The objective of this project is to supplement classroom presentations of the fundamentals of mechanical vibrations with classroom demonstrations and laboratory measurements by students. Equipment and instrumentation are needed to excite and measure mechanical system response. Various spring-mass systems (with and without dashpots) will be built for use by instructor in the classroom and by students in the laboratory. The spring-mass will be simple models of one, two, and many degrees of freedom and will be designed to interface with theory. Equipment is needed to excite these systems in a controlled manner. Instrumentation is needed to measure the excitations and system responses. Major equipment includes a shake table, modal analysis system with fast Fourier transform analyzer, PC computer with printer and plotter, and accelerometers. Eight laboratory experiments are designed to support fundamental mechanical vibration theory. The project is significant because it gives a physical dimension to complex theory and exposes students to modern vibration measurement and analysis techniques.
