Proceq Pundit Lab Manuale utente

Operating Instructions

Pundit Lab / Pundit Lab+

Ultrasonic Instrument

Made in Switzerland ... more than 50 years of know-how you can measure!

Made in Switzerland

1. Safety and Liability

1.1. Safety and usage precautions

This manual contains important information on the safety, use and maintenance of the Pundit

Lab. Read through the manual carefully before the ﬁrst use of the instrument. Keep the manual

in a safe place for future reference.

1.2. Liability and warranty

Proceq’s “General Terms and Conditions of Sale and Delivery” apply in all cases. Warranty and

liability claims arising from personal injury and damage to property cannot be upheld if they are

due to one or more of the following causes:

• Failure to use the instrument in accordance with its designated use as described in this

manual.

• Incorrect performance check for operation and maintenance of the instrument and its

components.

• Failure to adhere to the sections of the manual dealing with the performance check,

operation and maintenance of the instrument and its components.

• Unauthorized structural modiﬁcations to the instrument and its components.

• Serious damage resulting from the effects of foreign bodies, accidents, vandalism and

force majeure.

All information contained in this documentation is presented in good faith and believed to be

correct. Proceq SA makes no warranties and excludes all liability as to the completeness and/

or accuracy of the information.

1.3. Safety instructions

The instrument is not allowed to be operated by children or anyone under the inﬂuence of

alcohol, drugs or pharmaceutical preparations. Anyone who is not familiar with this manual

must be supervised when using the instrument.

1.4. Labelling

The following icons are used in conjunction with all important safety notes used in this man-

ual.

Note:

This symbol indicates important information.

1.5. Correct Usage

• The instrument is only to be used for its designated purpose as describe herein.

• Replace faulty components only with original replacement parts from Proceq.

• Accessories should only be installed or connected to the instrument if they are expressly

authorized by Proceq. If other accessories are installed or connected to the instrument then

Proceq will accept no liability and the product guarantee is forfeit.

Table of Contents

1. Safety and Liability 3

2. Getting started 4

3. System Settings 6

4. Viewing the Waveform 8

5. Measuring with Pundit Lab 9

5.1. Preparation 9

5.2. Basic Measurements 10

5.3. Basic Measurement – Pulse Velocity 11

5.4. Basic Measurement – Waveform Display 12

5.5. Basic Measurement – Path Length 13

5.6. Basic Measurement – Compressive Strength (Pundit Lab+ only) 14

5.7. Compound Measurement – Surface Velocity 15

5.8. Compound Measurement – Perpendicular Crack Depth 16

5.9. Minimum Dimensions 17

5.10. Transducer Selection Guide 17

5.11. 250 kHz Shear Wave Transducers 18

5.12. Transducer Holder Accessory 19

6. Technical Speciﬁcations 19

7. Part Numbers and Accessories 20

7.1. Units 20

7.2. Transducers 20

7.3. Parts and Accessories 20

8. Maintenance and Support 21

9. Pundit Link 22

9.1. Starting Pundit Lin 22

9.2. Viewing the Data 23

9.3. Adjusting the Settings 24

9.4. Exporting Data 25

9.5. Deleting and restoring Data 26

9.6. Further Functions 26

9.7. Live View 27

9.8. Conversion Curves 30

10. Pundit Lab Remote Control Interface 31

Standards and Guidelines

Pundit Lab complies with the following standards: EN 12504-4 (Europe), ASTM C597-02 (North

America), BS 1881 Part 203 (UK), ISO1920-7:2004 (International), IS13311 (India), CECS21 (China)

2. Getting started

Rear Panel

Connectors for:

Oscilloscope

USB – PC / Power Supply

The Pundit Lab can be powered by batteries, by the mains or by the USB connection to a PC.

Front Panel

The soft keys are context sensitive. The display

icon shows the active function.

The lower right-hand key is for Power ON/OFF

and also to “Cancel” a setting and return to the

previous menu.

The navigation key is for scrolling through menus and for setting variable parameters.

Transducer Connection

Connect the transducers to the front of the display unit using the BNC cables. If cables of dif-

ferent lengths are used, the longer cable should be connected to the transmitter.

Note: To avoid the possibility of electrical shock, the transducers must be con-

nected before switching on and disconnected only after switching off.

Basic Measurement

Compound Measurement

System Settings

Information

Power ON

Press and hold the lower right-hand key for 3 seconds. The main menu and the type "Pundit

Lab" or "Pundit Lab+" is displayed.

