What is MEscopeVES?

MEscopeVES is a family of Windows post-test analysis tools that allow you to visualize, analyze, and document the static and dynamic behavior of machinery and structures. MEscopeVES displays spatially acquired vibration, acoustic, or other engineering data on a 3D model of a test structure or measurement surface. All MEscopeVES options contain the same 3D model building, display, and interactive animation features. With each option, you can import multichannel time or frequency domain data, and display time-based or frequency-based operating deflection shapes (ODSs) in animation, directly from the experimental data. Each MEscopeVES option also contains unique analysis features for further processing of your data. The Visual ODS and Visual ODS Pro options are used for displaying and analyzing operating data. Visual ODS contains all of the basic features necessary for displaying ODSs in animation. Visual ODS Pro contains additional signal processing and analysis features for working with operating data.

Who Uses MEscope?

Over the past eight years, MEscope has been used to help solve noise, vibration and failure problems in a wide variety of industrial applications: Aerospace (analyzing rocket launch data) Buildings & bridges (earthquake effects) Plant maintenance (cracks in motor mounts) Paper mills Construction equipment Commercial & military aircraft HVAC equipment Chemical plants Automobiles, trucks, and auto parts manufacturing Automobile racing Power generation plants Electronics Steel mills Home appliances Medical equipment Semiconductor manufacturing equipment Aluminum manufacturing Sporting goods Pumps

Measurements Imported
Time or Frequency Waveforms MEscopeVES can import all popular types of time or frequency domain measurement waveforms. File translators are provided for translating the PC data files of most popular multi-channel data acquisition systems, FFT analyzers, recorders, and portable data collectors. Data can also be imported from ASCII spreadsheets, MATLAB , DADiSP , Microsoft WAV, and Universal File Format (UFF) files. Shape Data ME'scopeVES can also import complex (peak & phase) shape data. For example, peak & phase values at rotating machinery orders can be displayed as ODSs. Order Tracked Operating Data MEscopeVES can also import ordered tracked operating data from the VSI Rotateorder tracking software package. After further processing in MEscopeVES, a set of Order Tracked time or RPM based measurements can be used to display Order Tracked ODSs, also called running modes. Order Tracked ODSs provide a picture of a rotating machines deformation as a function of one of its rotational orders.

What Can MEscopeVES Do for You?

MEscopeVES has been specifically designed to make it easier for you to observe and analyze a variety of noise & vibration problems in machines and structures. It utilizes multi-channel time or frequency domain experimental data, acquired during the operation of a machine, or the static or dynamic loading of a structure. It displays ODS's, mode shapes, or engineering data shapes (EDSs) at a moment in time or at a specific frequency, directly from the measured data. By animating the measured responses of a structure in slow motion, you can see what can't be seen any other way; a structures overall motion, and the motion of one part relative to another. Locations of excessive vibration and loose or damaged parts are easily identified. Furthermore, by comparing ODSs with mode shapes, you can determine whether or not resonant vibration in occurring.

Visual ODS
The Visual ODS option contains all of the features necessary for drawing structure models, importing measured data, and displaying ODSs in animation. Operating Deflection Shapes An ODS is the simplest way to see how a machine or structure moves during its operation, either at a specific frequency or at a moment in time. ODSs contain contributions due to resonant vibration as well as internal and external excitation forces. Time-Based ODSs With MEscopeVES, you can display time-based ODSs by sweeping through a set of acquired time histories. You can stop the animation, back it up, and play it forward to observe in slow motion phenomena that may have taken place very quickly in time. For example, you can observe the run up, coast down, or other transient behavior of a machine.

How Does MEscopeVES Work?

With MEscopeVES you can observe a structure's ODSs, mode shapes, or EDSs in animation on a 3D structure model, in real time by simply moving a cursor through you measurements. MEscopeVES can sweep the cursor through a set of time histories and animate a 3D model, allowing you to observe its response; whether it be sinusoidal, random, transient, linear or non-linear, stationary or nonstationary. ME'scope can also dwell at a specific time or frequency in a set of measurements, and display the shape values either statically or with sinusoidal animation.

