NI's enhanced sound and vibration software for noise frequency response analysis

AUSTIN, USA: National Instruments announced the release of the NI Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite 2009, a comprehensive collection of analysis and signal processing tools for noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), machine condition monitoring and audio test applications.

The Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite 2009 features a new continuous frequency sweep virtual instrument (VI) that greatly reduces the time it takes for engineers and scientists to perform frequency response tests.

The software suite also includes a new AES17-compliant audio filter VI for the National Instruments LabVIEW graphical development environment and the NI Sound and Vibration Assistant that provides the correct frequency filters for testing audio devices that take advantage of digital-to-analog conversion technology.

The continuous frequency sweep VI can perform frequency response and total harmonic distortion tests in one-tenth of the time traditional swept-sine approaches take. This function makes it possible for engineers and scientists to easily shift between the time and frequency domains, providing the ability to move beyond using fast Fourier transform (FFT) in signal analysis. Along with increasing the speed of test, the continuous frequency sweep makes it possible for new signals, such as a device under test residue signal, to be analyzed to characterize the response without stimulus signal interference.

In addition to the new AES17-compliant audio filter and continuous frequency sweep VIs, the LabVIEW VIs in the Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite contain octave analysis, frequency analysis and order tracking for automotive, military and aerospace and mechanical and structural designs. The measurement suite also includes the NI Sound and Vibration Assistant 2009, a stand-alone application for quickly acquiring, analyzing and logging acoustic, noise and vibration data.

The latest version of the Sound and Vibration Assistant features enhancements to the user interface to provide easy tachometer setup and support for using eddy current probes for displacement measurements. Engineers and scientists quickly and efficiently can get their applications started with the configuration-based Sound and Vibration Assistant or with the more than 50 ready-to-run LabVIEW example code bases included in the Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite 2009.