Clicking on the “Information” soft key brings up important device information.

Battery status or

USB connection

Serial number

Hardware version

Firmware version

Power Management – Power OFF

When operating on battery power the instrument goes into standby mode after 5 minutes of

inactivity. After 30 minutes it shuts down completely. When powered by the USB connection,

the display shuts down after 1 hour of inactivity. Press the lower right hand key (Power ON/

OFF, Cancel) to recover from standby mode. To power off, press and hold the lower right-hand

key for 3 seconds.

Zeroing the Pundit Lab

The Pundit Lab should be zeroed

using the calibration rod on a

regular basis and in particular if the

transducer frequency is changed or if

the cables are changed. The expected

calibration value (µs) is marked on the

calibration rod.

Couple the transducers to the

calibration rod by applying couplant

to the transducers and both ends of

the rod and pressing ﬁrmly together

as shown.

Note: When zeroing the exponential transducers the dedicated calibration rod

(325 40 174) should be used.

Select System Settings

(See chapter 3 for more info)

Check Tx/Rx matches transducer

frequency. Pulse width requires no

adjustment.

Correction factor set to 1.0.

Select Calibration.

If necessary, select to enter the transit

time as marked on the calibration rod.

Variable parameter; set as follows:

Up/down keys - ﬁne adjustment

Left/right keys - coarse adjustment.

Center key - enters the value and

returns to the previous menu.

Cancel key - cancels the input and

returns to the previous menu.

Press “Start” to begin the calibration

sequence.

The ﬁnal display shows the expected

transit time and below it the measured

transit time. This should match the

value on the calibration rod.

Batteries

3. System Settings

Select System Settings

Set:

- Transducer frequency

- Pulse width

- Calibration setting

- Averaging time/signal

Or scroll to next screen

Set:

- Excitation voltage

- Receiver gain

- Units (metric/imperial)

(Pundit Lab+only:

Compressive strength unit)

- Correction factor

Pundit Lab+only

Set:

Date and time

Compressive strength curve (Re-

bound value for SONREB method)

Parameter Presets (Click on soft key to

scroll through)

Variable (Set with

navigation key; see 2.1)

Tx / Rx Frequency (kHz) 24, 37, 54, 82, 150, 200, 220, 250,

500

Pulse width Automatic 1-100 µs

Calibration (See 2.1) - 1-110 µs

Averaging Time Signal

Excitation voltage (V) 125, 250, 350, 500, AUTO -

Rx Gain Pundit Lab

Pundit Lab+

1x, 10x, 100x, AUTO

1x, 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x, 100x,

200x, 500x, 1000x, AUTO

Units Pundit Lab

Pundit Lab+

ft / m

ft / m, MPa, N/mm2, psi, kg/cm2

Correction factor - 0.07 – 1.3

Date and time (Pundit

Lab+)

Set time stamp.

Compressive strength

curve (Pundit Lab+)

Curves deﬁned in PunditLink. Enter a rebound value

for SONREB curves.

Automatic Gain and Voltage Setting

The excitation voltage and the receiver gain can both be set to automatic. In this mode the

Pundit Lab ﬁnds the optimum combination of the two parameters for a stable measurement.

Rx Gain 200x, 500x, 1000x

This feature is available in Pundit Lab+only and replaces the need for an external ampliﬁer (325

40 059) when using long cables or exponential transducers. When such high gain stages are

selected it is highly recommended to use manual triggering with the waveform display.

Pulse Width

The pulse width is automatically set to the optimum value for the selected transducer frequency

and typically requires no adjustment. For certain applications, it may however be adjusted if

desired. (Refer to ASTM D 2845 - Standard Test Method for Laboratory Determination of Pulse

Velocities and Ultrasonic Elastic Constants of Rock.)

It also allows non-standard transducers up to 500 kHz to be used with Pundit Lab:

Pulse width “p” in microseconds (µs) to be entered here is calculated from the formula

p = 1'000/(2*f) , where f = transducer frequency in kHz

If a non standard value is set manually it is indicated

by an asterisk.

Averaging Time/Signal

A number of measurements are made and the resulting transmission times are

averaged. Time averaging provides the highest resolution of 0.1 µs.

Signal averaging provides greater stability for longer path measurements (e.g. several

metres). In this case a number of measurements are made and the waveforms are

averaged to determine the transmission time. The resolution in this mode is 0.5 µs.

