Operations Manual (Shaker Table Side)

•	Hardware Setup

		-Abacus (Data Acquisition Computer) (Data Physics DP700 Abacus Lite)
			
			1. Flip the I/O switch in the back to the " I " position			

			2. Your RED STOP switch will plug into T2 on the Abacus
			
			3. Plug monitor into the VGA port on the Abacus

			4. Your mouse will plug into one of the USB ports
		
			5. Your keyboard will plug into the serial port in the front (located to the left of the USB ports)

		-Amplifier (DSA1 Power Amplifier from Data Physics, part of the Signal Force system)
			
			1. Make sure "Gain" knob on amplifier is turned fully counter clockwise

			2. Black switch marked INTERNAL/EXTERNAL should be flipped to the internal side

			3. Located on the back of the amplifier is a jack labled "SIGNAL INPUT", run a 1 input/2 output BNC adapter on this jack

			4. From the BNC adapter in part 3 run one wire from the adapter to channel 1 on the Abacus machine and the other port on the adapter will run 			    into OUT 1 on the abacus machine. This sets the machine up to run in a closed loop mode.

		-Microphone
			
			1. A digital sound pressure level meter should be used with an output jack
	
			2. Secure your meter at least 6-10 inches above your shaker table
			
			3. Run a BNC cable from the output jack on the sound level meter to channel 2 on the Abacus. This is done using a converter because most likely 			    the output jack on the sound level meter will not be a BNC port.
			
		-Shaker Table (DataPhysics Signal Force Unit)

			1. Attach object to be tested onto the shaker table using M9 screws. We used 4 M9's to attach both our scale model and our cantelevered beam

			2. Turn the amplifier unit to the ON position using the key.
			
			3. Check the Air Inlets and make sure nothing is obstructing them

			4. Once the POWER DC and COOLING lights illuminate HOLD the START button for 5 seconds

			5. Notice the lights on the bottom left side of the shaker table. They are labeled HIGH, NULL and LOW. The NULL light must be lit green. If it's 			    reading LOW you will need to add pressure to the ISOLATION port using a simple bike pump. If it's in the HIGH position you will need to bleed 		                pressure from the ISOLATION port.

•	Software Setup

		-Amplifier Pre-Setup
		
			1. The Amplifier should be in the ON position with the GAIN knob turned fully counter clockwiseand the switch on the INTERNAL side.
		
			2. Turn GAIN knob until Current is about 16%

			3. Switch the switch to EXTERNAL, the Shaker Table should NOT be moving once you do this and the Current should drop back down to 0%
 
		-Signal Star Software Setup
			
			1. Click the icon on the Desktop labled Signal Star Scalar, it will open up and connect to the Abacus.

			2. Click the White piece of paper to open up a new test.
				
			3. Select SINE and click NEW  		

			4. Name your test

			5. Click the computer icon labeled TEST SETUP (you will remain in this window for all the tabs mentioned in steps 6 through)

			6. Under the TEST tab set your units as follows:
				Displacement: CM
				Velocity: CM/S
				Acceleration: G

			7. Under the OUTPUTS tab the only thing you will set is your objects mass properties. DUT is the object you're subjecting to the test, and 				    FIXTURE is the mass of any aparatus you use to attach the object to the shaker, such as adapter plates etc.Everything else in this tab you can 			    leave alone

			8. You need to put a unit designation into the system for Pa (sound pressure). Go to C:\SignalStar\Scalar\Units and open the UNITS.TXT. In this 			    file you will put this line at the bottom of the text file in an empty row. 

				!Prot	Default	Type	Label		Scale		Offset		DB_coeff
				"1	      1	 15        Pa                      1	                0                         0"

			    After you place the line in the text file, save it and exit that folder

			9. Click the INPUTS tab (in the Signal Star Scalar TEST SETUP window). Make sure only Channel 1 and 2 have an X in them. On Channel 1 make 			    sure the EU is " g " and Range EU is set to " 10.00 . On Channel 2 the EU should be set to Pa, Range EU should be set to 10 and Coupling 			    should be set to DC SE.

