DAKOTA ULTRASONICS MAX II User manual
OPERATION MANUAL
DAKOTA ULTRASONICS
MAX II
Ultrasonic Bolt Tension Monitor
P/N P-197-0002 Rev 1.13, January 2022
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1
1.1 GENERAL DISCLAIMER .......................................................................................................... 1
1.2 SAFETY ................................................................................................................................ 1
1.3 WARRANTY .......................................................................................................................... 2
CHAPTER TWO ABOUT THIS MANUAL ......................................................... 3
2.1 NEW TO ULTRASONICS? ....................................................................................................... 3
2.2 NEW TO FASTENER MEASUREMENT? ..................................................................................... 3
2.3 MAX II OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................ 3
2.4 TOP & SUBMENU REFERENCE .............................................................................................. 6
CHAPTER THREE QUICK START GUIDE ....................................................... 8
3.1 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................... 8
3.2 GETTING THE MAX II READY ................................................................................................. 8
3.3 SETTING UP THE MAX II ....................................................................................................... 8
3.4 CREATING A NEW GROUP TO STORE MEASUREMENTS ........................................................ 12
3.5 SETTING THE APPROXIMATE LENGTH .................................................................................. 19
3.6 MEASURING REFERENCE LENGTHS ..................................................................................... 22
3.7 MEASURING ELONGATIONS ................................................................................................. 23
CHAPTER FOUR KEYBOARD, MENU, & CONNECTOR REFERENCE ....... 25
4.1 MENU KEY (OPERATION & SUB MENUS) .............................................................................. 25
4.2 CAL – MENU ...................................................................................................................... 27
4.3 MATL (MATERIAL) – MENU ................................................................................................. 28
4.4 GEOM (GEOMETRY) – MENU .............................................................................................. 28
4.5 DISP (DISPLAY) – MENU ..................................................................................................... 29
4.6 TUNE – MENU ................................................................................................................... 30
4.7 GATES – MENU ................................................................................................................ 31
4.8 AUTO – MENU ................................................................................................................... 31
4.9 SETUP – MENU ................................................................................................................. 32
4.10 DATA – MENU ................................................................................................................. 32
4.11 UTIL (UTILITIES) – MENU .................................................................................................. 33
4.12 XFER (TRANSFER) – MENU .............................................................................................. 34
4.13 ON/OFF KEY ................................................................................................................... 35
4.14 FREEZE KEY .................................................................................................................. 35
4.15 SETUPS KEY .................................................................................................................. 35
4.16 AUTO SET KEY ............................................................................................................... 35
4.17 DATA KEY ....................................................................................................................... 35
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4.18 STORE KEY .................................................................................................................... 35
4.19 CLEAR KEY .................................................................................................................... 36
4.20 MEAS (MEASUREMENT MODE) KEY .................................................................................. 36
4.21 OK KEY ........................................................................................................................... 36
4.22 ESC KEY ......................................................................................................................... 36
4.23 WHEEL KEYS……………….. ....................................................................................... 36
4.24 ENTER KEY .................................................................................................................... 36
4.25 NAVIGATING THE HOT MENUS .......................................................................................... 36
4.26 TOP & BOTTOM END CAPS ............................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER FIVE THEORY OF OPERATION .................................................... 40
5.1 ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT OF BOLTS .............................................................................. 40
5.2 FEATURES OF THE MAX II .................................................................................................. 40
5.3 ULTRASONIC WAVES .......................................................................................................... 41
5.4 MEASUREMENT MODES ...................................................................................................... 41
CHAPTER SIX BOLT PREPARATION ............................................................ 43
6.1 USE OF ULTRASONIC COUPLANT ........................................................................................ 43
6.2 TRANSDUCER CONTACT REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................ 43
