Introduction to Sine Vibration Testing

Back to: Sine Testing

According to the article, When Should I Use Sine Vibration Testing?, vibration test engineers should use sine vibration testing to:

• Identify resonances in a device under test (DUT): Use a sine sweep test across a frequency range to identify the frequencies with the largest response signals.
• Validate shakers: Identify trouble with a shaker system (cracked armature, loose bolts, etc.). Periodically run a sine sweep on the shaker system to confirm that the response has not drifted. Variations in response, especially resonances that shift significantly, indicate issues in the shaker system.
• Validate fixtures: Identify resonances in fixtures. If the fixture has resonances in the test frequency range, its test results will be questionable.
• Qualify a product design: Controllers that use a sine-track-and-dwell algorithm to adjust the sine test frequency to keep the shaker on the resonance where the DUT begins to weaken and fail can effectively fatigue a DUT to failure or demonstrate the DUT can withstand such a vibration.

Does this sound like the vibration testing you need to perform? If so, let’s get started.