Continuous/Burst Transmission

Continuous transmission continues transmitting until the “Stop” button is pressed.

Burst transmission sends out packets of pulses until a stable reading is obtained

then stops automatically.

Correction Factor

Pulse velocity measurements are affected by several factors. These are well described in BS

1881 : Part 203 and it is recommended that the user refers to this document. Two key factors

are the moisture content of the concrete and the temperature. The table below shows the

correction factor that should be keyed in based on the recommendations made in the above

standard.

Temperature Dry concrete Wet concrete

10°C – 30°C 1.0 (No correction) 1.0 (No correction)

60°C 1.05 1.04

40°C 1.02 1.02

0°C 0.99 0.99

-4°C 0.98 0.92

Units (Pundit Lab+only)

Selecting units opens a second screen where

the user may select a compressive strength unit

in addition to the imperial or metric units.

Date and Time (Pundit Lab+only)

Used to provide measurements with a time

stamp.

Use the left and right keys to move between

settings. Use the up and down keys to adjust

the settings. Press enter to save, or cancel to

return without saving.

4. Viewing the Waveform

While carrying out the measurements described in the following chapter it is possible to view

the received waveform. Pundit Lab offers three possibilities to look at the waveform.

Oscilloscope

Connect an oscilloscope to the connector on the rear panel. A typical waveform will look like

this:

Both the trigger pulse and the

received waveform are displayed.

Pundit Link - PC

The waveform may also be viewed on a PC or Laptop connected via the USB port. Please refer

to the Pundit Link operating instructions for details (chapter 9).

On the instrument

The waveform may be directly viewed on the instrument. See next chapter for operating de-

tails.

5. Measuring with Pundit Lab

The Pundit Lab can be used for several applications including the following:

• Pulse velocity measurement

• Path length measurement

• Uniformity assessment

• Surface velocity measurement

• Crack depth measurement

• Estimating the dynamic elastic modulus of samples (with the shear wave transducers)

• Pundit Lab+only. Estimating compressive strength using pulse velocity alone or in combi-

nation with a rebound hammer

Transducer arrangement

Three transducer arrangements are commonly used.

Wherever possible use the direct arrangement as this ensures the maximum signal transmis-

sion between the transducers. The semi-direct arrangement is less sensitive than the direct,

but more sensitive than the indirect arrangement. The path length is the distance between the

centers of each transducer.

The indirect method is particularly useful for determining crack depth, surface quality or in the

case when only one surface is accessible.

5.1. Preparation

Basic preparations are common to each application. The distance (path length) between the

transducers should be measured as accurately as possible. It is very important to ensure ad-

equate acoustic coupling of the transducers to the surface under test. A thin layer of couplant

should be applied to the transducer and the test surface. In some cases it may be necessary

to prepare the surface by smoothing it.

For compound measurements and uniformity testing a test grid should be drawn out on the

surface.

Rebars affect the ultrasonic measurements as the signal will travel faster through the rebar than

through the concrete. The location of rebars should be determined using a rebar locator such

as Proceq's Profoscope and ultrasonic tests should be positioned so as to avoid them. BS

1881 Part 203 gives information on the effect of rebars on the expected results.

The standard measuring procedure is:

• Apply the couplant.

• Position the transducers.

• Perform the measurement.

• Reposition the transducers (compound measurements only).

• Save the result.

Rx Waveform

Trigger pulse

5.2. Basic Measurements

Basic measurements consist of a single measurement without the need to reposition the transducers.

There are two basic measurements, depending on which parameter is known, either the path length

or the pulse velocity.

Set path

length

Set pulse

velocity

Continuous/Burst

transmission

Stop/Start

Measurement

Saving Measurements

At the end of a

measurement the test

result can be saved.

Save into a ﬁle deﬁned

by an ID number.

Do not save and return

to the previous screen.

Review List (Pundit Lab+only)

From the main menu, clicking on the system information key (See getting started) brings up a sub

menu:

Select this to key to display the system

information.

Select this key to go the review list which

allows previous measurements to be viewed.

An asterisk beside the pulse velocity or the

distance indicates that this is the parameter

that was calculated.

1st row : Measurement ( e.g. 4 of 16) / Time stamp

2nd row: Measurement ID / Temperature

3rd row: Frequency / Voltage / Gain / Correction factor / Rebound value (SONREB only)

4th row: Transmission time / Distance

5th row: Pulse velocity / Compressive strength / Conversion curve

5.3. Basic Measurement – Pulse Velocity

In order to measure the pulse velocity it is necessary to measure the path length between the

two transducers.

