ta instruments what’s new in trios software march 2013 page 1 of 24 ta instruments what’s new in...

Issued March 2013

TA InstrumentsWhat’s New in TRIOS Software

What’s New in TRIOS Software V2.6.2

Miscellaneous Fixes and Enhancements• Rheology TTS fix for split signals

• ARES-G2/RSA-G2 fix for limited users conducting firmware upgrade

• ARES-G2 firmware update Revision AP.


Miscellaneous Fixes and Enhancements• DHR: Fixed problems with Control panel locking up after setting the gap or running a test

What’s New in TRIOS Software V2.6

New Product Support• Electrorheology (ER) Accessory Support for the Discovery Hybrid Rheometers: ER option for testing

ER fluids in an AC/DC electrical field in both oscillation and steady shear test modes. The ER option can test materials in parallel plate and concentric cylinder geometries.

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• ARES-G2 Double Wall Ring (DWR) for Interfacial Rheology: Interfacial option for measuring the interfacial shear properties at liquid-liquid or liquid-gas interfaces using the double wall ring geometry.

• Disposable plates for DHR Dielectric Accessory: Used for curing thermosetting materials under vari-ous temperature profile while measuring dielectric and mechanical properties simultaneously.

• Partitioned Cone-Plate for ARES-G2: A geometry consisting of a plate and a ring for measuring high viscous elastic fluids such as polymer melts at high strain and strain rates while reducing the effect of secondary flows and sample fracturing. The partitioned plate can be paired with a plate or a cone.

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Miscellaneous Fixes and Enhancements

General TRIOS

• File > Open dialog: Preview and thumbnail support of last displayed graph in Windows Explorer File > Open dialog. NOTE: Files must have been previously saved in TRIOS V2.6.

• Procedure naming improvement: A procedure can now be named while it is set up in an experiment. If you save a procedure and change the filename when you save it, you will receive a warning that the filename is different from your procedure name and you will be able to verify that they match.

• Graph X-Y values: In addition to the tool tip that appears when you hover the cursor over a point, when you click on a point, the value will appear on the Status Bar to the left of the clock. Once a point has been selected, the cursor keys can be used to move back and forth along the curve.

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• Graph axis fonts: All axis variable fonts are linked and can be changed at the same time using font size setting on the Graph >Format tab. The tick mark label fonts are also linked and can be changed in the same way. Format font size also works for title, annotations, analysis, and any combination of selected text.

• Graph context menu: Draw removed and Show legend added

• Derivative: Moved from Graph > Edit to Graph > Analysis tab

Discovery Hybrid Rheometer

• New instrument firmware

• New procedure step: Conditioning Electrorheology (available when accessory is installed)

• Zero gap by axial force added as an option

• Transient data collection added to standard controlled stress oscillation

• Global axial force conditions are now recorded in results file and can be viewed in the Parameters list

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ARES-G2

• New instrument firmware:

• WinCE - NK.bin

• WinCe - NKLX.bin

• AresG2 DSP - AresG2hb.ldr

• RsaG2 DSP - RsaG2hb.ldr

• Enhanced Arbitrary Wave test procedure: The Arbitrary Waveshape test now allows the definition of the strain and temperature history by supplying one or more equations for strain and a temperature pro-file as a function of time. Up to four individual equations (defining a zone), each with a specified dura-tion, can be used in one step. The temperature profile consists of up to four isothermal or ramp zones.

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• End of Test (EOT) Conditioning step: The End of Test (EOT) conditioning step is now available for the ARES-G2. The EOT defines the instruments settings for environmental system, transducer, motor and stage control after the procedure is completed.

Note that the end of test condition step is a passive step and sets the conditions when the test is terminated, either normally, or by the user or the instrument. If you want the end of test conditions applied even if the test is terminated prematurely, the EOT conditioning block should be placed at the beginning of the procedure. If it is desired to change the EOT conditions based on when the procedure is terminated, more than one EOT can be used in a procedure. The position within the procedure in reference to the step when the procedure is terminated defines the EOT conditions that are applied. With the addition of this new step, the End of Test Options that were previously accessed from the TRIOS Options menu have been removed.

• Other enhancements and fixes:

• Trim gap implemented for cones

• Temperature ramps for fluid bath repaired

Discovery DSC

• Minor bug fixes

Discovery TGA

• Minor bug fixes

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Analysis

• Added ‘Best Fit’ option to model list for flow curves. Two labels are generated: one with R2 values for all the applicable models, and one complete analysis for the one with the best value.

