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RequiredInformationforaVibrationTest
Onabasiclevel,vibrationtestingcanbeclassifiedintothreebroadcategories(Figure1):sinevibration,
randomvibration,andshock.Morecomplexformsofvibrationtestingexistsuchassineonrandom,but
wewillfocusonthesimpleonesinthisarticle.

Thisdiscussionwillbefortestingdoneonelectrodynamicshakers.Mostelectrodynamicshakers
operateintherangeof10Hz(cyclespersecond)to2000Hz.
Generalinformationtoprovideregardlessofthetypeoftesting
Sample(s):1)Weight,2)Quantity,3)Dimensions,and4)Orientationinactualuse.
Specificquestionsaboutthetestfixture,resonance,andpower
1. Doyouhaveatestfixtureavailableordoesonehavetobebuilt?Ifyouhaveafixture,whatis
theboltpattern?Notallshakershavethesameboltpatternandyoursmayneedtobe
modified.Ifnecessary,thelabwillbuildafixtureforanaddedcharge.Afixturebuiltbythelab
helpsavoidanyresonantfrequenciesinthetestingrange.Otherwise,thefixturecouldbecome
theforcethatdestroysyoursampleinsteadofthetest.Thisisnotanareatotrytosaveifyou
arenotknowledgeableinfixturedesign.
2. Doyouneedtoperformaresonancesearchoneitherthefixtureorthesample,andwhere
shouldtheresonancesearchaccelerometerbeplaced?Resonanceistheconditionofoperating
ataproductsnaturalfrequency.Allproductshaveadifferentnaturalfrequency.Theproduct
designengineershouldensurethisfrequencyisoutsidetherangeofthevibrationtestinglimits
andforconditionsunderwhichtheproductwillbeused.Ifitisnot,theproductwillself
destruct.Thesameistrueforthefixture.Thelabcancharacterizeboththeproductandthe
fixturetoensurenoresonanceoccursinthetestrange.
Sine
Vibration
Testing
Random
Vibration
Testing
Shock
Testing
Figure1:ThreeBroadVibrationTestingCategories
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3. Forthistesting,doestheunitneedtobepoweredandmonitored?Whatarethepower
requirements?Willyouprovidemonitoringequipmentordoesthelabhavetosupplyit?
SinusoidalVibration
Sinusoidalvibrationisgenerallyencounteredwhendealingwithrotatingmachinery(Figure2).This
couldincludeanengine,electricmotor,lathe,oranythingthathasarepetitivewaveform.
Thetestingcouldbeatasinglefrequency,oritcouldbeoverarangeoffrequenciesknownasa
bandwidth(twofrequenciesbetweenwhichthetestingistobedone.)
Anexamplewouldbe10Hz(cyclespersecond)to1000Hz.Ifitisasingle
frequency,thelabwillaskforthedisplacement.Displacementisusually
statedaspeaktopeakdisplacementorpeakdisplacementandcanbe
givenininchesorinmm.
Displacementisneededbecausesomeoldervibrationtablesarelimited
to1inchpeaktopeakdisplacement.Neweronesareat2inchpeakto
peak,andthenewestonesareat3inchpeaktopeak.Iftheyhavea1
inchpeaktopeakmachine,theywouldnotbeabletorunajobthatrequires2inchespeaktopeak.
Ifthetestingisdoneoverarangeoffrequencies,thelabwillaskforasweeprate.Thesweepraterefers
tohowquicklythefrequenciesarerampedfromlowesttohighest.Thesweepratecanbelinearor
logarithmic.Ifitislinear,itwillbestatedasanincreaseinHzperminute.Anexamplewouldbe10Hzto
55Hzto10Hzin2minutes.
Ifitislogarithmic,itwillbegivenasoctavesperminute.Asinmusic,anoctaveisadoublingof
frequency.Therefore,alogarithmicsweepof1octaveperminuteoverthefrequencyrange51000Hz
wouldtake510(1minute)1020(1minute)2040(1minute)4080(1minute)(6401280)last
minute.Itwouldtakealmost8minutestogofrom5Hzto1000Hzatoneoctaveperminute.
Sometestswillhaveoneormultiplebreaksduringthetestwheredisplacementisincreasedor
decreased.Therefore,thespecificationcouldread5Hzto1000Hz,logarithmicsweepof1octaveper
minute,displacement.5mmfrom5Hzto500Hzand.05mmfrom500Hzto1000Hz.
Figure3belowisanexampleofanactualspecification.
Figure2:RotatingMachinery
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Figure3:HelicopterMinimumIntegrityExposure
Tosummarizeourlookintosinusoidalvibrationtesting,informationyourlabwillspecificallyneedis:
1. Rangeoverwhichtestingwilloccur(bandwidth)inHz.(5500intheexampleabove)
2. Sweeptypeoctavesperminute(logarithmic)ortimepersweepcycle(linear)
3. Displacement(peaktopeak)and/oraccelerationings.Thiscouldbesplitoverthebandwidth,
i.e.,accelerationforhalfanddisplacementforhalf.Theexampleabovespecifiesdisplacementin
twosectionsandaccelerationintwosections.
4. Numberofaxestotest.
5. Numberofhourstotestineachaxis.
RandomVibrationTesting
Randomvibrationisprobablythetypeofvibrationthatoccursmostcommonlyintherealworld.An
exampleisacargoingdownawashboardgravelroad(Figure4).Itisjustwhatitsoundslike.Thereisno
rhymeorreasontotheresultantwaveshape.Itisrandominnature.
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Onewaytogeneratearandomvibrationprofileonashakeristoplaceaccelerometersonthetesting
object,placeitinthetestingenvironment,andthenplaybacktherecordedwaveform.Thisiscalled
fielddatareplication.Inthiscase,thexaxisistime,andtheyaxisistheaccelerationamplitudeings.
Thismethodisnotthemostpractical,northemostportable.Therefore,engineershaveinventeda
powerspectraldensity(PSD)curve.ThederivationofthePSD
curvewillbethesubjectofanotherpaperfromTrace.For
now,justconsiderthatthewaveformfromthefielddatahas
frequencycontentandthatitcanbetransformedusing
mathematicaltechniquesintothePSD.ThePSDisagraphthat
allowsthevibrationtablecontrollertoreproducethefield
datathatwasinitiallycollected,althoughitisnotprecisely
thatdata.Ithasagoodprobabilityofdevelopingthesame
frequenciesandamplitudesastheoriginaldata,butthe
sequencewillnotnecessarilybethesame.
Forrandomvibration,testingyouwillbeaskedtosupplyaPSDeitheringraphicalortabularformat.
Figure5belowshowsanexampleofaPSDthatisfromamilitarystandardMILSTD810GandisforaUS
highwaytruckinthecargoarea.Inthiscase,dataforthreemutuallyperpendicularaxesisprovided.
Thesearevertical,longitudinal,andtransverse.
Laboratoriespreferatabularformat(Figure6)becauseitiseasiertoenterintothevibrationtable
controllersothattheydonthavetotrytoreadpointsfromagraph.
Tosummarizeourlookintorandomvibrationtesting,informationyourlabwillspecificallyneedis:
1. APSD,preferablyintabularformat.
2. Numberofhourstotestineachaxis.Sometimesthespecificationwillstatetheequivalenceof
hourstestedtosomeothervariable.Inthemilitarystandardtestbelow,onehourisequivalent
to1000milesoftrucktravel.Youwouldneedtotestonehourineachaxistogetthis
equivalence.
Figure4:GravelRoad
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Figure5:PSDfromMILSTD810GforaUShighwaytruck
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Figure6:PSDintabularformat
ShockTesting