Frequency-Based ODSs A frequency based ODS allows you to see how a structure behaves at a single frequency. While dwelling at a frequency, the ODS will show you where vibration levels are greatest, and will indicate loose parts or connections. A frequency-based ODS can also help you determine whether or not a resonance is being excited, or whether the vibration is an order related forced vibration. Mode Shapes Modes are used to characterize resonant vibration in machinery and structures. All machines and structures have natural modes, which often create excessive noise and vibration levels if excited. Each mode is defined by its resonant frequency, damping, and mode shape. At or near a resonant frequency, the ODS of a structure is usually dominated by a mode. At a resonance, a frequency-based ODS will look approximately like a mode shape. Strain Gage Data With Visual ODS, you can display all of the Mohrs circle strain values from strain gage data. Data from any type of strain gage or rosette can be imported and animated. Both static and dynamic strain values can be displayed on structural surfaces. Flexible Measurement Display Multiple time and frequency domain measurements are imported into a Data Block, and can be displayed together in a variety of graphical formats, including row/column, strip chart, overlaid, cascade, or color map graphs. Each measurement can also be displayed in one of the following formats: Real part, Imaginary part, Linear or Log Magnitude, Phase, CoQuad (Real & Imaginary), Bode (Magnitude & Phase), Nyquist (Real vs. Imaginary), & Nichols (Magnitude vs. Phase). Orbit Plot If you collect both horizontal & vertical data at the bearings of a rotating machine, data from one channel can be displayed versus the other in an orbit plot. Measurements in Local Directions When making measurements, it is more convenient to mount sensors directly on a structure's surface. If the surface is curved, then each sensor location could have a different direction associated with it. With MEscopeVES, measurement axes can be graphically oriented at each point to coincide with local measurement directions. Tri-axial measurements are easily oriented this way. Interactive 3D Model Drawing MEscopeVES contains a variety of drawing tools to assist you in building a 3D model so that shapes can be displayed in animation. Models are built using drawing objects (points, lines, surface triangles, or substructures). Each type of drawing object has its own spreadsheet for viewing and editing its properties. Models can be drawn interactively by dragging objects on the screen, or by editing properties in their spreadsheets. Objects can be cut, copied, and pasted into drawings, making it easy to build complex models from simple substructures.

Drawing Assistant MEscopeVES contains a Drawing Assistant that can be used to rapidly generate 3D models using simple geometries. Models can be drawn using rectangular, cylindrical, spherical and machine coordinates. More complex models are drawn by repeatedly using the Drawing Assistant to create structural components as substructures. Substructure Palette There is also a palette of pre-defined substructures in MEscopeVES that make building models faster. You can also build substructures and add them to the palette. Quad View Structural motion can often be difficult to comprehend in 3 dimensions, but when you can view it from different directions simultaneously, it is easier to understand. In MEscopeVES, you can simultaneously display four views of the structure, three orthogonal views (top/bottom, front/back, right/left) plus a user defined 3D view.

View Controls Each view can be adjusted for maximum clarity: zoom to observe the structure more closely, pan to move the structure in a view, rotation and elevation to view the structure from another angle, and perspective to change your distance from the structure. Animation Flexibility One of the most powerful features of MEscopeVES is its ability to display the shapes of a structure in animation as you interactively move the Line, Peak, or Band cursor within your measurements. This capability allows you to view shapes directly from your data without curve fitting or any other processing. Interpolation for Unmeasured Points Because of time and cost constraints, only a small number of measurements are usually made on a machine or structure. However, a realistic 3D model of the structure will typically require a larger number of points. With the unique spatial interpolation in MEscopeVES, shape values for all unmeasured points are interpolated from values at neighboring measured points. With interpolation, you obtain more realistic animated pictures of ODSs from relatively few measurements.

