Vibration Testing: Theory and Practice

A new, comprehensive field and laboratory guide for vibration testing

Here, for the first time, is a complete and self–contained volume that shows how to perform vibration tests and experiments with confidence. Because so many factors––environmental and structural, instrument–related and human––come into play in the vibration–testing environment, obtaining meaningful measurements by means of transducers can be challenging for engineers, researchers, and graduate students alike.

Vibration Testing: Theory and Practice not only shows how to avoid the pitfalls inherent in using modern instruments and methods but also covers all the important elements involved in conducting vibration tests, and builds an understanding of the theory through practical applications in laboratory and field environments.

Based on the author′s 30 years of experience in vibration testing and research, this clearly written, logically presented book:
∗ Provides a review of the fundamentals of vibration theory
∗ Brings the theory and practice of vibration testing up to date with all current instrumentation and research data
∗ Covers transducers, their calibration as well as their limitations
∗ Includes a complete chapter on vibration test specifications
∗ Helps develop a sense of how instruments work individually as well as how they function as part of a testing environment
∗ Includes practical examples that can be used for personnel training purposes


Addressing concerns of both experimental researchers and product testers, and covering a wide range of field and laboratory situations, Vibration Testing: Theory and Practice is an extremely useful book for anyone striving to achieve meaningful results in vibration testing.

Vibration testing is used to analyze the integrity of systems in a variety of applications that range from circuit boards and aircraft to steam turbines and home appliances. Conducting these tests in either the field or laboratory involves the use of data analyzers, instruments, and vibration exciters. The use of equipment and interpretation of test results require considerable understanding of vibration phenomena as well as analysis and experimental concepts. Consequently, the user of this equipment can be the dominant influence on the quality of test results.

Vibration Testing: Theory and Practice is a step–by–step guide that shows how to obtain meaningful experimental results via the proper use of modern instrumentation, vibration exciters, and signal–processing equipment, with particular emphasis on how different types of signals are processed with a frequency analyzer. Also included are techniques for reading test results effectively and a discussion of how the test system′s own dynamics can influence test results.

Using practical lessons to introduce the theoretical aspects of vibration testing, the book covers all basic concepts and principles underlying dynamic testing, explains how current instruments and methods operate within the dynamic environment, and describes their behavior in a number of commonly encountered field and laboratory test situations.

Vibration Testing: Theory and Practice deals with a wide range of product and production testing involving vibration, acoustics, and noise problems in the vibration–testing environment, whether relating to industrial applications or experimental work. It is an invaluable resource for graduate students, research–ers, and practicing engineers in aerospace, mechanical, and civil engineering.

KENNETH G. McCONNELL is Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Iowa State University of Science and Technology. He has been involved in vibration testing and research for over 30 years. In 1994 the Society for Experimental Mechanics named Dr. McConnell the recipient of its William M. Murray Lecture Award, the Society′s highest honor, "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to SEM in the fields of dynamic instrumentation, vibration testing techniques, and fluid structure inter–action." Among his recent publications is Instrumentation for Engineering Measurements, Second Edition, coauthored with J.W. Dalley and W.F. Riley, and published by Wiley.