2.3 DIRAC v3.3

DIRAC v3.3.1.0

14 June 2022

DIRAC v3.3.1.0 contains a variety of features, stability improvements, and bug fixes. Details of these changes can be found below:

Sensors/excitation points assignable to multiple VPs
Sensors/excitation points are now able to be assigned to multiple virtual points. In addition to selecting the primary virtual point, it is now possible to select an arbitrary amount of secondary virtual points for each sensor or excitation point, allowing a more efficient use of testing equipment.

Secondary virtual points can be assigned in 3 different ways:

• Right-clicking on a sensor in the 3D viewer and selecting virtual point, and then Secondary Virtual point
• Selecting Secondary virtual point through the Item details pane in the prepare module
• In the Secondary VPs column of the sensors in the item overview

Virtual points comprising of shared sensors will now be shown in the VP FRF matrix in the analyze module.
These secondary virtual points are not yet considered for consistency indicators and will be in a future release.

 

Modify channel names using customizable templates
It is now possible to set channel naming templates using tokens, such as Sensor, channel Direction or MeasurementAxis. This is done by either double-clicking on the channel name, or right-clicking on the channel name and selecting Set naming template. It is then possible to name channels by either typing in a new channel name, or by pressing the ‘{‘ key to open a drop-down menu and selecting the desired variables.
A name can be a combination of both tokens, and text.

• Multiple channel names can be set using the same template by holding down Ctrl or Shift, and right-clicking to select Set naming template.
• Once a template is made, it is also possible to drag the template over other channel names using the control in the bottom right corner of the selection.
• Channel templates may be deleted in the same way as they were made.
• Format conventions for Direction and MeasurementAxis will be discussed below.

 

Upload & download DIRAC projects to the PAKCloud
DIRAC projects can now be saved as a ZATFX package, which allows it to be uploaded to and downloaded from the MBBM PAK Cloud.
The integration with the PAK Cloud is an ongoing process and will continue to develop in future releases. Please reach out to support@vibestechnology.com for any assistance and support.

 

Matrix symmetrization and cropping in post-process
This version comes with additional options for cropping and symmetrization. This can for instance be used to select the cross-diagonal part of a dynamic stiffness FRF of a bushing measurement. The options are found in the dialog for custom matrix presets in Analyze.

• Symmetrization can be applied to any square matrix. Specifically, this is done for matrix presets comprising only virtual point channels.
• Cropping can be applied to square matrices that only have 2 virtual points. In this case, it selects the upper-diagonal square.

Once created, these new matrix presets are able to be exported to any of the supported export formats.

 

Zero padding
Zero padding pads the unnecessary part of your measurements with zeroes in order to increase the frequency resolution of your FRFs. In effect, this reduces the time required by the test engineer for each measurement.
DIRAC only saves the actual measured time. This padded time can be adjusted freely and at any time.

 

Export of FRFs to Excel XLSX-format
It is now possible to export any FRF to Excel XLSX-format. When exporting multiple datasets, multiple worksheets are created.
Advanced features for defining the Excel format are available as follows:

• DIRAC has the ability to edit the metadata of the Excel export using either text or project variables, accessed by pressing ‘{‘. Rows can also be added and deleted.
• The option to edit templates can be found by clicking on the white arrow in the center of the 2. Set options step in the export wizard. Here, the options to save, load, and restore custom templates can be found. A template is saved in a user-specified location and can be shared between users by sharing the saved template file.

 

Application & project settings
The preferences page of DIRAC has been redesigned to allow users to set both application and project settings. Application settings are used by default unless any settings have been set on a project level, in which case the project settings override.

• Formatting conventions: there is now an option to set formatting conventions on a project or application level for how measurement axes, directions, and virtual point channel types are displayed.
  The user has a choice between standard conventions, such as X, TX, or x, Tx, etc.
• Sensor database: it is now possible to work with a sensor database which is located on a network drive, allowing the sharing of sensor databases. File locations for the user data folder, the sensor database folder, and the temp folder can be set in the preferences page.

 

Other changes

• The stability of DIRAC has been improved by greatly reducing the memory footprint of the application.
  This will be evident when working with multiple-GB projects.
• An issue was resolved where sensor offsets were changed unintentionally after saving a DIRAC project.
• An issue was resolved in the image viewer that reduced photo quality.