Animation Controls Both the speed and amplitude of animation can be controlled for further clarity. The step button allows you to freeze the animation, and step through it one frame at a time. Shapes can also be displayed with persistence, and together with the undeformed structure as a reference. Fours Ways to Display Shapes Shapes can be displayed in four different ways: Deformation of each point showing magnitude & direction of motion. Surface contour lines or color maps showing levels of deformation of the surface. Nodal lines (lines of no motion), are also displayed with contour lines. Arrows showing magnitude & direction of motion at each point. Text at each point. Hidden Line Removal Hidden line removal helps you to visualize the motion of complex structures by making the 3D model look more realistic. Hidden line segments can also be displayed as dashed lines so you can still observe the motion of hidden parts of the structure. Shape Comparison Two shapes can be displayed either side by side or overlaid on one another so they can be compared to one another. Shapes from before and after a structural modification can be compared in this way. Documentation with Digital Movies With Digital Movies, you can record any shape animation in a Windows AVI file. You can send Digital Movies to your clients and they can view the animation just as it appears in MEscopeVES. Digital Movies can also be imbedded in Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and Word documents, and played by simply clicking on them. Digital Movies can also be played on Apple Macintosh or UNIX systems.

Visual ODS Pro

Visual ODS Pro contains all of the features of the Visual ODS option, plus a number of advanced signal processing and analysis features. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) Visual ODS Pro has both a Forward and an Inverse FFT that transform all measurements at once, so that shapes are conveniently displayed from either time or frequency domain data. This prime factor FFT does not require the number of samples to equal a power of 2, thus providing more flexibility to work with your data. Waveform Cut, Copy, & Paste You can cut, copy, and paste measurements, or portions of measurements, between one Data Block and another in Visual ODS Pro. This powerful capability allows you to interactively edit your data, retain only the portions of interest, and combine measurements from different sources for animation and analysis. Integration & Differentiation Vibration data can be measured with a variety of sensors, including accelerometers, proximity probes, lasers, photonic sensors, etc. However, the question How much is the machine or structure actually moving? is usually answered with displacement values. With Visual ODS Pro, you can integrate either time or frequency waveforms or shapes from accelerations or velocities to displacements. Waveforms can also be differentiated to amplify higher frequency components.

Linear Spectrum, Auto Power Spectrum, & PSD With Visual ODS Pro, you can calculate the Linear Spectrum (Discrete Fourier Transform), Auto Power Spectrum (APS), or Power Spectral Density (PSD) from time domain operating data. Signal processing methods, including time domain windowing (Rectangular, Hanning, or Flat Top), stable or peak hold spectrum averaging, triggering, and overlap processing can be used during the calculation of these spectral estimates. ODS FRF An ODS FRF measurement is calculated from operating data when excitation forces cannot be measured, and therefore a traditional Frequency Response Function (FRF) measurement cannot be calculated. The magnitude of an ODS FRF is the Auto Power Spectrum (APS) of a measured response, and its phase is the phase of the Cross Power Spectrum (XPS) between the response and a fixed reference response. ODS FRFs can be calculated from simultaneously acquired response and reference response time waveforms just like other spectral estimates, or they can be calculated directly from APSs and XPSs. A set of ODS FRFs has peaks at resonant frequencies, and mode shapes can be extracted from them at resonant frequencies. Notch & Band Windows Either notch or band pass windows can be applied to waveforms within Visual ODS Pro. When a notch window is applied, data inside the band is zeroed. When a band pass window is applied, data outside the band is zeroed. This feature can be used for removing unwanted portions from your data such as DC offsets, or for simulating the effects of removing certain frequencies from a signal. Exponential Window Exponential windowing is an effective way to remove noise from, or sharpen resonance peaks, in measurements. If a decreasing exponential is applied, extraneous noise is removed from a measurement. If an increasing exponential is applied, resonance peaks will become sharper, making it easier to identify modes.

