compact, Portable Dynamic Signal Analyzer to “Spider” Series
The Spider series of dynamic signal analyzers by Crystal Instruments welcomes its newest product, the Spider-20, which at 5 x 4 inches and 18 ounces is the most compact instrument in the product line.
Read moreSpider-80X Receives Russian Certification
Crystal Instruments continued to achieve relevance in wider global markets when the Spider-80X dynamic measurement system received certification from the Russian State Register of Measuring Instruments. The certification was obtained in partnership with Dipaul, Crystal Instruments' Spider-80X Russian distributor, and allows the highly scalable vibration controller and dynamic signal analyzer to be sold in Russia.
Read moreCrystal Instruments Ships Over Fifty CoCo-80 Monitoring Devices in One Month
Crystal Instruments shipped over fifty CoCo-80 handheld vibration monitoring devices in the month of June 2015. Used for preventative maintenance, vibration testing, and machine monitoring, the flexible software of the CoCo-80 allows technicians to easily take data through customized applications.
Read moreBrake Rotor Modal Testing with Crystal Instruments "Spider" Data Acquisition System
Modal testing is a common method to determine the characteristics of an object through exciting the structure to a certain vibration level and obtaining its resonance frequencies. It is important for a brake system to keep vibration under control during operation because excessive vibration while braking could cause driver discomfort, premature and irregular tire wear, and stress on steering and suspension components.
Read moreNano-Satellite Company Aquila Space Partners with Crystal Instruments and Sentek Dynamics for Prototype Testing
Nano-satellite developer Aquila Space has formed a strategic partnership with Crystal Instruments and Sentek Dynamics to test a prototype of its three-spectral-band imager, the primary payload of a 6U CubeSat scheduled to launch at the end of 2015.
The imager, comprised of three cameras which capture pictures of the earth from space, was subjected to vibration tests including a Resonance Survey, Sine Sweep, and Random Vibration affixed to Sentek Dynamics' 50 kN shaker controlled by Crystal Instruments’ Spider-80X Vibration Test Controller.
Read moreShaped Random Function Enables Tailored Random Signal Generation
The Shaped Random function, which is capable of producing a carefully tailored random spectrum, is available in all of Crystal Instrument’s dynamic signal analyzers. The various constructions of the profiles can produce types of noise such as white noise, pink noise, and more. The Shaped Random function allows a tailored signal generation.
Read moreThe Gaussian Probability Density: Part 4 of 4 of Understanding Random Vibration Signals
If an experimental measurement matches the Gaussian PDF model, the Gaussian model can then be used to draw many important inferences about the measurement. Many statistical curve-matching tests are available to establish if a measurement is Gaussian. These include the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS), Shapiro-Wilk and Anderson-Darling tests. For practical purposes, most well-fixtured and well-conducted random shake tests will produce data that pass any of these model-matching statistical tests for Gaussian behavior.
Read moreHistograms and The Amplitude Domain: Part 3 of 4 of Understanding Random Vibration Signals
The mean and variance dominate statistical measurements in both the time and frequency domains. They are also reflected by so-called amplitude domain measurements. The most basic of these is called a histogram. To measure a histogram, break a signal’s potential amplitude range into a contiguous series of N amplitude categories (i.e. x is between a and b) and associate a counter with each category.
Read moreControl of Random Vibration Signals: Part 2 of 4 of Understanding Random Vibration Signals
One statistical description measured during a random shake test is the Control Spectrum. Specifically, this variable is often the output of an accelerometer mounted to the shaker table. The sensor’s voltage output is scaled to engineering units of acceleration, typically gravitational units (g’s) sampled at a fixed interval, Δt. This time-sampled history is transformed to the frequency domain using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). In this process, a series of “snapshots” from the continuous time waveform are taken and dealt with sequentially.
Read moreTerms of Probability Statistics: Part 1 of 4 of Understanding Random Vibration Signals
Verifying the robustness of products (or their packaging) by subjecting them to shaker-induced vibration is an accepted method of “improving the breed”. While shock bumps and sine sweeps are intuitively obvious, random shakes with their jumps and hissing are anything but. Even the language of a random test is confusing at encounter. Let’s try to improve upon that first introduction to random signals!
Read more8th Annual Maintenance and Reliability Conference Brief
The table top conference, put on by the Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals, was attended by about a dozen other maintenance and reliability companies whose specialties ranged from oil analysis to machine condition monitoring using handheld vibration data collectors. The exhibits attracted about 100 practitioners.
Read moreCrystal Instruments Receives US Patent for Kurtosis Control
This patent protects an important contribution to CI’s Vibration Control System (VCS) business, its unique means of controlling the kurtosis of a random vibration signal. A conventional (Gaussian) random signal has a peak-to-rms ratio (the crest factor) of about 3. In contrast, a high kurtosis random signal of the same RMS intensity, with identical spectrum shape, can have a significantly higher crest factor.
Read moreCrystal Instruments Expands Customer Test Capabilities with High Speed Cameras
Crystal Instruments has enhanced Vibration Testing through interfacing their Spider Vibration Control product family with the very latest commercially available High Speed Cameras.
Read moreJohn Morris Industrial Signs Distribution Agreement with Crystal Instruments
John Morris Industrial (a Division of John Morris Scientific Pty Ltd), a growing force in the test and measurement / condition monitoring equipment supply market announced today that it has signed a distribution agreement with Crystal Instruments, covering Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands.
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