Vibration — Open Access Journal

In brake systems, some dynamic phenomena can worsen the performance (e.g., fading, hot banding), but a major part of the research concerns phenomena which reduce driving comfort (e.g., squeal, judder, or creep groan). These dynamic phenomena are caused by specific instabilities that lead to self-excited oscillations. In practice, these instabilities can be investigated using the Complex Eigenvalues Analysis (CEA), in which positive real parts of the eigenvalues are identified to characterize instable regions. Measurements on real brake test benches or tribometers show that the coefficient of friction (COF), $\mu$, is not a constant, but dynamic, system variable. In order to consider this aspect, the Method of Augmented Dimensioning (MAD) has been introduced and implemented, which couples the mechanical degrees of freedom of the brake system with the degrees of freedom of the friction dynamics. In addition to this, instability prediction techniques can often determine whether a system is stable or instable, but cannot eliminate the instability phenomena on a real brake system. To address this, the current work deals with the quantification of the relevant polymorphic uncertainty of the friction dynamics, wherein the aleatory and epistemic uncertainties are described simultaneously. Aleatory uncertainty is concerned with the stochastic variability of the friction dynamics and incorporated with probabilistic methods (e.g., a Monte Carlo simulation), while the epistemic uncertainty resulting from model uncertainties is modeled via fuzzy methods. The existing measurement data are collected and processed through Data Driven Methods (DDM) for the identification of the dynamic friction models and corresponding parameters. Total Variation Regularization is used for the evaluation of derivatives within noisy data. Using an established minimal model for brake squealing, this paper addresses the question of probabilities for instabilities and the degree of certainty with which this conclusion can be made. The focus is on a comparison between the conventional Coulomb friction model and a dynamic friction model in combination with the MAD. This shows that the quality of the predictive accuracy improves dramatically with the more precise friction model. Full article

This paper proposes an innovative solution to suppress torsional vibrations in any rotating machinery with a variable frequency of excitation, or a variable natural frequency. The adaptive torsional tuned vibration absorber (ATTVA) was designed using an integrated electromagnetic circuit, which can adapt its natural frequency to match the varying natural frequency of any Multi Degree of Freedom (MDOF) rotating system. A two degree of freedom rotating system was modeled along with the integrated ATTVA using the bond graph modeling technique. Simulation results showed that torsional vibrations can be easily attenuated by controlling the capacitance shunted to the voice coil circuit. The ATTVA was designed, fabricated and evaluated on a test rig in the laboratory. Test results revealed good matching between the mathematical model and the experimental data. Experiments were performed with different configurations of the ATTVA, and the experimental results showed reasonable suppression in vibration magnitude at the desired frequency. Full article

This paper investigates the coupled mechanics of a fluid-conveying microtube embedded inside an elastic medium and subject to a pretension. The fluid-structure interaction model of the microsystem is developed based on Lagrange’s equations for the open system of a clamped-clamped microtube. A continuation model is used to examine the nonlinear mechanics of this microsystem prior to and beyond losing stability; the growth and the response in the supercritical regime is analysed. It is shown that the microtube stays stable prior to losing stability at the so-called critical flow velocity; beyond that point, the amplitude of the buckled microsystem grows with the velocity of the flowing fluid. The effects of different system parameters such as the linear and nonlinear stiffness coefficients of the elastic medium as well as the length-scale parameter and the slenderness ratio of the microtube on the critical speeds and the post-buckling behaviour are analysed. Full article

Synchronised motion is an important requirement for two cooperating humanoid robot arms. In this work a cooperative scenario is considered where two humanoid robot arms (using 4DOF each, namely Shoulder Flexion Joint, Shoulder abduction Joint, Humeral rotation joint and Elbow Flexion Joint) motion are synchronized. The master robot arm is controlled by a sliding mode controller and the slave robot arm is synchronized using a basic PD plus adaptive control, employing the position and velocity errors between the master and the slave. During the operation, if a joint of the slave robot arm saturates or malfunctions (for instance, Elbow flexion joint does not respond or free swinging), consequently, slave robot arm will go into chaos (i.e., chaotic motion of the end effector). In this case, a chaos controller kicks in to recover and re-synchronize the motion of the slave robot arm end effector. This re-synchronization is extremely important to complete the task in hand to address any safety issues arising from any joint malfunction of the slave robot. Effectiveness of the scheme is tested in simulation using Bristol Robotics Laboratory Humanoid BERT II arms. Full article

