In yadbor/bluer: Tools to Analyse Instron BlueHill 2.0 RawData Files

knitr::opts_chunk$set(echo = FALSE)

Bluehill works with Samples (which are created whenever you start a test) containing Specimens. The user chooses a sample name and a folder in which to save the sample & results data (the study folder)

within the study folder are:

<sample_name>.is_<test_type>    an xml file describing the sample/test
<sample_name>.im_<test_type>    an xml file describing the test method
<sample_name>.id_<test_type>    a binary file containing the recorded data (magic number TDAT)

If the data or results have been exported they appear as:

<sample_name>.is_<test_type>_RawData      a folder containing exported raw data files
<sample_name>.is_<test_type>_Results.csv  a CSV file containing any calcuated results

each RawData folder contains one or more specimen files as Specimen_RawData_<sample_no>.csv

The <test_type> indicates which type of test was performed, and can indicate what columns are likely in the CSV file:

tens    | tension
comp    | compression
tcyclic | tension profile
ccyclic | compression profile
trelax  | tension creep/relaxation
crelax  | compression creep/relaxation
flex    | bending

Bluehill 2.0 exported data are structured in folders by Sample & Specimen. The Sample folder name is chosen by the user at the start of a test. Each Sample uses a single test method (which may be changed during the test, complicating matters). The general folder structure is therefore:

Study Folder

• Sample_1

  • Specimen_1
    ...
  • Specimen_n

  ...

• Sample_n

  • Specimen_1
    ...
  • Specimen_n

For each sample, all Specimens should have the same columns. Specimen files can optionally contain a header, which may contain a Specimen Label.

Each Specimen represents one continuous run of the testing machine (what could normally be thought of as a 'test'). If there are results files, they are in the study folder and named sample_n_Results.csv.

At RPH we have used several different conventions, depending on who ran the tests and when. Variants include:

• one Specimen in each Sample folder
  so the test ID is in the folder name

• multiple Specimen in each Sample folder
  where the test ID could be either

  • in the Label filed in the header
  • kept in lab book or similar (so no test ID)

with multiple Specimens per Sample, each could be

• multiple tests on the sample physical sample
  (e.g. AP then ML bending)
• the same test protocol on different physical samples

As there are several naming conventions that have been applied, Bluer just considers Rawdata files, giving each file in a given study a unique test ID. Grouping these by actual sample, test etc. is domain knowledge that the user will need to have to interpret the structure of the Study.

No two physical tests can have the same full file path, so this is used to unambigously label each test. Each set of test data is labelled with the test ID, as are the corresponding meta-data derived from the header and filename. The test ID can be used to link the meta-data to the test data.

yadbor/bluer documentation built on Jan. 31, 2023, 7:44 p.m.