Vibration

Although vibration is a common phenomenon, determining vibrational patterns or managing excessive vibration can be challenging. From standard tests to complex troubleshooting, from data acquisition to reporting, HBK’s comprehensive set of test and measurement tools helps you to master any vibration-related engineering issues.

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About Vibration

It is very difficult to avoid vibration – it affects the safety and comfort of our vehicles, it affects the structural integrity of our buildings and bridges, and if we’re over-exposed to human vibration, it can even affect our health.

For example, the car, bus or train that you take to work each day will have been extensively tested to make sure it can withstand the mechanical shocks imposed on it – not only to ensure your safety, but also to ensure that you get a smooth ride. To make sure that the wing of an aircraft will not succumb to physical stress, it will have been subjected to measurements of great accuracy. A mobile phone must be able to withstand bouncing around in a backpack as well as being dropped on the floor several times. A satellite has to be able to survive the excessive vibration from being launched into space.

Vibration must be measured and evaluated, either because it causes an immediate problem or because the structure or product has to adhere to a standard or test specification. Vibration testing and monitoring helps manufacturers to ensure quality, reliability and durability of complete products and their components by providing insights into the inner world of vibration within products, machines and structures.

Fundamentals of Vibration

From repetitive, standard tests to complex troubleshooting, from data acquisition to reporting, we provide a unique and comprehensive set of tools spanning the entire measurement chain from shakers, accelerometers and data acquisition systems to data analysis software with the flexibility to deal with a wide range of engineering challenges.

Vibration Testing and Validation

To ensure products can handle shocks and stresses within their service life, vibration testing comes into play. As an example, this applies to:

A mobile phone must be able to withstand bouncing around in a backpack as well as being dropped on the floor several times. If it cannot cope with this general day-to-day use, warranty costs will explode for the manufacturer resulting in a real risk of brand deterioration and of customers looking elsewhere the next time they buy a new phone.
A satellite has to be able to survive the excessive vibrations from being launched into space. If it is faulty, the investment in the development and building of the satellite may be jeopardized.

In order to ensure that the products customers receive are intact and fully-functional, it is essential that they can survive the journey from when they are boxed at the factory until they arrive at the end destination. Moreover, beyond merely withstanding short-term physical forces, developers need to ensure that their products will maintain the integrity and quality that represents the brand in the longer term.

Product qualification and verification is done through extensive simulation in the development phases, but simulation is not enough. It is also necessary to do physical testing on prototypes and end-of-line items, both to validate simulated results and to prove product durability to customers.

Ensuring product quality

Vibration test profiles

Vibration testing standards

Vibration tests can reveal design weaknesses that would only become apparent during transport, deployment and use – like a helmet hitting the ground. Some of these tests, such as buzz, squeak and rattle (BSR) on vehicle interiors, can also detect the development of unwanted noise.

For environmental testing such as highly accelerated lifetime testing (HALT) and highly accelerated stress screening (HASS), it is necessary to combine vibration testing with environmental chambers to add the expansion stresses of rapid heating and cooling. These tests are typically conducted on industrial and electronic components and products, on medical equipment and on military hardware.

Where do the actual vibration test profiles originate? Customers, end users or manufacturers who incorporate a component into an assembly, often define vibration test specifications and procedures themselves.

These are typically based on experience and knowledge of which design solutions work well and which don’t. Vibration testing can provide a more structured approach to understanding failure modes and defects that are caused by vibration.

Many vibration testing profiles are defined by standards developed over many years. There are a lot of them and they are often dedicated to specific applications and products. Examples include DIN, ISO, BS, MIL, IEC and ASTM.

The use of testing according to standards is especially the case for the aerospace and defence industries. These include MIL-STD-810, NATO STANAGs and AS/EN9100.

HBK Customer Stories

BKSV's (now HBK) LDS V8 shaker system and the LDS V721 shaker system help SMAC laboratory with vibration testing

Aerospace products being shaken

To meet the stringent performance requirements of the aerospace industry, the SMAC laboratory in Toulon needed a reliable solution for vibration testing of a new damper. After a thorough validation, they decided to use two shaker systems from HBK.

Engineers testing vibration in a car seat with a microphone and software

Smartphone app improves vibration testing

Setting up for modal analysis is time-consuming and prone to human data entry errors, which is a cause of frustration for engineers. HBK’s Transducer Smart Setup app automated the process, eliminated human error and saved time for Faurecia.

Facade of the TÜV SÜD which tested transportation of heavier objects, particularly sub-assemblies for cars and trains, by upgrading their HBK shaker

Moving and shaking Germany’s transportation testing

Test house, TÜV SÜD, relies on vibration test systems for shock and low-frequency testing. Their challenge was to upgrade their 15-year-old HBK shaker to support heavier payloads, such as EV batteries. Find out how HBK met their requirements.

RAL Space employees working on the James Webb Space Telescope with a new vibration test system: HBK's LDS range of shakers.

Ensuring satellite reliability with vibration testing

For RAL Space, ‘right-first-time’ engineering is non-negotiable when developing critical components for NASA. By upgrading their HBK shaker, they were able to conduct more sophisticated vibration tests for NASA’s satellite program.

Less rail noise, more well-being

CETEST is a Spanish ISO 17025 accredited testing and analysis centre. Using HBK solutions for sound and vibration measurement, it offers flexible and reliable testing and evaluation services – amongst others to customers in the railway industry.

Silente electric cars as Volkswagen wants

Continuously tightening NVH and customer acceptance requirements for their transmissions helps VW grow market share. But to maintain profitability, production line yield must also continuously increase. HBK’s DISCOM systems address both challenges.

Customer Stories 1
Customer Stories 2

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