QEST Platform 5.0 Documentation
Applies to QESTLab

Data entry methods for concrete strength and measured density test results using the Concrete Specimen Electronic Worksheet for AU customers, and others using AU test methods.

Overview

QESTLab provides an electronic worksheet for entering test data for all specimens for a particular date, regardless of project.
Like the Concrete Sample (AU) screen, the electronic worksheet contains a version of the concrete specimen grid to provide for the data entry of laboratory concrete test results.
The electronic worksheet may be used to enter data directly into QESTLab during testing or to enter data written on a printed daily worksheet.
It is important to realize that data entered for specimens on the electronic worksheet is stored with that sample and reported on the concrete test report.
The worksheet is simply a convenient way to enter data for multiple samples.

Structure of the Electronic Worksheet

Equipment Fields

Equipment

For equipment to be available for selection in equipment dropdown boxes, the equipment item must first be created in QESTLab's Equipment list. Refer to article Creating Equipment.

Equipment details for each specimen can be recorded using the following fields.

Equipment Prompt	Expected Information
Measure Using	Select an equipment item from the dropdown list of suitable equipment for determining the physical dimensions of the test specimen. The contents of this list can vary depending on the specimen type (see below).
Measuring Equipment	Select an equipment item from the dropdown list of available equipment that matches the Measure Using selection.
Balance	Select a balance from the dropdown list of available laboratory balances.
Steel Square	Select a steel square from the dropdown list of available steel squares.
Testing Machine	Select a testing machine from the dropdown list of available testing machines.

Specimen Type	Measure Using
Cylinder	Caliper Manual Jig Measure Measuring Station
Core	Caliper Manual Jig Measure
Beam	Caliper Measure
Cube	Caliper Measure

These fields can be accessed in two ways:

The fields above the grid will set the selected Equipment items as the default for every specimen. That is, all the specimens will have the same Equipment items recorded against them, when data is entered for each specimen.
Pre-existing Equipment

If a specimen already has an equipment item entered, entering or changing its data will cause all the existing equipment items to be overwritten by the selected default values.
Ticking the Show Equipment box will display the Equipment fields in the grid. This will allow the Equipment items to be individually entered or edited for each specimen.
Data for specimens. where the equipment item was changed. can be changed without overwriting of the equipment items, as long as no default values for equipment have been selected.

Bulk Selection Functions

Bulk selection of Measured By and Tested By is possible on the electronic worksheet. Buttons for both are present directly above the specimen grid.

When one of these buttons is clicked, users will be prompted to confirm that the selected action (and person) is to be applied to all specimens that meet the requirements for that operation.

Only measured specimens will get their Measured By set. All available dimensions and masses must be entered for the specimen to be measured.
There are exceptions, such as when concrete masonry units (CMUs) have incomplete web thickness measurements. Refer to the Optional Features section for more details.
Only tested specimens will get their Tested By set. These specimens are any specimen with a strength result, or any non-strength tested specimen (e.g. density only, or net area analysis, specimens).
If any specimens already have Measured By or Tested By set, then the user will be prompted whether to overwrite the respective field or not.
For Laboratory Technicians, the default person selected is the current user and the list is locked.

Specimen Registration Fields

For most specimens, these fields will normally contain all the required information prior to the date of testing, as part of the sample registration process.

Test Data and Results Fields

For further details about these fields, refer to the Concrete Sample (AU) screen, as they are identical to the corresponding fields there.

One exception is the Fc field which is not present in the specimen grid of the Concrete Sample (AU) screen.

Field Prompt

Expected Information

Fc

The F'c (Required Strength) of the sample at the acceptance age.

This field is read-only and the value is imported from the field F'c (MPa) on the Production tab of the Concrete Sample (AU) screen.

Any specimen whose age is greater or equal to the acceptance age and strength is below F'c will be highlighted in red text and is flagged out of specification.

Fc field not visible in grid?

The presence of the Fc field in the worksheet grid is controlled by the option 1371275869.

Administration Fields

These fields are applicable to all specimen types.