Shocktestingisalittlesimplertospecifythaneithersineor
randomvibrationtesting.Ashocktestmostclosely
resembleshittingadeeppotholeinyourcar(Figure7).
Forshocktesting,thefollowingwillberequired.

1. Whatisthepulseshape?Mostofthetimeitisahalfsine(Figure8),butsometimesitcanbe
sawtooth(Figure9).
2. Whatisthepulsewidthinmilliseconds?ThisisdimensionD(FiguresFigure8andFigure9).
3. Whatistheamplitudeings(numberoftimestheforceofgravity).ThisisdimensionAin
thehalfsine(Figure8)andPinthesawtoothwaveform(Figure9).
4. Howmanyshockpulsesarerequiredandinwhatdirection?Thisisusually3inaforward
andaftdirectionforatotalof6pulsesineachaxis.
5. Howmanyaxesaretobetested?Usuallythisisthreeorthogonalaxes.
Regardingtheweight,agoodruleofthumbistotaketheweightoftheobjectandmultiplyitbytheg
level.Thiswillgiveyouthepoundforcerequirementfortheshaker.Asanexampleifyouhavea400lb.
objectandtheamplitudeis50g,youwillneeda20,000lbforceshaker.Mostlabstrytoavoidthe
maximumshakerlimitduetopotentialdamagetotheshaker.
Figure7:DeepPothole
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Figure8:HalfSineShockPulse*

Figure9:SawToothShockPulse
*ShockpulsefiguresarefromMILSTD202G.AllotherfiguresarefromMILSTD810G