Select

“Basic Measurements”

Select parameter setting “path

length”

Enter the path length

Start the measurement

The display shows:

- Transmission time

- Measured pulse velocity

- Received signal level *

Stop the measurement

(Not necessary in burst mode)

Save the result or:

Adjust the gain settings.

(See Chapter 3) or:

Start a new measurement

* Best results are obtained when the received signal level is around 75%. Use the automatic

gain and voltage settings (See Chapter 3) for optimized performance.

5.4. Basic Measurement – Waveform Display

Select “Basic

Measurements”

Start the measurement

Select “Waveform”

Adjust as required

(See below)

Cancel to return to

standard display

Waveform Controls

Y < > Vertical zoom

X < > Horizontal zoom

t - + Manual trigger adjustment

Stop/Start

Note 1: Rx gain may need reducing for vertical zoom to have a noticeable effect.

Note 2: Once adjusted, trigger point does not reset automatically unless a new measurement is started

in the menu “Start the measurement”

Note 3: The waveform is not saved, only the transmission time.

5.5. Basic Measurement – Path Length

If the pulse velocity of the material under test is known, it is possible to measure the path length

between the transducers. The procedure is exactly the same as for measuring pulse velocity ex-

cept that in this case the known pulse velocity is entered.

Select

“Basic Measurements”

Select parameter setting

“pulse velocity”

Enter the pulse velocity

Start the measurement

The display shows:

- Transmission time

- Measured path length

- Received signal level

Stop the measurement

(Not necessary in burst mode)

Save the result or:

Adjust the gain settings.

(See Chapter 3) or:

Start a new measurement

5.6. Basic Measurement – Compressive Strength (Pundit Lab+only)

Prior to carrying out this measurement, a conversion curve must be created in PunditLink and

uploaded to the instrument. Up to ﬁve curves may be stored on the instrument. Select the

appropriate curve and set the desired compressive strength unit. (See chapter 3 “System Set-

tings”.) Carry out a pulse velocity measurement as described above (5.3).

While the measurement is being carried out, or

when the measurement has completed, clicking

on the up or down keys switches between pulse

velocity and compressive strength indication.

SONREB Method

This method for measuring compressive strength combines the ultrasonic measurement with

a rebound hammer measurement.

The format of the curve is: Compressive Strength fck = aVbSc

Where:

a, b and c are constants

V is the ultrasonic pulse velocity in m/s

S is the rebound value.

Many examples of SONREB curves can be found in the literature

In the settings menu (Chapter 3) the rebound value should be entered before carrying out the

measurement. In this case the rebound value entered is saved along with the rest of the mea-

surement data.

A rebound value of 83.1 has been entered here

and saved with the measurement data.

Note: The rebound value may be a Q-value (SilverSchmidt) or an R-value (Origi-

nal Schmidt). This is for the user to deﬁne, but it is always displayed in the

review list as “R for rebound value”.

5.7. Compound Measurement – Surface Velocity

Select “Compound Measurements”

Select "Surface Velocity"

Select parameter setting “b”.

Measure and enter the distance “b”

Transducers in ﬁrst position – Start

“t1” is measured. Stable reading

indicated by a tick

Receiver to 2nd position - Start

“t2” is measured. Stable reading is

indicated by a tick and result screen

is displayed.

The display shows:

- “t1”

- “t2”

- Surface velocity

Save the result or press start to

repeat the measurement.

5.8. Compound Measurement – Perpendicular Crack Depth

Select “Compound Measurements”

Select “Crack Depth”

Select parameter setting “b”.

Measure and enter the distance “b”

Transducers in ﬁrst position – Start

“t1” is measured. Stable reading

indicated by a tick

Transducers in 2nd position - Start

“t2” is measured. Stable reading is

indicated by a tick and result screen

is displayed.

The display shows:

- “t1”

- “t2”

- Crack Depth

Save the result or press start to

repeat the measurement.

5.9. Minimum Dimensions

Minimum dimensions are recommended for accurate test results.

Minimum path length

100 mm for concrete with maximum aggregate size of 20 mm or less.

150 mm for concrete with maximum aggregate size between 20 mm and 40 mm.

