ARES monitors the 3rd harmonic component of the test frequency being measured, and displays this in real time. If the sample is being tested outside the linear viscoelastic region, the sample will generate a third harmonic component of the test frequency. ARES can monitor this and inform the operator of possible inaccuracies in the data. On-board diagnostics can help locate most hardware and board level faults. Each PC card has a row of diagnostic LEDs to help pinpoint failures in major system subassemblies.
Error log in software keeps a list of current faults.
Remote diagnostics are available via modem from Rheometric Scientific. Field service engineers can run your instrument from RHQ to speed troubleshooting. The instrument then has to wait via a correlation delay until the pulse damps out before resuming measurement. ARES calculates the change in strain, and moves to the new strain in 100 increments over 1 second, avoiding transient pulses. This feature provides a display at the instrument, so the operator can load, trim, and otherwise check on the status of the sample without referring to the PC display.