WinCCS Control Upgrades
WinCCS Control Upgrades
The WinCCS hardware/software package is standard on most ATS Direct Load and Lever Arm Testers, and is also available as a retrofit package. Offered exclusively by ATS, this state-of-the-art system offers a number of unique features for enhanced control and monitoring of long-term creep, creep-rupture, and stress-rupture testing.
The result of more than a decade of creep testing software experience and over 30 years of test frame development, WinCCS delivers an industry-leading array of features. Users have access to test control, data acquisition, archiving, analysis, and reporting features. From frame setup, accessory calibration, and specification creation to report generation and data graphing, menu-driven displays lead the operator through easy-to-follow steps that provide accurate, repeatable, and fully-documented test results.
Features
Informative, Easy-to-Use Interface
The system status window includes an easy-to-use menu bar for controlling all aspects of the testing process. This window provides a continuously updated, color-coded overview of important test parameters, such as frame state, furnace temperature and power level, elapsed time, percent creep, and alarm status. The intuitive design of the menu structure allows for specification creation and editing, specimen queuing, system configuration, test initiation and termination, and all other testing, reporting, and maintenance functions. For tasks such as extensometer calibration and weight loading, dialog boxes are displayed to lead the operator step by step through the entire procedure.
Powerful Test Specification Editor
WinCCS gives you the power to easily create customized specifications for any test. Each new test specification generated in WinCCS becomes part of a readily accessible library of stored procedures and can be recalled for future testing or quickly modified for new and similar requirements. Specifications in WinCCS are appended with conditions which comprehensively define testing parameters, such as temperature setpoint and alarms, heating rate, soak time, step loading, pass/fail criteria, and reporting/recording options. Conditions are a very useful technique for extending the usefulness of a single specification, allowing a specification to have multiple conditions such as varying temperature setpoints or different stress levels.
Specimen Queuing and Data Tracking
WinCCS eliminates the common problems associated with manually tracking multiple specimens and test procedures. Specimens are named, dimensions and gage lengths are recorded, and specifications are selected via menu prompts and dialog boxes. This vital information is saved and archived by the software and automatically becomes part of any report associated with that particular specimen. Only fully-defined, queued specimens are available to operators for testing.
Complete Test Control
Fully-defined specimens are kept in a list which is available to the operator for selection. When a particular specimen is selected, WinCCS ensures that only frames suitably equipped for the specification linked with that specimen will be available to the operator for the test. The operator is then prompted, if appropriate for the test, to choose from a list of previously calibrated thermocouples and to follow a step-by-step procedure to calibrate the frame’s extensometer or to use a prior calibration. The specimen is then loaded and instructions are given to apply the required weight. As the test progresses, pass/fail conditions are continuously evaluated, and WinCCS instantly alerts the operator to any anomalies. When testing is complete, the operator is prompted to remove the specimen and record post-test data, such as final specimen dimensions, rupture location, and comments.
Graphing and Report Generation
Reports can be generated at any time for tests in progress or for completed or archived tests. A wide range of report choices is available, including short and long form reports. Short form reports contain basic information for test evaluation while long form reports are custom-configured to include data such as calibration information, cold and hot load, events, and creep data. Data point intervals are selected from a standard list or can be defined by the user. Color graphing of creep, creep modulus, creep rate, cold load, hot load, and temperature is included, as well as the capability for isochronous, multiple-specimen, and Larson-Miller plots. All data can be easily exported for use in spreadsheet programs and publications, or they can be e-mailed and faxed to others.