			10.  In the INPUTS tab click INFO and Direction on Channel 1 to +Y and Direction on Channel 2 to + Y

			11.  Click the CONTROL tab. Change the Sweep Mode to Linear (Hz/sec). Set Points/Sweep to 8192 and Meas. Freq. Ratio to 11 (this will obtain 			       the maximum sampling rate).

			12. Go down to the Sweep Parameters section in the  CONTROL tab. Set your minimum frequency to NO LOWER than 5 hz and max frequency 			      to 2100 hz. 
			
			13. Click the PROFILE tab. Under the Profile section to the right is all your parameters. Click EDIT and this will show your frequency sweep 				      broken down in three parts, the beginning frequency, a median and the ending frequency. Altering Ref in the 2nd and 3rd rows (median and 			      ending frequency) will determine your ramp up. Do not ramp up to your full amplitude too soon because the test will fail, 			      			      the amplifier needs time to get up to full amplitude. The actual number you put is in G's and determines the amplitude your test will run at. 			      2.5G is the max our tests are run at

		

			14. Click RUN SCHEDULE tab and this is where you will setup your SWEEP or DWELL test. A sweep is exactly what it sounds like, it runs from 			      the beginning frequency chosen to the ending frequency in steps of 5 hz/sec or whatever the chosen rate is in the CONTROL tab. A DWELL is 			      when the object is just actuated at the selected magnitude for a specific amount of time at ONE frequency. Again choose too low a frequency 			      (less than 5hz) and errors will occur with the dwell test.

				-Setting up a Dwell: Under the COMMAND column click the word Full Sweep and it should open a drop down menu, select DWELL out of 				 the choices. Under the DURATION TYPE column click the word CYCLES and select TIME instead. Set your time and frequency.

				-Setting up a Sweep: Under the COMMAND column select SWEEP, set your start and stop frequency (they must be within range of what 				 you have set in the CONTROL and PROFILE tab). DURATION TYPE should be set to TIME. Look back into your CONTROL tab and look 				 at the time duration for a full test, set the time duration in the run schedule to be about 20 seconds longer and 10-20 hz shorter so there 				 is time to stop the test. Set SAVE INTERVAL to EVERY 1 SWEEP.

			15. Click APPLY then OK once all your tabs have been setup

			16. Click DISPLAY at the top toolbar. Select NEW GRAPH. Under SX-Spectrum select S2 (this is your channel 2 for your sound pressure). Click 			      OK and this will bring up your graph.Click DISPLAY at the top toolbar again, then select GRAPH CONTROLS. Make sure both buttons are on 			      LIN and NOT LOG for the X and Y axes.

		

•	Running and Saving a test.

			1. Make sure your sound pressure level meter is turned ON

			2. Click the INIT button in the Signal Star Scalar program (it is green).

			3. Click YES for overwriting last run
	
			4. The message will pop up alerting you to push the STOP button (your red button plugged into T2 on the Abacus). Press it

			5. Click Start after you get the "Ready to start" message in the control prompt located under the big green START button

			6. After the Pre-Test runs, click "Start Test"

			7. The test will run and after it reaches your desired max frequency hit STOP in the Signal Star Scalar program. Now RIGHT CLICK your graph and 			    scroll down to GRAPH and select EXPORT. This will save a raw file of all your data points that you can transfer over to excell. Now located at 			    the bottom right of the graph is a symbol of a printer, click the DOWN ARROW next to the printer symbol and select the two papers. This will 			    copy the image of the graph to your clip board. Paste this in WordPad and save.

		
•	Shutting Down

			1. Click END in the control prompt and save your test. Then select TEST from the top toolbar and go to EXIT. 
	
			2. Hold the STOP button on the Amplifier for about 5 seconds

			3. Turn the GAIN knob full counter clockwise
		
			4. Switch the INTERNAL/EXTERNAL switch over to INTERNAL

			5. Turn the key to the OFF position

			6. Shut down the Abacus by going to START on the desktop and selecting TURN OFF COMPUTER. Go to Turn OFF. The computer will shut 			    down like normal, and when the monitor goes black flip the I/O switch in the back to the O position.

			7. Turn off the monitor using the power button