6.3 BOLT END REFLECTORS ..................................................................................................... 45
CHAPTER SEVEN TRANSDUCER SELECTION ............................................ 47
7.1 SELECTING THE TRANSDUCER ............................................................................................ 47
CHAPTER EIGHT MEASURING SYSTEM ZERO (CALIBRATION) ............... 48
8.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 48
8.2 CALIBRATION / ZERO MISNOMER ........................................................................................ 48
8.3 CREATING A GROUP TO DOCUMENT ZERO (CALIBRATION) DATA .......................................... 49
8.4 AUTO - ZERO/CALIBRATION ................................................................................................ 50
8.5 ONE & TWO POINT ZERO CALIBRATION .............................................................................. 53
8.6 VERIFICATION OF SYSTEM ZERO CALIBRATION .................................................................... 62
8.7 USING A ‘SET ASIDE’ BOLT ................................................................................................. 69
CHAPTER NINE TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION ..................................... 71
9.1 PURPOSE .......................................................................................................................... 71
9.2 MANUAL MODE .................................................................................................................. 71
9.3 SEMI AUTOMATIC MODE ..................................................................................................... 73
9.4 AUTOMATIC MODE ............................................................................................................. 74
CHAPTER TEN BOLT MATERIAL CALIBRATION ......................................... 76
10.1 WHY CALIBRATE? ............................................................................................................ 76
10.2 VELOCITY CALIBRATION ................................................................................................... 76
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10.3 STRESS FACTOR CALIBRATION .......................................................................................... 80
10.4 TEMPERATURE FACTOR CALIBRATION ............................................................................... 84
CHAPTER ELEVEN LOAD MEASURMENT ................................................... 87
11.1 CALCULATING LOAD FACTOR ............................................................................................ 87
11.2 CALIBRATING LOAD FACTOR (FIELD CALIBRATION) ............................................................ 89
11.3 PERFORMING A FIELD CALIBRATION .................................................................................. 90
CHAPTER TWELVE MEASUREMENT & WAVEFORM DISPLAY ............... 105
12.1 QUANTITIES OF MEASUREMENT ...................................................................................... 105
12.2 DISPLAY VIEW OPTIONS ................................................................................................. 106
12.3 ADJUSTING THE DISPLAY ................................................................................................ 112
12.4 GAIN .............................................................................................................................. 116
12.5 GATES ........................................................................................................................... 120
12.6 THRESHOLDS ................................................................................................................. 124
12.7 INTERPRETING THE WAVEFORM ...................................................................................... 127
12.8 MANUALLY LOCATING THE ECHO .................................................................................... 128
12.9 AUTOMATIC ECHO OPTIMIZATION .................................................................................... 131
12.10 UNLOADED LENGTH AND ELONGATION MEASUREMENTS ................................................ 134
CHAPTER THIRTEEN ADDITIONAL FEATURES ........................................ 135
13.1 QUALITY/CORRELATION (TRANSDUCER PLACEMENT) ...................................................... 135
13.2 LOCK SYSTEM ZERO ...................................................................................................... 135
13.3 BRIGHTNESS .................................................................................................................. 136
13.4 COLOR ........................................................................................................................... 137
13.5 DIM ................................................................................................................................ 139
13.6 GRAPHICS OPTIONS (LOOK & FEEL) ................................................................................ 140
13.7 PULSE ........................................................................................................................... 142
13.8 PULSER VOLTAGE .......................................................................................................... 143
13.9 DAMPING ....................................................................................................................... 145
13.10 DIGITIZER .................................................................................................................... 146
13.11 POLARITY .................................................................................................................... 147
13.12 ALARM MODE ............................................................................................................... 148
13.13 ANALOG OUTPUT ......................................................................................................... 150
13.14 KEY CLICK ................................................................................................................... 151
13.15 DATE & TIME ................................................................................................................ 152
13.16 UPGRADE GAUGE ........................................................................................................ 153
13.17 FREEZE & CAPTURE ..................................................................................................... 154