• TTS improvements:

• TTS Wizard: Once suitable data has been loaded and graphed, the TTS ribbon becomes active. The Wizard steps you through the procedure to generate a Master Curve.

• Curves can be added and removed after starting a TTS session

• The Master Curve temperature is now included as part of the step name and can now be created at any chosen temperature using the WLF or Arrhenius model to shift the data.

1.0 10.0 100.0 1000.0

Shear rate (1/s)

0.1

1.0

10.0

100.0

Vis

cosi

ty (

Pa

.s)

120.0

0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

Stre

ss (P

a)

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Miscellaneous Fixes and Enhancements• Thermal Discovery: Updated to stabilize Discovery thermal instruments and reduce incidents of USB-

related interruptions

• Fixed bugs with Instrument (DSC and TGA) time synchronization with TRIOS

• Fixed the blank screen with a cursor issue on the common cabinet.

• Smoother TGA furnace motion at the up position

• Auto sampler communication issues improved significantly

• Fixed the TGA tare status stuck and weight calibration stuck issues


Miscellaneous Fixes and Enhancements• DHR: Updated embedded code V9.14

• Rheology Procedures: Fixed issues saving images with procedures

• Graph: Addressed issue with copying of the graph

• File Importer: Added missing Orchestrator file importer (.TAD and RSD)

• Thermal Discovery: Fixed issue where the sample name would be cleared if a procedure template was selected after entering the sample name once the experiment starting running

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Feature Enhancements

Dielectric Accessory Support for Discovery Hybrid Rheometers

TRIOS V2.5 includes support for the new Dielectric Accessory for Discovery Hybrid Rheometers.

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General TRIOS

• Thermal: History View now supported on a 64-bit PC with 32-bit Office installed

• File Manager: Added button to collapse and expand documents within the File Manager

Data Representation and Analysis

• Time Temperature Superpositioning (TTS) Enhancements

• Temperature displayed to only one decimal place in legend

• Removed original file name from the default session name

• Graph axis values displayed as 1, 10, 100 rather than 0, 1, 2

• Support for dielectric data

• Removed restriction on using specific variables

• Graph settings and variables may now be changed during a TTS session

• Added reference curve temperature to the master curve step name

• Added *** to legend text for the reference curve

• Colors and symbols no longer change when starting TTS session

• Modulus crossover model enhanced to search for multiple crossovers points

• Default graph font settings updated to a larger font size

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• Export and Copy: Option added to export at a fixed size (previous option, WYSIWYG, remains)

Discovery Hybrid Rheometer Instrument Control

• Updated DHR firmware V9.13 to support Dielectric Accessory

• Procedure setup

• Time can be entered in seconds or hh:mm:ss format and is set from the Display window in TRIOS Options

• Save Waveform option is enabled by default for Oscillation test types

• Flow Sweep: Steady State Sensing parameters modified to be consistent with ARES-G2 imple-mentation

• Zero Gap: For DHR and AR-G2, the zero gap routine has been changed to remove the extra step of positioning the geometries close together

• Image (Camera) collection and display: Repaired bug on all operating systems

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• Environmental control panel

• Removed DISABLE function and incorporated with IDLE function

• Added status of Environmental system

ARES-G2 and RSA-G2 Instrument Control

• Updated ARES/RSA firmware

• Updated versions:

• ARES-G2/RSA-G2 V12.807

• ARES DSP/RSA DSP V12.803

• Power V12.807, LinCodr/Keypad V12.716, Motor PRT 12.625, Xducer PRT 12.625, FCO Phase Fire V12.714

• Experiment is aborted if LN2 or purge gas supply run out during active experiment

• Static IP addressing for the instrument is supported

• Procedure setup

• Save Waveform option is enabled by default for Oscillation test types

• Time can be entered in seconds or hh:mm:ss format and is set from the Display window in TRIOS Options

• Real Time Panel - Time/Points remaining: For time based procedure steps, the time remaining is shown in the control panel. For the other procedure step types the points remaining is shown.

• Temperature Ramp Iso Strain Test: Stage now correctly moves to compensate for the geometry expan-sion when selected

• RSA: Minimum sample thickness for tension and fibre clamps reduced

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• When connecting to an ARES/RSA: The data from the instrument is no longer loaded by default if the instrument is idle. You can manually load by selecting the data from the File Manager.

