mechanical vibration
mechanical vibration
[mi′kan·ə·kəl vī′brā·shən]Mechanical vibration
The continuing motion, repetitive and often periodic, of a solid or liquid body within certain spatial limits. Vibration occurs frequently in a variety of natural phenomena such as the tidal motion of the oceans, in rotating and stationary machinery, in structures as varied in nature as buildings and ships, in vehicles, and in combinations of these various elements in larger systems. The sources of vibration and the types of vibratory motion and their propagation are subjects that are complicated and depend a great deal on the particular characteristics of the systems being examined. Further, there is strong coupling between the notions of mechanical vibration and the propagation of vibration and acoustic signals through both the ground and the air so as to create possible sources of discomfort, annoyance, and even physical damage to people and structures adjacent to a source of vibration.
Mass-spring-damper system
Although vibrational phenomena are complex, some basic principles can be recognized in a very simple linear model of a mass-spring-damper system (see illustration). Such a system contains a mass M, a spring with spring constant k that serves to restore the mass to a neutral position, and a damping element which opposes the motion of the vibratory response with a force proportional to the velocity of the system, the constant of proportionality being the damping constant c. This damping force is dissipative in nature, and without its presence a response of this mass-spring system would be completely periodic.
Complex systems
The foregoing model of the linear spring-mass-damper system contains within it a number of simplifications that do not reflect conditions of the real world in any obvious way. These simplifications include the periodicity of both the input and, to some extent, the response; the discrete nature of the input, that is, the assumption that it is temporal in nature with no reference to spatial distribution; and the assumption that only a single resonant frequency and a single set of parameters are required to describe the mass, the stiffness, and the damping. The real world is far more complex. Many sources of vibration are not periodic. These include impulsive forces and shock loading, wherein a force is suddenly applied for a very short time to a system; random excitations, wherein the signal fluctuates in time in such a way that its amplitude at any given instant can be expressed only in terms of a probabilistic expectation; and aperiodic motions, wherein the fluctuation in time may be some prescribed nonperiodic function or some other function that is not readily seen to be periodic.
Sources of vibration
There are many sources of mechanical and structural vibration that the engineer must contend with in both the analysis and the design of engineering systems. The most common form of mechanical vibration problem is motion induced by machinery of varying types, often but not always of the rotating variety. Other sources of vibration include: ground-borne propagation due to construction; vibration from heavy vehicles on conventional pavement as well as vibratory signals from the rail systems common in many metropolitan areas; and vibrations induced by natural phenomena, such as earthquakes and wind forces. Wave motion is a source of vibration in mechanical and structural systems associated with offshore structures.
Effect of vibrations
The most serious effect of vibration, especially in the case of machinery, is that sufficiently high alternating stresses can produce fatigue failure in machine and structural parts. Less serious effects include increased wear of parts, general malfunctioning of apparatus, and the propagation of vibration through foundations and buildings to locations where the vibration of its acoustic realization is intolerable either for human comfort or for the successful operation of sensitive measuring equipment. See Vibration, Wear