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death worldwide. New diagnostic tools are needed to provide early detection and intervention to reduce mortality and increase both the duration and quality of life for patients with heart disease. Seismocardiography (SCG) is a technique for noninvasive evaluation of cardiac activity. However, the complexity of SCG signals introduced challenges in SCG studies. Renewed interest in investigating the utility of SCG accelerated in recent years and benefited from new advances in low-cost lightweight sensors, and signal processing and machine learning methods. Recent studies demonstrated the potential clinical utility of SCG signals for the detection and monitoring of certain cardiovascular conditions. While some studies focused on investigating the genesis of SCG signals and their clinical applications, others focused on developing proper signal processing algorithms for noise reduction, and SCG signal feature extraction and classification. This paper reviews the recent advances in the field of SCG. Full article

Tracking triangular or staircase trajectories is a challenge for a piezo-driven nanopositioner due to vibration problems. The piezo-driven nanopositioner is a lightly-damped system because of its mechanical construction. These reference trajectories are high-frequency components that tend to excite the mechanical resonance of the nanopositioner, causing vibration and thus affecting the accuracy. The Integral Resonant Controller (IRC) is employed to damp the resonance and thereby furnish a larger gain margin for a high-gain tracking controller to be implemented. The IRC, however, introduces a low-frequency pole. Due to other control issues, such as hysteresis nonlinearity, Integral (I) or Proportional Integral (PI) tracking control is used as a tracking loop to address uncertainties (hysteresis). The traditional method using a PI controller has a limited positioning bandwidth. This paper presents the strategic zero placement of the PI controller to enhance the positioning bandwidth, thereby overcoming the limitations of tracking error. Using experimental validations to confirm the feasibility of the proposed method, it is shown that significant improvement regarding bandwidth and disturbance rejection are reported. Full article

Time recordings of impulse-type oscillation responses are short and highly transient. These characteristics may complicate the usage of classical spectral signal processing techniques for (a) describing the dynamics and (b) deriving discriminative features from the data. However, common model identification and validation techniques mostly rely on steady-state recordings, characteristic spectral properties and non-transient behavior. In this work, a recent method, which allows reconstructing differential equations from time series data, is extended for higher degrees of automation. With special focus on short and strongly damped oscillations, an optimization procedure is proposed that fine-tunes the reconstructed dynamical models with respect to model simplicity and error reduction. This framework is analyzed with particular focus on the amount of information available to the reconstruction, noise contamination and nonlinearities contained in the time series input. Using the example of a mechanical oscillator, we illustrate how the optimized reconstruction method can be used to identify a suitable model and how to extract features from uni-variate and multivariate time series recordings in an engineering-compliant environment. Moreover, the determined minimal models allow for identifying the qualitative nature of the underlying dynamical systems as well as testing for the degree and strength of nonlinearity. The reconstructed differential equations would then be potentially available for classical numerical studies, such as bifurcation analysis. These results represent a physically interpretable enhancement of data-driven modeling approaches in structural dynamics. Full article

Innovative design and technological advancements in the construction industry have resulted in an increased use of large, slender and lightweight floors in contemporary office buildings. Compounded by an ever-increasing use of open-plan layouts with few internal partitions and thus lower damping, floor vibration is becoming a governing limit state in the modern structural design originating from dynamic footfall excitations. This could cause annoyance and discomfort to building occupants as well as knock-on management and financial consequences for facility owners. This article presents a comprehensive review pertinent to walking-induced dynamic loading of low-frequency floor structures. It is intended to introduce and explain key walking parameters in the field as well as summarise the development of previous walking models and methods for vibration serviceability assessment. Although a number of walking models and design procedures have been proposed, the literature survey highlights that further work is required in the following areas; (1) the development of a probabilistic multi-person loading model which accounts for inter- and intra-subject variabilities, (2) the identification of walking paths (routes accounting for the effect of occupancy patterns on office floors) coupled with spatial distribution of pedestrians and (3) the production of a statistical spatial response approach for vibration serviceability assessment. A stochastic approach, capable of taking into account uncertainties in loading model and vibration responses, appears to be a more reliable way forward compared to the deterministic approaches of the past and there is a clear need for further research in this area. Full article

Bolted joints are one of the most used machine elements. Holding together structures of all sizes, the integrity rests on their shoulders. Thus, an accurate and reliable assembly of the joint is crucial. While it is the aim to not experience friction-induced vibrations at all, at some situations, it is unavoidable. These cases, however, have yet been out of the focus of control algorithms due to the volatile nature of the process. This contribution delivers analytical and experimental results for the occurrence of friction-induced vibrations during tightening of bolted joints. Previous findings of system characteristic constants could be validated, which can be used to monitor the tightening process even while strong vibrations during the tightening process occur. Additionally, a real-time algorithm is presented which allows for an advanced process monitoring and control by identifying process characteristics based on which predictions of the process can be made. These measures significantly improve the capabilities to reach the target values of the tightening process. Full article