Field Prompt	Expected Information
Print	Select Yes or No to determine whether the test results for this specimen will appear on the test report. Default = Yes. Result missing on Report? If the Concrete Test Report option Show Checked Results is set to "Yes" and the specimen is not marked as checked the strength will not appear on the test report.
Charge	Select Yes or No to determine whether the charge for this specimen will be included in the automatic generation of charges for this sample. Default = Yes.
Charge To Plant	Select Yes or No to determine whether this specimen will be charged to the plant instead of the client for this sample group. This requires that the plant have an entry in the QESTLab client list. Default = No. Usage This field is only used by Concrete Producers for internal billing processes and is not applicable to Concrete Testers.
Extern Samp	Select Yes if the specimen was sampled externally. Default = No.
Extern Comp	Select Yes if the specimen was strength tested (compressed) externally. The strength and density results will be able to be directly entered when tested externally. Default = No.
Measured By	A dropdown list to select the name of the person who measured this specimen. Refer also to the 1371275869 for this operation.
Crushed By	A dropdown list to select the name of the person testing the specimen. Typically this is the person operating the testing machine when the specimen was tested. Refer also to the 1371275869 for this operation.
Checked By	A dropdown list to select the name of the person who checked the results for this specimen. Checking complete specimens locks them from further changes. Only a supervisor can alter data of a specimen after the results have been checked. If the compression report is signed then the results cannot be altered.

Calculated Fields

These fields are not visible on the screen but are calculated from data entered into the grid and stored in the database. They are typically used when it becomes time to generate reports and can also affect the appearance of values in the specimen grid.

When sufficient raw test data is entered, QESTLab calculates the density and strength result for each specimen and displays these values in the grid.

Additionally, the following are calculated:

Sample average strength/density - The average strength and density results for specimens of a certain type and age are calculated and stored in the database (eg. the average 28 day strength for COMP100 specimens). This is done for each sample.
Pair difference - The difference in strength and density results between two specimens of the same type and age is calculated and stored for each sample.

The sample average and pair difference calculations are done for predetermined ages present in a sample. (Typically, 7, 28, 56 and 90 day). If these differences exceed tolerances (as per AS 1379 for Australia) then the results are highlighted in red.

Additional Fields

Options

The options discussed in this section are both general system options and document level options in the QEST Platform. These affect the operation of the system as a whole where changing the option changes the functionality for everyone using an instance of the QEST Platform. As a result, the ability to change these options is limited to users with the System Administrator right.

Field Prompt

Expected Information

Optional Features

Options

The options discussed in this section are general system options in the QEST Platform. These affect the operation of the system as a whole where changing the option changes the functionality for everyone using an instance of the QEST Platform. As a result, the ability to change these options is limited to users with the System Administrator right.

These options can be accessed via QEST Admin Console >> Lab >> Configuration >> Options >> Concrete/QCS/QWS

Option	Description
Disable Specimen Test Data After Tested	Restricts who can change test data once the person responsible has been selected. *True* Dimension and weight measurement fields will be locked for non-supervisors after Measured By person is selected. If a Measured By person is selected before all, or any, of the dimensions and weight are entered, non-supervisors will not be able to add any more values for that specimen. If a Measured By person is selected for a specimen and the next specimen down the grid has all its measurements and weight entered, the previous Measured By person will be automatically selected, without warning. Once selected, the Measure By list is locked and the selected person cannot be changed or removed by a non-supervisor. Load field will be locked after Tested/Crushed By person is selected. If a Tested/Crushed By person is selected for a specimen and the next specimen down the grid has its load entered, the previous Tested/Crushed By person will be automatically selected, without warning. Once selected, the Tested/Crushed By list is locked and the selected person cannot be changed or removed by a non-supervisor. False (Default) Fields are not locked.
Fully Measured Concrete Specimens	Controls behavior of the Measured By button on the Concrete Specimen Electronic Worksheet. True (Default) Clicking the button will only set Measured By on fully measured specimens (as in all dimensions must be entered). False Clicking the button will set Measured By on minimally measured specimens. For example, if a specimen has three diameter fields, only one needs a value to be entered for the specimen to be 'measured by'. Basically, a specimen is ready to be 'measured by' if it has enough data to become complete when the load is entered.
Highlight Selected Specimen Row	Allows the row of a selected specimen, on the Concrete Specimen Electronic Worksheet, to be highlighted. True False (Default)
Show Sample Details Panel on Electronic Worksheet	Sets whether or not to show the Sample Details panel on the Concrete Specimen Electronic Worksheet. All the fields are read-only and the values are imported from the Concrete Sample (AU) screen. Change to Grid A side effect of this option is to change the location of where the Fc field is displayed True Sample Details panel displayed above Equipment fields. Fc field removed from grid and displayed in Sample Details panel as F'c. False (Default) Sample Details panel not displayed. Fc field displayed in grid.
The Electronic Worksheet Updates On The Go	Sets when updating values for specimens, on the Concrete Specimen Electronic Worksheet, occurs. True (Default) When any data value changes. False When the user manually hits the update button, or leaves the screen.

