What's new in LMS Test.Lab Revision 7

The introduction of LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 is yet another milestone in accelerating the execution of noise and vibration testing. In addition to over 600 new features and enhancements across all integrated test applications, LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 features a mobile testing interface that offers optimum operator convenience and intuitive system interaction for in-vehicle or field testing. LMS Test.Lab Rev 7, in combination with the compact and rugged LMS SCADAS Mobile front-end, provides reliable data acquisition along with single-operator support, flexible short-keys and maximum user-interface readability. 

A second highlight of this release is the world’s first automated modal analysis solution, which delivers maximum modal consistency and minimum throughput time. Automatic Modal Parameter Selection (AMPS) automatically extracts a high-quality modal model of even the most complex or highly damped structures in less than 10 minutes, without operator dependency of any kind. Through technology innovation and workflow-driven operation, LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 steps up productivity in every phase of the development process, from benchmark testing to full-system troubleshooting. 

To efficiently run tests on the road, test operators require a solution they can operate single-handedly, while regularly catching a glimpse of test progress and status information. To respond to specific in-vehicle testing needs, LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 introduces a dedicated user-interface that operates in conjunction with the compact LMS SCADAS Mobile acquisition front-end developed specifically for field testing. Packaged into rugged vehicle-mounted hardware, this test solution offers full measurement and analysis capability, while featuring optimum operator convenience and intuitive system interaction. 


With LMS Test.Lab Rev 7, the operator is informed about the progress of the test and the validity of the data being acquired, providing the confidence that testing proceeds as planned. LMS Test.Lab’s real-time measurement workbooks enable users to grasp any desired information at a single glance. The user-interface can be tuned easily to include dedicated displays that show key parameter values in large fonts or monitor particular analysis curves in real time.

Next to remote control, short keys, tab sheets and multiple monitoring displays, LMS Test.Lab’s Rev 7 features numerous tracking and triggering capabilities, including on-line CAN-bus acquisition. Gaining synchronized, on-line access to CAN-bus signals saves vehicle instrumentation time and allows different parameters to be tracked for on-line NVH analysis and specific post-processing purposes. For vehicle handling tests, CAN-bus data are most helpful, since yaw rate, lateral speed and steering wheel angle can be monitored efficiently. Another practical solution included in the offering of LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 is off-line RPM extraction. It is a straightforward solution to retrieve RPM signals from vibration or acoustic data, in particular when tacho-based RPM measurement is impossible or impractical. Specifying one or more points on a colormap chart is all it takes to accurately extract RPM data.

For rotating machinery testing applications in the lab and in the field, LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 offers a variety of 
processing modes, including on-line, in-line and off-line processing. The addition of on-line and delayed processing makes LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 fit for fast repetitive testing as well as in-depth engineering test assignments. The user can now opt to process the data, either on the fly after accepting the acquisition (on-line), during the acquisition (in-line), or at any time after completing a number of acquisitions (off-line). All the data runs are processed consecutively according to their individual settings before adding the complete data set to the project. Choosing from a wealth of processing modes offers excellent measurement flexibility, enabling engineering teams to step up productivity under all possible testing circumstances.

Procedures applied for modal model generation are often tedious and do not always yield accurate and consistent results. In most cases, it requires a modal specialist to perform the analysis, and the outcome may still vary significantly depending on the person selecting the poles and modal parameters. To overcome these challenges, LMS Test.Lab Rev 7 features the world’s first automated procedure for modal parameter extraction. Embedded in LMS Test.Lab’s modal analysis workbooks, Automatic Modal Parameter Selection (AMPS) is capable of automatically extracting a high-quality modal model within minutes. 

The intelligent rule-base logic of AMPS integrates the know-how of skilled modal analysis specialists and guarantees accurate results. For any given stabilization diagram, AMPS’s parameter-based operation consistently selects the same set of physical system poles with identical characteristics. Modal analysis on a trimmed body or full-scale satellite, or operational modal analysis on a business jet, AMPS systematically ensures user-independent results and consistently succeeds in extracting modal model parameters much faster than any other approach.