• Image (Camera) collection and display: Repaired bug on all operating systems

Discovery DSC Instrument Control

• Updated Discovery DSC firmware V5.4.0.21

• Instrument notifications messages were improved and clarified

• Enhanced robustness of Table View for run sequence creation

• Touch Screen

• A confirmation message is posted when Go to Next Segment is initiated from the Run Details view

• Purge gas changes for GDM (gas delivery module) made for better handling of error and zero flow conditions

• Improved communication between TRIOS and instrument

NOTE: The firmware upgrade process takes more time (approximately 10 minutes) for this release and will reboot the instrument multiple times. TRIOS will display the progress and close when the process is complete.

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Discovery TGA Instrument Control

• Updated Discovery TGA firmware V5.4.0.21

• Instrument notifications messages were improved and clarified

• Touch Screen: When selecting only the Verification option for Weight Calibration, the calibration is no longer performed as well

• Heat Exchanger changes:

• Automatically turns on at start of experiment and turns off upon completion of the post test condi-tion

• If an experiment is manually stopped, the heat exchanger will remain on until 50°C

• Whenever the evolved gas heater is enabled, the heat exchanger will be on

• Purge gas changes for GDM (gas delivery module) made for better handling of error and zero flow conditions

• Improved communication between TRIOS and instrument

NOTE: The firmware upgrade process takes more time (approximately 10 minutes) for this release and will reboot the instrument multiple times. TRIOS will display the progress and close when the process is complete.

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Feature Enhancements

Analysis Reports

Results from a single file or multiple files can be combined to create an analysis report. In addition togenerating table report, you can also use the data to create graphs based on the analysis results.

PCA Accessory Support for DSC

TRIOS V2.4 includes support for the Photocalorimetry Accessory (PCA) for the Discovery DSC

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ARES/RSA G2

Modify Running Procedure

• Procedure parameters of an active step can now be modified. The specific parameters that can be edited depend on the test being executed. To edit them, click the Running method step in the Control Panel.

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• Procedure steps that have not been run can now be edited or disabled. Click on the Experiment tab of the running Results File and expand the Procedure node. Steps that have been already run are greyed out, and the current step is italicized. These steps cannot be modified. After the current step, the nor-mal mechanism for modifying a procedure applies.

Step Termination Criteria

Within each procedure step, you now can define conditions in which a step is halted ahead of its normaltermination conditions. Test mode steps can be conditionally terminated by checking the limit orequilibrium of a test variable.

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TRIOS Library

If you are running TRIOS software on a Windows 7 PC, you will be able to add TA experimental columnheaders to view experiment information by selecting File > Open within TRIOS. This feature assists youin locating the desired file(s) using windows operating system functions and also consolidates your TRIOSfiles into a TRIOS library.


General TRIOS

• Discovery DSC/TGA Data Files: Step naming enhanced to use the last executing method segment as the step name as seen within the File Manager

• Filename Token: Procedure Name added to filename token list (corresponds to user-entered procedure name)

• Resources page of TRIOS Options: Added link to Support Videos on TA Instruments’ corporate web-site

• WINUA Export: Previously when exporting TRIOS DSC files to WINUA, the cell constant would be 1 (requiring manual input for this parameter). The actual cell constant is now transcribed.

• Native 64-bit version of TRIOS

Data Representation and Analysis

• Zoom enhancements

• Smooth: Can now smooth entire curve or a portion of the curve

• Point Graph (Rheology): When converting between Lissajous and waveform plots for stored point dis-play there is no longer an erroneous notification message posted

• Graph: Fixed slow graph response when overlaying Rheology repeated creep files

• Transformations: Added support for transformation of transient to oscillation data using window corre-lation

• Step Change Analysis: Fixed reported error of unnormalized step change result (in mg) [100X high] when the analyzed signal was weight %

• Crossover Modulus: Calculation now uses cubic spline rather than straight line interpolation. NOTE: This can result in the marker not appearing at the graphical crossover because the graph points are con-nected by straight lines

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• Variables: Oscillatory torque (sample) added as a variable for AR/DHR

AR/DHR Instrument Control

• Updated DHR firmware V9.11

• Support for Asphalt Linear Amplitude Sweep

• Improved network speed

• Friction correction made to fast sampled flow data

• Enhanced error checking and reporting

• Option added to allow a user-defined procedure name. This name defaults to the procedure filename, if applicable

