Control and Data Acquisition System for Universal Testing Frames

需要一个新的控制和数据采集系统来保持和提升我们在土木和水利工程部公共基础设施生命周期研究中心的机械测试能力。该实验室不仅是许多研究项目的基础中心，从超高性能纤维增强混凝土的开裂行为研究到大型预制铝桥面板的循环荷载响应研究，而且还作为设计和开发测试和评估材料的新方法的设置。迫切需要这一新的控制和数据采集系统来取代目前使用了20年的系统，因为最近的修理工作极为困难，而且已找不到替换零件。现有系统的崩溃将危及我们的研究活动的重要部分，从而影响我们的一些研究生对他们的计划完成的进展。不能低估实际控制和数据采集系统的重要性。它用于控制和运行多个测试设备：一个带有T形槽测试台和大垂直开口的500 kN通用测试框架，一个1 MN结实的通用测试框架以及位于我们大型环境室内的一组五（5）个液压致动器。包括液压动力组和各种歧管和阀门系统，该控制器和数据采集系统是10位教授每天在研究项目中使用的价值150万美元的设备中的佼佼者。所寻求的控制和数据采集系统包基本上由三（3）个组件组成：1）控制器; 2）一组专用的功能强大的接口板;以及3）控制软件套件。MTS FlexTestr 100控制器是一款可靠的多功能伺服控制器，可提供实时可靠的闭环控制，沿着多种可能的配置，使其成为我们各种测试设置的完美控制器。专用接口板的集合包括控制器所需的所有硬件，以充分运行液压系统（框架和致动器）并并行捕获来自各种传感器的信号（应变、位移、压力等）。最后，MTS控制软件允许创建测试并将所有上述硬件元件链接在一起。用户的主要成果是（a）大大改进了对测试进度的控制（在涉及局部损伤机制的破裂的研究中是必要的）;（B）在静态和循环加载方案期间，增加的测量分辨率和精度（一些最新的标准化测试方法的必要性）;以及（c）简化和大大提高开发和测试实验程序的能力（最佳利用测试基础设施的一个关键要素）。

A new control and data acquisition system is required to preserve and upgrade our mechanical testing capabilities in the Laboratoire d'étude de la durée de vie des infrastructures publiques in the Department of Civil and Water engineering. This laboratory serves not only as the base centre of many research projects spanning from the study of cracking behaviour of ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete to the investigation of cyclic loading response of large-scale prefabricated aluminum bridge decks, but also as the setting for the design and development of novel methods for testing and evaluating materials. This new control and data acquisition system is urgently required to replace the current 20-year-old system, for which recent repairs have been extremely difficult to implement and replacement parts are no longer available. A breakdown of the present system would jeopardize significant portions of our research activities and would thereby impact the progress of some of our graduate students towards completion of their program. The importance of the actual control and data acquisition system cannot be understated. It is used to control and run several testing apparatuses: one 500 kN universal testing frame with t-slot testing table and a large vertical opening, one 1 MN stocky universal testing frame as well as a set of five (5) hydraulic actuators located in our large-scale environmental room. Including the hydraulic power-pack and the various manifold and valve systems, this controller and data acquisition system is at the top of a 1.5+ M$ worth of equipment used every day in research projects associated to 10 professors. The control and data acquisition system package sought are essentially three (3) components: 1) the Controller; 2) a collection of dedicated powerful interface boards; and 3) the Control Software suite. The MTS FlexTestr100 Controller is a reliable and versatile servocontroller that provides real-time reliable closed-loop control, along with a wide array of possible configurations, making it the perfect controller for our various testing set-ups. The collection of dedicated interface boards includes all the hardware needed with the controller to adequately run the hydraulic systems (frame and actuators) and capture in parallel the signals from a variety of sensors (strain, displacement, pressure, etc.). Finally, the MTS Control Software allows to create the tests and link together all of the aforementioned hardware elements. The key outcome for the users (a) a highly improved control of the test progress (essential in studies involving cracking of localized damage mechanisms); (b) an increased measurement resolution and precision, both during static and cyclic loading schemes (a necessity for some of the newest standardized test methods); and (c) a simplified and significantly upgraded capacity for developing and testing experimental procedures (a key element for optimally exploiting the testing infrastructure).