13.18 CAPTURE VIEWER ........................................................................................................ 156
13.19 STORAGE ..................................................................................................................... 157
CHAPTER FOURTEEN DATA STORAGE – SETUP, EDIT, & VIEW FILES…159
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14.1 INTRODUCTION TO A PROJECT ........................................................................................ 159
14.2 CREATING A PROJECT FOLDER/DIRECTORY .................................................................... 159
14.3 VIEWING & OPENING A PROJECT FOLDER ....................................................................... 161
14.4 INTRODUCTION TO GROUP (SPREADSHEET) FORMAT ....................................................... 162
14.5 CREATING A NEW GROUP ............................................................................................... 163
14.6 STORING A READING ...................................................................................................... 166
14.7 VIEWING STORED READINGS ........................................................................................... 167
14.8 DELETING GROUPS (FILES) ............................................................................................ 169
14.9 EDITING A GROUP (FILE) ................................................................................................ 171
14.10 CHANGING THE ACTIVE FILE - OPEN .............................................................................. 173
14.11 CLOSING AN ACTIVE FILE - CLOSE ................................................................................ 175
CHAPTER FIFTEEN SETUPS – CREATE, STORE, EDIT, & RECALL ........ 177
15.1 INTRODUCTION TO SETUPS............................................................................................. 177
15.2 OPENING A SETUP ......................................................................................................... 177
15.3 SAVING A SETUP ............................................................................................................ 178
15.4 DELETING A SAVED SETUP ............................................................................................. 181
15.5 USING THE DEFAULT SETUP ........................................................................................... 183
15.6 SELECTING A LANGUAGE ................................................................................................ 184
CHAPTER SIXTEEN SOFTWARE, FILE TRANSFER, & UPGRADES ......... 186
16.1 COMPUTER SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .............................................................................. 186
16.2 INSTALLING DAKVIEW ..................................................................................................... 186
16.3 COMMUNICATING WITH MAX II ....................................................................................... 186
16.4 USING THE XFER MENU (MAX II) ................................................................................... 187
16.5 SELECTING STORAGE DEVICE ........................................................................................ 187
16.6 COPYING FILES (SETUPS, DATA, & SCREENSHOTS) ........................................................ 188
16.7 UPGRADING THE MAX II ................................................................................................. 190
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The Dakota Ultrasonics model MAX II is used to measure the stretch (elongation,
load, stress and %strain) of a fastener under tension. This is accomplished
ultrasonically by sending an ultrasonic wave down the length of the fastener and
accurately measuring the change in transit time between an unloaded versus loaded
fastener/bolt, and calculating a physical stretch. The objective for using ultrasonics,
over conventional/mechanical methods is accuracy. Most conventional methods
refer to a torque value which has limited accuracy due to the coefficient of friction.
The coefficient of friction is difficult to determine, as it depends on the control and
application of lubrication.
The MAX II avoids the coefficient of friction entirely, using the transit time of a wave,
Hooke’s law, and Young’s modulus to accurately calculate the stretch on a bolt.
Since the MAX II cannot physically stretch a bolt, both conventional/mechanical
methods and the MAX II are complimentary and used in conjunction.
Dakota Ultrasonics maintains a customer support resource in order to assist users
with questions or difficulties not covered in this manual. Customer support may be
reached at any of the following:
Dakota Ultrasonics Corporation
1.1 General Disclaimer
The manual should be read and understood prior to using the MAX II. This operating
manual provides the user with all the general information necessary to use and adjust
the designed features. However, this manual is not a certified NDT/Bolting training
course, nor is it intended to be one. Training, according to company requirements, is
recommended. The responsibility for proper use of the instrument rests solely on the
user.
1.2 Safety
Using the MAX II while standing in water or in a wet environment can result in serious
electric shock, injury, and even death.
Operating the MAX II with damaged or inadequate cables and power source can
result in serious electric shock, injury, and even death.
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Failure to read this manual and understand the proper operation of the MAX II can
result in inaccurate measurements, and lead to decisions which cause property
damage, personal injury, or even death.
Use of the MAX II for any other purpose, or in any other manner than described in
this manual invalidates the warranty and can result in serious electric shock, injury,
and even death.
1.3 Warranty
The Dakota Ultrasonics MAX II carries a two year limited warranty. The warranty only
applies to MAX II units being operated as described in this manual. Software and
hardware failures of the unit will be repaired or replaced at Dakota Ultrasonics
discretion. Dakota Ultrasonics will not be held liable for any damage caused,
interruption of business, loss of profits, etc., resulting from such failures. Dakota
Ultrasonics will not be liable to repair or replace a unit, which has been damaged,
used inappropriately, or subject to unauthorized repair by the purchaser.