At the core of LMS Test.Lab Structures Rev 7 is the revolutionary LMS PolyMAX modal parameter estimator. This z-domain curve fitting solution is based on the “right matrix fraction model” algorithm, which retrieves modal characteristics through linearization. After a powerful stabilization step during which poles and participation factors are computed and stable modes are identified, LMS PolyMAX calculates the different mode shapes and residuals. Compared to the Least Square Complex Exponential (LSCE) method that typically creates stabilization diagrams stained with numerous mathematical poles, LMS PolyMAX generates crystal-clear stabilization diagrams, from which physical system poles can be selected intuitively. LMS PolyMAX in combination with the AMPS tool provides a top-notch procedure for modal analysis, featuring qualitative modal models created automatically in just a fraction of the time required previously. The exceptional quality of PolyMAX and AMPS makes this procedure fit for addressing a wide range of (operational) modal analysis applications, without having to call upon the assistance of a specialist.

Apart from the looks of a product, its acoustic behavior is the most observable aspect to the user. Acoustic engineering therefore is much more than reducing excessive noise, as it also focuses on shaping the distinctive sound that reflects premium product quality and intensifies the personal experience. 

To support the precise acoustic identification of multiple noise sources, LMS Test.Lab Acoustics Rev 7 features dedicated modules for stationary and transient array-based source localization. 


In this regard, the software introduces acoustic focalization, a brand new acoustic source method that outperforms the common far-field beam forming technique. By measuring sound in the near field and applying advanced processing to the acquired acoustic data, acoustic focalization is capable of delivering spatial resolution values that are twice as sharp! In addition, acoustic focalization can determine sound fields in the far field, making the new method also suitable for high-frequency source localization. In combination with near-field acoustic holography, acoustic focalization allows test engineers to reach the targeted spatial resolution, for example when discriminating between multiple closely space sources using a downscaled microphone setup, which firmly reduces the number of acquisition channels required for the job.

Covering the entire frequency spectrum in one single measurement run 

Typical applications for stationary and transient array-based source localization include the acoustic assessment of electric motors that drive windshield wipers, transportation rollers of printers, or the drums of washing machines, for example. For these kinds of test applications, LMS Test.Lab succeeds in capturing the entire frequency of interest in one single measurement run, through the combination of acoustic holography (lower frequencies) and acoustic focalization (higher frequencies). The integrated approach firmly reduces testing throughput time and operator interaction, as measurements can be executed with fewer measurement runs (or even a single run) using the same microphone array. For transient applications, LMS Test.Lab Acoustics Rev 7 even allows channel count to be reduced further by successively acquiring the signals of individual microphone rows, instead of having to acquire all microphone signals simultaneously. Executing such measurement patches for a 20-by-20 microphone array only requires a 24-channel front-end, which compares favorably to a 400-channel acquisition system that is otherwise required.

As part of its shock vibration control capability, LMS Test.Lab Environmental Rev 7 is completed with a full implementation of Shock Response Synthesis (SRS). This enables SRS vibration control to be set up and executed efficiently following the intuitive workbook-driven approach. For sine testing, LMS Test.Lab Environmental Rev 7 extended its tracked sine dwell offering by providing the capability to consecutively step between predefined dwell frequencies. The software also tracks individual dwell frequencies, which may shift over time as fatigue damage progressively influences the structural performance characteristics of test specimens.

LMS Test.Lab Environmental Rev 7 also offers testing teams the ability to automate vibration control through test sequencing. By defining a list of sequential actions, it becomes possible to run vibration control applications in any desired order and according to any preferred time schedule, without requiring user-interaction of any kind. This facilitates the unattended execution of long-duration qualification tests with multitype vibration control. Moreover, test sequencing supports bidirectional communication with any external application, allowing climatic chamber operation to be synchronized automatically with the sequence of an endurance test, or informing concerned parties through event-driven SMS messages, for example.

Overall, LMS Test.Lab Environmental Rev 7 provides maximum vibration control flexibility and reliability. Since many customers only require a limited number of measurement channels, LMS markets vibration control modules in combination with compact 4-to-8 channel LMS SCADAS 302 front-ends. These budget-friendly test solutions offer equal vibration control capabilities as higher-channel-count test systems.