Minimum lateral dimensions of the sample

This is dependent on the transmission wavelength and the pulse velocity. The minimum path

length should be equal to or greater than the transmission wavelength, or a severe reduction in

the pulse velocity may be detected. The following table taken from BS 1881: Part 203 shows

the minimum recommended lateral dimensions for the test object.

Tx Frequency kHz Pulse velocity

3500 m/s

Pulse velocity

4000 m/s

Pulse velocity

4500 m/s

Minimum Lateral Dimensions of Test Object

24 146 mm 167 mm 188 mm

54 65 mm 74 mm 83 mm

150 23 mm 27 mm 30 mm

5.10. Transducer Selection Guide

Generally, lower frequencies allow more depth of penetration. Higher frequencies allow better

resolution in the measurements.

The inhomogeneities in concrete inﬂuence the propagation of an ultrasound pulse. This inﬂu-

ence can be signiﬁcantly reduced by choosing the frequency, f, such that the wave length, λ, is

at least twice as large as the aggregate size. λis given by:

λ= c/f,

where c is the pulse velocity (speed of sound) in concrete. The table below shows typical ag-

gregate sizes and the corresponding maximum recommended frequency, respectively:

c (m/s) 3500 4000 4500

aggregate

size (mm)

8 16 32 8 16 32 8 16 32

fmax (kHz) 219 109 55 250 125 63 281 141 70

Note: The crack depth measurement uses the method described in BS 1881:Part 203.

For good results, the crack must be perpendicular to the surface and free of water

or debris. The crack must be sufﬁciently wide to prevent the wave from propagating

around it.

Rebars close to the crack will also affect the result. If these conditions are not met, the

crack depth will appear much smaller than it is.

5.11. 250 kHz Shear Wave Transducers

When measurements with the 250 kHz shear wave transducers are performed, it is crucial to

use the special shear wave coupling paste, otherwise shear waves cannot be properly trans-

mitted into the object under test. The shear wave coupling paste is a non-toxic, water soluble

organic substance of very high viscosity.

Furthermore, we highly recommend using Pundit Link’s waveform display in order to manually

locate the onset of the shear wave echo. Since the latter is always preceded by a relatively

weak longitudinal echo (see Figure below), the transit time determined by Pundit Lab, would

correspond to the longitudinal instead of the shear wave.

Required steps before measurements can be performed

1. Put a small amount of shear wave coupling gel on the transducers.

2. Firmly press the transducers on either side of the 25 µs calibration rod (Part No 710 10

028). Make sure that the coupling gel is properly distributed and that no air is trapped

between the transducer and the calibration rod.

3. Connect the transducers to Pundit Lab.

4. Select the 250 kHz transducer from the list of supported transducers (see Pundit Lab

manual chapter 3 for more details).

5. Zero the instrument as described in the Pundit Lab manual chapter 2.1.

Performing measurements with the 250 kHz shear wave transducers.

Typical echo signal obtained, with an experimental setup.

The ﬁrst echo arrives at approximately 25.4 µs and corresponds to the weak longitudinal

wave. After 50.6 µs the much stronger shear wave echo appears in the signal.

5.12. Transducer Holder Accessory

This accessory is particularly useful for

compound measurements. (See chapter 5)

The individual transducer holders may be

detached and used separately helping to

reduce the physical strain when carrying

out extensive measurements.

6. Technical Speciﬁcations

Transit time Measurement

Range 0.1 – 9999 µs Auto ranging.

Resolution 0.1 µs

Display 79 x 21 mm passive matrix OLED

Transmitter Optimized energizing pulse 125 V, 250 V, 350 V, 500 V, AUTO

Receiver

Selectable gain steps

Pundit Lab

1x, 10x, 100x, AUTO

Selectable gain steps

Pundit Lab+

1x, 2x, 5x, 10x, 20x, 50x, 100x, 200x, 500x, 1000x, AUTO

Bandwidth 20 kHz – 500 kHz

Memory Non volatile, > 500 measured values

Regional Settings Metric and imperial units supported

Power Supply

Battery 4 x AA batteries ( > 20 hours continuous use)

Mains: 5v, <500mA via USB Charger

PC 5v, <500mA directly via USB cable

Mechanical

Dimensions 172 x 55 x 220 mm

Weight 1.3 kg (incl. batteries)

Environmental conditions

Operating temperature -10° to 60°C (0° to 140°F)

Humidity <95% RH, non condensing

IP Classiﬁcation IP42

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