*** 9761020 Allaei This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will attempt to demonstrate the feasibility of developing computer software that can be used by design engineers and vibration analysts to incorporate the occurrence and effects of the phenomenon of vibration confinement in their design and product development processes. Analytical tools are needed to model, study, and incorporate the potential impacts of vibration confinement in the design stage of systems, structures, and products. The engineering tools must be user friendly, provide rapid response and analysis, and be compatible with other commonly used modeling software/hardware. A user-friendly Vibration Energy Confinement Analysis Software (VECAS) will be developed as a stand-alone program or as part of a post processing toolbox when used with large commercial modeling programs (i.e., finite element programs such as ANSYS, NASTRAN, ABACUS, etc.). The software will also be available in two different compilation platforms, such as C++ and FORTRAN. The VECAS program will provide rapid awareness of the occurrence of the energy confinement and its significance in structures under development, and therefore, reduce the potential for catastrophic failures due to confinement of energy. VECAS can also be used to optimize the performance of the structure based on beneficial effects (i.e., improved buckling capacity, vibration isolation, reduction, and sensor/actuator optimization) of the phenomenon. Finally, VECAS can be used to construct more effective passive or active vibration/noise control systems. The VECAS program to be developed will provide the tools to incorporate the mode localization phenomenon in the design stage of new developments. Due to the broad applications, such as buckling and vibration analysis, and passive active vibration control, of the such software, the commercial market is diverse and huge. It is anticipated that researchers, engineers, and educators in government laboratories, indus try, and academic institutions, respectively, will be interested in using VECAS. ***
