How it works

The DRMS works by drilling the materials with specific diamond drill bits. In case of outdoor and on-site measurements, the equipment integrates power battery into the unit for a good autonomy.

The system measures the drilling resistance of the material to the penetration of the drill bit, and it can also detect fluctuations around the mean value in the drilling resistance with depth. The test allows to find also the cause of these fluctuations: they can be attributed to non-homogeneities in the material, such as different sedimentation layers, different grain size and resistance, micro and macro cracks, application of consolidating treatments etc.

During the test, the following parameters can be measured continuously:

  • Penetration force
  • Actual drill position
  • Rotational speed
  • Penetration rate

Both rotational speed and feed rate are kept constant during operation, and can be regulated by the operator between minimum and maximum values.

To reduce the wear effect, special diamond drill bits (with flat diamond tip) are used; it’s also possible to correct the abrasion effect of the material in the post process section of the software, through a dedicated algorithm.