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Welcome to Issue #81     

 

Hello (in plain English this month!). Here at The Modal Shop, we are just back from Sensors Expo in Chicago, IL USA. It is amazing how the sensor industry is exploding with smart sensors, wireless networks and a host of embedded applications. In our corner of the PCB Group exhibition stand, the featured technology was the new USB ICPDigital Accelerometer.  You can find specification information and links to software compatibility at www.digiducer.com

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Tip of the Month: 

Why Are There So Many Plugs and Sockets? 

"Why isn't there a single plug that could be used everywhere?" is a recurrent refrain, particularly among frequent (and frequently frustrated) international travelers.

 

Read more about how this happened here.

Technical Exchanges
July 28-31
Orlando, FL 

By Stephen Bill, Application Engineer, Retired
July 31
Orlando, FL

August 4-7
Austin, TX 

August 13-15
Cincinnati, OH

August 18-20
Cincinnati, OH

By Dr. Pat Walter, Professor, Texas Christian University
August 19-20
El Segundo, CA
Quick Links
PTB 
ISO TC 108 - Mechanical vibration, shock and condition monitoring
ISO TC 108/SC 3 - Use and calibration of vibration and shock measuring instruments
ISO TC 108/SC 6 - Vibration and shock generating systems
SAVE (Formerly SAVIAC)
Previous Newsletters
New Calibration Units for Digital Accelerometers
 
Your Feedback on Digital Smart Sensing; Ohio University Uses Shakers on Humans in Bone Density Testing 
Select Newsletter Articles 
by Topic
PCB Group Companies
Guidelines Within Standards: Thou Shall, or Thou Should Think...?

A key aspect of implementing an accelerometer calibration system is understanding ISO 16063-21 (methods for calibration of vibration and shock transducers - vibration calibration by comparison to a reference transducer). This standard presents methods for measurements by comparison calibration for both laboratory and field conditions. Successfully selecting measurement instrumentation based upon this standard requires an understanding the resultant measurement uncertainties as influenced by the reader's choices...  

Click to read full article 

 modalshop.com/calibration.asp?ID=976
Application Spotlight: University of Mississippi Uses Shaker, Hammer and Sensors in  Bridge Testing
Dr. Elizabeth Ervin, Associate Professor in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Mississippi, recently shared details of how she and her students used test and measurement equipment to structurally test both a student-built reinforced concrete bridge in a laboratory, as well as an actual, 32-ft tall bridge near campus.
 
In order to generate 
an inspection tool that visually reveals both damage severity and location, the Structural Health Evaluation (SHE)™ program has been developed at the University of Mississippi.  The SHE™ program contains custom code for signal processing, modal decomposition, and health indication.  
 
For any structure, this program can use time history data from any sensor with any excitation to produce damage plots.  Operational deflected shapes are produced for two cases, an as-built baseline and a damaged state. Comparing modes reveals possible damage locations as well as damage severity, and damage output plots are then compared via eleven damage indices derived from six published indicators.
 
 
modalshop.com/calibration.asp?ID=974
University of Cincinnati Structural Dynamics Research Lab (UC-SDRL) Offering Experimental Techniques Seminar Series in August 
UC-SDRL's Structural Measurements Seminar will be offered August 13-15, 2014 followed by the Modal Analysis Seminar August 18-20, 2014.  The form and content of both of these seminars has been updated and changed each year over the last three decades, and the seminars have been offered at least once a year since 1978 by the UC-SDRL Team. They are the longest running seminars in the area of experimental modal analysis.  

Each three-day seminar includes lectures and demonstrations of basic theory and concepts covering the latest methods used by practitioners. Sufficient background and detail is provided so that the technical issues and limitations of more advanced topics can be well-understood by users. 

modalshop.com/calibration.asp?ID=975

Thanks for joining us for another issue of "Dynamic Sensors & Calibration Tips." As always, please speak up and let us know what you like. We appreciate all feedback: positive, critical or otherwise. Take care!

  

Sincerely,


Mike Lally signature
Michael J. Lally
The Modal Shop, Inc.
A PCB Group Company