A flexible automatic test system for rotating-turbine machinery

The widespread applications of rotating machines, such as turbine machinery, in both industry and commercial life requires advanced technologies to efficiently and effectively test their operational status before they begin their practical productions in the plant. This paper discusses the development of a general flexible automatic test system (ATS) for turbine machinery. In order to meet the demanding test requirements for a large and diverse community of turbine machinery, the proposed automatic test system has a contemporary Windows interface, graphical interaction, and can be easily configured to include functions required by current and emerging test demands. The design and implementation of such a test system is approached from an object-oriented (OO) software engineering point of view for ease of operation, expansion, and maintenance. Practical implementation upon a real industrial plant shows the validity and effectiveness of the implemented ATS for improving the performance and quality of turbine machinery. The obtained test system delivers the performance to meet all rigorous test throughput requirements.