Base Input & Applied Force Calculations

Consider a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system subjected to base excitation. There are certain cases where the response of a system is known, but the base input acceleration is unknown. An example would be a seismic sensor which behaved as an SDOF system. The seismometer data would… Read more

Wisconsin Booms

Clintonville, Wisconsin is an inland community, adjacent to Lake Pigeon. USA Today reported on March 21, 2012 that a series of mysterious booms have been fraying residents’ nerves. City administrator Lisa Kuss said the booms have roused people from their beds and into the streets… Read more

Seismic Peak Ground Acceleration

The Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake struck northeast Honshu, Japan, on 14 June 2008. This earthquake had a moment magnitude Mw 6.9 according to the USGS. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) had a maximum vector sum (3 component) value of 4278 cm/sec^2 (4.36 G). This is the highest ever recorded… Read more

The Great Amplitude Format Debate

Shock and vibration test specifications for avionics and military equipment have almost always been specified in terms of acceleration. The main reason is that acceleration can easily be measured by accelerometers. Velocity sensors are also available but are less common. Gaberson, Chamblers et al, claim… Read more

My Favorite Flight Anomaly

The flight accelerometer data was measured on a launch vehicle which shall remain anonymous.  This was due to an oscillating thrust vector control (TVC) system during the burn-out of a solid rocket motor.  This created a “tail wags dog” effect.  The resulting vibration occurred throughout… Read more

Some Earthquake Engineering Terminology

Response Spectrum Response spectrum is a plot of the maximum responses (acceleration, velocity, or displacement) of idealized single-degree-of-freedom oscillators as a function of the natural frequencies of the oscillators for a given damping value. The response spectrum is calculated for a specified vibratory motion input… Read more

Shock Response Spectrum

 The most widely used algorithm for the Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) calculation for base excitation is the ramp invariant digital recursive filtering relationship given in: David O. Smallwood, An Improved Recursive Formula for Calculating Shock Response Spectra, Shock and Vibration Bulletin, No. 51, May 1981.… Read more