Features and Specifications

Visual ODS 3D Structure Modeling
Quad View (3-2D views & a user defined 3D view) Surface model with hidden line removal, dashed hidden lines, and color fill Interactive drawing by dragging objects on screen Interactive sizing, shaping, and rotation of drawing objects Cut, Copy & Paste of drawing objects Drawing Assistant rapidly builds structures using Rectangular, Cylindrical, Spherical & Machine coordinates Substructure palette with pre-built & user defined 3D models Tracing of structure outlines from digital pictures or drawings Spreadsheets for editing properties of drawing objects Measurement axes graphically oriented at each point Interactive point numbering Point labels and measurement numbers displayed on model Interactive zoom, pan, rotation, perspective Imports structure models from UFF, AutoCAD (DXF), FEMAP files

Visual ODS ODS Animation

Interactive ODS animation using Line, Peak, or Band cursor directly from time or frequency domain measurements ODS animation from a Shape Table Automatic interpolation of shape data for all unmeasured points using data from nearby measured points Animation in Quad view or a Single view Animated comparison of shapes from two sources (Data Blocks or Shape Tables) Side-by-side or Overlaid Animation with deformation, arrows or text Animation with persistence Shape contour lines (including nodal lines) or contour color fills on surfaces Combined animation of temp., press., etc. with vibration or strain data Hidden line display (invisible or dashed) Colored surface fill display Display of maximum deflection points & shape values Rotation, elevation, & continuous rotation controls Speed & amplitude controls Animation in local or global X, Y & Z directions Auto, Relative & Fixed shape scaling Normal & Shear strain, Min, Max, Average normal strain Interactive display of shape values at selected points Deformed & undeformed structure displayed together Print & Copy to Clipboard Digital Movies (documentation of animation as MS AVI files) Frames window shows 16 successive animation frames

Visual ODS Measurements

Imports popular single or multi-channel analyzer, data acquisition, recorder or portable collector formats from PC disk files Imports and exports in UFF, ASCII Spreadsheet, MATLAB, DADiSP & MS WAV file formats Displays up to 100 measurements in Row/Column, 10 in Strip Chart, & unlimited number in Overlay, Cascade, and Color Map formats Real, Imaginary, Magnitude (Linear, Log, dB), Phase, CoQuad (Real & Imaginary), Bode (Magnitude & Phase), Nyquist (Real vs. Imaginary), Nichols (Magnitude vs. Phase), & Orbit plots Horizontal & vertical zoom with scrolling Line, Peak & Band Cursors Grid lines, labels, DOFs, engineering units, & cursor values displayed on each measurement Spreadsheet for editing measurement properties (select, show/hide, color, line types, DOFs, units, labels, etc.) Play button for playing the sound of each measurement Auto, Relative & Fixed vertical axis scaling Maximize vertical axis display Linear & Log horizontal axis Print & Copy to Clipboard Text font selection, window, background, fill, line & text colors

Visual ODS Pro

All of the features of the Visual ODS option Simultaneous FFT or Inverse FFT on all measurements Time & frequency domain Integration & Differentiation Waveform Cut, Copy & Paste Notch & Band windows for removing unwanted data Exponential window for removing noise or sharpening resonance peaks Overall power & power in a band Calculates Linear Spectra, Auto Power Spectra, PSDs, & ODS FRFs from time domain operating data, using (Hanning, Flat Top, Rectangular) windows, triggering, peak or stable spectrum averaging, overlap processing Processes order tracked time or RPM based measurements to display order tracked ODSs (running modes) Calculates ODS FRFs from APSs and XPSs

Data Capacities MEscopeVES can store thousands of measurements, with thousands of samples per measurement. Structure models can have thousands of points, lines, and surfaces. MEscopeVES can also store hundreds of shapes with thousands of DOFs per shape. Internet User Support Vibrant maintains an Internet site to provide fast and convenient support to all of our customers. The latest date code of the MEscopeVES software is always available for downloading directly from our Web site. Technical papers and application notes are also available for downloading. Customers can also send us E-mail, asking for assistance, requesting features, reporting bugs, and attaching problem data files.
MATLAB is a trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.; DADiSP is a trademark of DSP Development Corporation; FEMAP is a trademark of Enterprise Software Products; nVision is a trademark of Index Data Systems. VSI Rotate is a trademark of Vold Solutions, Inc.

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