• Added spreadsheet display option for steady state flow point display

• Oscillatory mapping reference position now independent of the Home position

• Modified Interfacial geometry to allow selection of the Du Noüy ring double gap

• Step termination for Repeated Creep step clears any buffered data in the instrument before starting the next procedure step

• Added option on Repeated Creep step to reset displacement at start of step

ARES G2 & RSA G2 Instrument Control

• Updated ARES/RSA firmware:

• ARES G2/RSA G2 V12.419

• ARES DSP V12.504

• Power V12.508 FCO Phase Fire V12.521

• Rheology Procedure Name: Option added to allow a user-defined procedure name. This name defaults to the procedure filename, if applicable

• Control Panel: Fixed erroneous reporting of negative time for remaining points

• RSA Geometry: Changed “Dual Clamp Bending” to “Mixed Clamp Bending” on the Geometry page

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• Gap Compensation value entered into the current geometry template is now sent to the instrument upon selection of the geometry (previously sent at the start of the test)

• Variables: Changed RSA-G2 stiffness to units of N/m vs. N/mm and ARES units to N.m/rad

Discovery DSC Instrument Control

• Updated Discovery DSC firmware V5.3.0.104

• Experimental Setup: When loading a procedure file or selecting a different procedure type, the sample name no longer clears

• Heat Capacity Calibration:

• Calibration expanded to allow selection of Polystyrene or a user defined standard in addition to the default sapphire (access TRIOS/Options/Discovery DSC/Heat Capacity)

• Calibration analysis now supports the ability to average multiple heat capacity experiments for Cp calibration

• Heat Capacity Standards signals are available for plotting within the “Show Extended list” in the Select Variables window

• Modulated DSC:

• Addressed Data on and Data off not working correctly when running a modulating experiment

• Modulation period can be changed within an experiment

• Modulated and Standard mode experiments can be mixed in a running sequence

• Time signal properly starts at zero

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• Saved Data File: If a saved Tzero calibration file is opened, the reference pan number now displays properly

• Modify Running Method: Segments with check boxes or drop down lists now accept changes properly

• Discovery Thermal Database Backup Utility: TRIOS includes an automated mechanism to backup important records stored on the instrument in the event of a hardware failure so that information can be restored. These functions are meant for use by TA Service Representatives and are setup by default so no intervention is necessary. Setup is located in TRIOS/Options/TGA/General.

Discovery TGA Instrument Control

• Updated Discovery TGA firmware V5.3.0.75

• Experimental Setup: When loading a procedure file or selecting a different procedure type, the sample name and pan selection no longer clears

• Control Panel: Added option to tare a single pan from within this panel

• Modify Running Method: Segments with check boxes or drop-down lists now accept changes properly

• Discovery Thermal Database Backup Utility: TRIOS includes an automated mechanism to backup important records stored on the instrument in the event of a hardware failure so that information can be restored. These functions are meant for use by TA Service Representatives and are setup by default so no intervention is necessary. Setup is located in TRIOS/Options/TGA/General.

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General TRIOS Analysis Changes

• Fixed issue where TTS shift factors were wrong if the temperatures are not in order.

• Corrected issue which resulted in inaccurate absolute weight change (in mg) being reported by Signal Change analysis of weight % data.

Discovery HR and AR Series Rheometers

• Strain is now zeroed at start of first repeated creep step in a procedure.

• Fixed bug where the geometry dimensions were not updated internally after a dimension change on a concentric cylinders, double concentric cylinders and interfacial geometry. Seen as sending the wrong torque when controlling stress.

• Fixed bug where the bearing friction value was not sent to the instrument for a new geometry or if the entered value was outside the calibration limits.

• Fixed bug where gap temperature compensation value was not cleared prior to new calibration.

• New Firmware for DHR V9.09

Discovery TGA

• Added support for optional 4 Gas GDM (Gas Delivery Module) that allows for the connection of four input gases and the blending of two of these gases.

• Added “Modify Running Method” capability.

• New Firmware for TGA V5.1.0.54

Discovery DSC

• Added “Modify Running Method” capability.

• Autosampler enhancements to reset autosampler function

• New Firmware for DSC V5.1.0.71

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Previous What’s New DocumentsFor previous What’s New in TRIOS Software documents, click here.

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