Using the Electronic Worksheet

Accessing the Electronic Worksheet

Expand the Tests/Documents node in the tree and select the filter Concrete Compression Tests.
The Concrete Compression Tests filter details are displayed in the data filter area. The Test Date defaults to Today. If a different date is required, enter the date or use the calendar to select the date.
The search may be narrowed further by entering a sample ID or a fieldsheet ID. After changes, run the filter by clicking the Search button.
The specimens are displayed in the tree, grouped by test type. Note that this grouping may be slightly different between organizations.
Click on the test type node in the tree (eg. click on COMP100). The specimens are displayed in the right-hand window ready for data entry.

Required specimens not on worksheet?

Check that the specimens have a Testing Date. Specimens must have been assigned a Testing Date before they can appear in the worksheet.
Check the filter settings. It might be necessary to adjust the Test Date in the filter - see above (2).

Entering Specimen Test Data

Pre-existing data

By the time it comes to enter laboratory test data, several of the specimen fields should already have data entered for the specimens. This would normally have been done as part of the sample registration process.

The process for entering the specimen test data is similar for all specimen types. An example using the cylindrical compressive test specimens follows:

Step 1.

If required, select default Equipment items using the fields above the grid.
Interfaced Equipment
- If an equipment item capable of interfacing with QESTLab is selected, this will be indicated in the usual way with blue lines above and below the equipment item.
- At this time only the Testing Machine can be used as an interfaced item on the worksheet.

Step 2.

If required, tick the Show Equipment box to display the equipment fields in the grid.
Enter equipment items as needed.

Notes

Interfaced Equipment selected via the grid's fields will not be connected. All data values will need to be entered manually.
Refer to 1371275869, above, for possible issues.

Step 3.

It is possible that the test data columns will already be visible in the grid.
If not, tick the Show Raw Data box to display the test data columns in the worksheet.

Step 4.

Select the specimen requiring data entry by clicking on its row in the grid.
Click on the data field to enable entry or editing of that value.
Enter the measurements, weight and load results for each specimen.
If an interfaced testing machine is used to provide the Load value, see below, for entering 1371275869.
Moving between cells
- Press Enter or Tab on the keyboard to move from one cell to the next.
- There is no need to click in each cell using the mouse.
The strength and density results for each specimen will be calculated and displayed in the grid.
If a strength result is less than the F'c the result is highlighted in red.

Step 5.

Enter the Test Time for each specimen.
The age in hours will be calculated and automatically displayed.

Step 6.

By default the Failure Mode will typically be set to 'N' (Normal).
If the failure was not normal then use an alternative letter designation as per the 'Failure Mode list'.
For example 'S' for Shear, 'A' for Abnormal, etc.

Step 7.

Select the QESTLab user or users, who measured and crushed the specimen.
This can be done as a bulk operation (1371275869) using the Measured By and Crushed By buttons, or on an individual basis by using the Measured By and Crushed By fields of the grid.

If a Laboratory Technician uses the bulk selection buttons, they will be automatically selected as the person and will not be able to select a different person.
To select a person for Measured By or Crushed By other than themselves, Laboratory Technicians will need to use the fields in the grid.

Interfaced Load Values

When an interfaced testing machine is used to obtain load values:

Click on the cell representing the Load value for the current specimen.
Press the Space bar on the keyboard.
The interface screen will appear.
When the load value is displayed, the user can choose to:
1. Read the load again,
2. Decline (discard) it,
3. Accept it.
If the offered value is acceptable, click on the Accept button on the interface screen, or press the Enter key on the keyboard.
The value will be written to the specimen grid in the selected cell, rounded to 1 decimal place.

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QEST Platform 5.0 Documentation

Strength & Measured Density Using the Electronic Worksheet

Contents