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CHAPTER TWO
ABOUT THIS MANUAL
This chapter is intended to help you make the best use of this manual. Readers may
have different knowledge of ultrasonic bolt measurement and may find parts of this
manual repetitive or unnecessary.
2.1 New To Ultrasonics?
There are a variety of ultrasonic applications currently being utilized in today’s
industry. For example weld inspection, thickness measuring, immersion testing of
flaws, etc. The use of ultrasound to measure forces in fasteners is relatively new
compared to the previously mentioned traditional applications.
Ultrasonic measurement of bolts provides an extremely accurate means of
determining fastener load, provided the correct techniques are utilized. As a new
user, careful consideration of this entire manual is highly recommended.
2.2 New to fastener measurement?
Assuming you are familiar with ultrasonics, but unfamiliar with fastener measurement,
the chapters on transducer selection and the theory of operation can be skipped
entirely.
The MAX II measures load on the fastener by measuring the amount the fastener
stretches. As load is applied to the fastener, it stretch’s just as a spring would
stretch. The stretch is proportional to the load while the load is less than the elastic
limit of bolt. By measuring the stretch of the fastener and knowing the physical
properties of the fastener, the load of the fastener can be calculated. The MAX II
measures the fastener stretch by ultrasonically measuring the change in length.
Be sure to setup and experiment with a test fixture of some kind as a means of
becoming familiar with your MAX II.
2.3 MAX II Overview
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Dakota Ultrasonics
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In order to understand how to operate the MAX II, it’s best to start off with an
understanding of what it is we’re looking at exactly. The MAX II has a lot of great
features, tools, and flexibility to assist you with all of your bolting applications. Let’s
have a brief look at the screens you’ll be looking at most often:
A. Repeatability/Stability Indicator – Indicates the reliability of the measured
bolt length. When all the vertical bars are fully illuminated and the last digit on
the digital thickness value is stable, the MAX II is reliably measuring the same
value on a consistent basis.
B. Battery Icon – Indicates the amount of battery life the MAX II has remaining.
C. Temperature – Indicates the current temperature of either the temperature
sensor, or manual value entered.
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MAX II Bolt Tension Monitor
5
D. Alarm – Indicates that the alarm feature has been activated and currently in
use.
E. RF A-Scan Display (split screen) – Displays the radio frequency sound wave
reflection returned the opposite end of the bolt being measured. The RF view
displays both the positive and negative cycles.
F. Quantity – Displays the current quantity setting used (elongation, load, stress,
strain or time).
G. Digital Measurement – Display in inches, millimeters, KSI, KIPS, %strain,
time (nanoseconds).
H. Rectified A-Scan Display – Displays either the positive or negative half cycle
wave reflection returned from the opposite end of the bolt being measured,
depending on the polarity selected.
I. Time & Date – Feature to display either the time, date, or both time and date
on the main measurement screen.
J. Hot Menu items – We call this menu section our “hot menu”, as these items
are the most commonly adjusted features, requiring quick access from the
user. They can be displayed and scrolled by pressing the MEAS key at any
time. The MEAS key advances forward and the ESC key backwards to the
next hot menu item. Alternatively, the UP,DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT
arrow keys on the left button wheel can be used to either scroll through the
sub menu items, or advance to the next HOT MENU items list. There are 4
HOT MENU lists that contain the most commonly adjusted items from the
tabbed menus, and in the same order as the tabbed menus. Note: Some of
the lists contain multiple tabbed menu items in order to condense the number
of HOT MENU lists.
K. Units – Displays the current measurement units being used (English, Metric).
L. Gain & Step Size – The gain and increment step size can be continuously
used and adjusted at any time using the UP and DOWN arrow keys on
the right button wheel to scroll the value, and the GAIN key to activate the
Digit Edit screen to adjust the step size.
M. Scan Bar – Another view of bolt length in a deflection style horizontal bar.
This is a visual tool that would enable the user the ability to see the length
from a graphics perspective.
N. Large Digital Measurement – Display in inches, millimeters, KSI, KIPS,
%strain, time (nanoseconds).
O. Feature Status Bar – Indicates the features currently enabled and in use in
the following order:
Measurement Mode
Alarm
Capture (screen shots)
Quantity
Temperature
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