Vibration Testing

Vibration of your test specimen to imitate real life in use and transit. Shake, rattle and roll

Why should you test?

In the dynamic world of engineering and product development, ensuring the durability and reliability of structures and components is paramount. One indispensable tool in the arsenal of reliability testing is vibration testing. This technique allows engineers to simulate real-world conditions and assess how well a product or structure can withstand dynamic forces.

Vibration testing simulates the working environment that products or structure can face during manufacture, in transit and when used in the field. It can be used to identify accumulated stress effects over equipment lifecycles, and the resulting mechanical weaknesses and performance flaws within the design phase.

Vibration testing can also demonstrate a product’s ability to resist dynamic loads without losing critical functional or structural integrity under specified loads.

Types of Vibration

There are many different types of vibration testing methods that can be used to recreate the complex conditions of the real world such as gunfire, helicopter rotors, tank tracks, various engine induced vibrations, lifecycle usage wear and tear, and transportation conditions prior to service.

Sinusoidal Testing

Sine (one-frequency-at-a-time) tests are performed to survey the structural response of the device under test (DUT). In sine testing, a single frequency sinusoidal vibration is applied to the test specimen. This method is particularly useful for assessing a structure’s response to specific frequencies, simulating conditions like engine vibrations or equipment resonance.

Random Testing

Random vibration testing involves applying vibrations across a range of frequencies simultaneously. This simulates real-world conditions more accurately, as actual environments expose structures to a spectrum of frequencies. This type of testing is common in industries where products experience complex, unpredictable vibrations. Tests are generally considered to more closely replicate a real-world environment, such as road inputs to a moving vehicle.

Mixed Mode Testing

Mixed mode testing is combination of two vibration profiles such as Sine-On-Random or Random-On-Random for example.

Shock Testing

While not technically vibration testing, shock testing involves applying sudden, intense forces to a structure or product. This is essential for assessing a product’s ability to withstand sudden impacts, such as those encountered during transportation or accidental drops

Why chose Resonate Testing for your Vibration Testing requirements?

Resonate Testing has a proven track record of vibration testing in a number of industries including but not limited to aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, medical devices, consumer goods, telecommunications and even space launcher hardware.

At Resonate Testing, we have the vibrational testing capability to give you confidence in your product’s reliability. Our vibration test laboratory features high force electrodynamic vibration tables that can test to a wide range of frequencies, amplitudes and spectrums.

Customer products are rigorously tested to customer specific test profiles and specifications including the following common standards, including IEC 60068, RTCA/DO-160, MIL-STD-810, DEF-STAN 00-35, ISTA, ASTM. Any test not on our UKAS scope which is within our capability can be added quickly through our flexible schedule, which is a rare privilege granted to us by our accrediting authority.

Resonate Testing also have the capability to combine vibration and temperature/humidity, pressure and hydraulic testing, and many others. We can also include vibration in fire testing, particularly applicable to propulsion grade fire testing.

What sets us apart from other test houses is our in depth experience and technical capability to understand and reproduce the most complicated vibration and shock profiles – to provide bespoke testing to customer specific requirements.

Design expertise in-house can provide robust fixture designs to ensure appropriate testing of components to the specifications required.

Vibration Testing capabilities at Resonate Testing Ltd

Our vibration laboratory features several electro-dynamic systems that can replicate low- and high-frequency conditions. We can perform field data replication as well as impart specified test levels to meet your requirements and ensure that the test specimen can survive the real world conditions. Due to our range of electrodynamic shakers, we can test to the various frequencies, amplitudes and spectra that you may require. Our slip tables allow multiple axis/orientation testing.

Our vibration testing services are unique on the island of Ireland and can provide organisations that have testing requirements, the opportunity to utilise our innovative capabilities and testing expertise with a high-quality service for all. Our services are available to customers locally on the island of Ireland, Great Britain and internationally.

Resonate testing uses a range of measurement instrumentation and data-acquisition equipment that is regularly employed to provide additional operational testing and monitoring throughout vibration testing to the specific customer requirements. We can monitor product responses on high numbers of accelerometer channels as well as providing averaging algorithms for robust input control.

On our shakers we can offer the following test types:

Sinusoidal vibration including resonance tracking and dwell
Random, sine-on-random, random-on-random and sine-on-sine vibration
Classical shock, complex shock pulses and shock response spectrum (SRS)
Gun-fire
Fan blade out and windmilling profiles
Time histories

Understanding Vibration Testing:

Vibration testing involves subjecting a product or structure to controlled mechanical oscillations, mimicking the dynamic forces it might experience during its lifecycle. These oscillations can be sinusoidal, random, or a combination of both, and they are applied across a range of frequencies and amplitudes. The objective is to evaluate the performance, durability, and structural integrity of the test specimen under these simulated conditions.

Key Objectives of Vibration Testing:

Fatigue Analysis

Vibration testing is instrumental in assessing a material or product's resistance to fatigue failure. By subjecting it to cyclic loading, engineers can identify potential weak points and vulnerabilities that might emerge over time due to repetitive stress.

Quality Assurance

In industries like automotive, aerospace, and electronics, where reliability is non-negotiable, vibration testing serves as a vital quality assurance step. Products undergo rigorous testing to ensure they can withstand the harsh vibrations encountered during transportation, operation, or environmental conditions.

Modal Analysis

Understanding the natural frequencies and modes of vibration of a structure is crucial for optimising its design. Vibration testing helps engineers identify these modal properties, enabling them to make informed decisions about material selection and structural design.

Product Development & Validation

During the product development phase, engineers use vibration testing to validate their designs. It provides valuable insights into how a product will behave under different operating conditions, allowing for necessary adjustments before mass production.

About Our Vibration Testing Lab

Combined temperature humidity and Vibration or Shock testing

Affectionately known as ‘shake and bake’ or highly accelerated lifecycle testing. Components to be tested are mounted onto a vibration table or shaker system within a controlled environmental chamber. The environmental chamber allows for precise control of temperature and humidity levels. Throughout the testing process, the components are exposed to both mechanical vibrations and fluctuating environmental conditions simultaneously. This combined exposure allows for a more realistic assessment of how the components will perform in the field, where they may experience a combination of vibration and climatic stresses.

In the quest for robust and resilient structures, vibration testing stands as a cornerstone of reliability engineering. Its ability to simulate real-world conditions, identify weaknesses, and validate designs is invaluable across diverse industries. As technology advances and products become more complex, the role of vibration testing in ensuring the durability and reliability of our innovations will only continue to grow. As engineers continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, vibration testing will remain an indispensable tool in their pursuit of excellence.