Contemporary design codes and guides for vibration serviceability assessment include some simplifications in load modelling. The same statistical distribution of the inter-pedestrian variability of the step interval (frequency) is proposed for all applications. Moreover, walking loads are considered to be periodic. The intra-pedestrian variability of the step interval is neglected. A more realistic load modelling trying to overcome the limitations of the codes is intended in this paper. Instead of a single mean value of the inter-pedestrian distribution of walking speed, a range of possible variation, which account for the real variations that occur in practice depending on the footbridge location and usage, is considered. An enhanced model is proposed in this paper to reproduce statistically both the intra- and inter-pedestrian variability of the step interval as a function of the walking speed distribution. This innovative model is then applied to study the sensitivity of the vertical response of footbridges to the variability of the step interval and to evaluate the influence of the aforementioned simplifications on the predicted characteristic responses. For this purpose, low-frequency footbridges excited by single-pedestrian crossings are chosen. The response is statistically characterized through Monte Carlo numerical simulations including 720 different configurations and 10,000 load cases in each configuration. Results of the study provide an overview of the influence of the footbridge and load parameters on the responses, which can be useful in practical applications where human–structure interactions are negligible. As for the simplifications of the codes, it is found that either using a single distribution to model the inter-pedestrian variability of the spatiotemporal parameters or neglecting the intra-pedestrian variability can lead to a significant underestimation of the characteristic response of footbridges. Full article

Wind action can induce large amplitude vibrations in the stay cables of bridges. To reduce the vibration level of these structural elements, different types of passive damping devices are usually installed. In this paper, a motion-based design method is proposed and implemented in order to achieve the optimum design of different passive damping devices for stay cables under wind action. According to this method, the design problem is transformed into an optimization problem. Thus, its main aim is to minimize the different terms of a multi-objective function, considering as design variables the characteristic parameters of each considered passive damping device. The multi-objective function is defined in terms of the scaled characteristic parameters, one single-function for each parameter, and an additional function that checks the compliance of the considered design criterion. Genetic algorithms are considered as a global optimization method. Three passive damping devices have been studied herein: viscous, elastomeric and friction dampers. As a benchmark structure, the Alamillo bridge (Seville, Spain), is considered in order to validate the performance of the proposed method. Finally, the parameters of the damping devices designed according to this proposal are successfully compared with the results provided by a conventional design method. Full article

This paper proposes a methodology to reconstruct the vertical GRFs from the registered body motion that is reasonably robust against measurement noise. The vertical GRFs are reconstructed from the experimentally identified time-variant pacing rate and a generalised single-step load model available in the literature. The proposed methodology only requires accurately capturing the body motion within the frequency range 1–10 Hz and does not rely on the exact magnitude of the registered signal. The methodology can therefore also be applied when low-cost sensors are used and to minimize the impact of soft-tissue artefacts. In addition, the proposed procedure can be applied regardless of the position of the sensor on the human body, as long as the recorded body motion allows for identifying the time of a nominally identical event in successive walking cycles. The methodology is illustrated by a numerical example and applied to an experimental dataset where the ground reaction forces and the body motion were registered simultaneously. The results show that the proposed methodology allows for arriving at a good estimate of the vertical ground reaction forces. When the impact of soft-tissue artefacts is low, a comparable estimate can be obtained using Newton’s second law of motion. Full article

This paper addresses the feasibility of an optical vibrometer that is based on the shift of the optical modes, also known as whispering gallery modes (WGMs), of a magnetorheological optical resonator. The optical resonator that is used in this study is fabricated by mixing polyvinyl chloride plastisol with magnetically polarizable particles. When a permanent magnet that is located nearby the optical resonator is moved, it induces a perturbation of the morphology of the resonator, due to the magnetostrictive effect. This change in the morphology induces a shift in the optical modes of the resonator. The shift of the optical modes can be related to the displacement of the permanent magnet. The proposed sensor concept is based on monitoring the displacement of a tiny magnet that is attached to a moving surface. The optical quality factor of the resonator used in these studies was of the order of 10⁶. The experimental results show a sensitivity of 0.32 pm/μm and a resolution that is less than 300 nm. Full article

The ability to characterize shocks which occur during road transport is a vital prerequisite for the design of optimized protective packaging, which can assist in reducing cost and waste related to products and good transport. Many methods have been developed to detect shocks buried in road vehicle vibration signals, but none has yet considered the nonstationary nature of vehicle vibration and how, individually, they fail to accurately detect shocks. Using machine learning, several shock detection methods can be combined, and the reliability and accuracy of shock detection can also be improved. This paper presents how these methods can be integrated into four different machine learning algorithms (Decision Tree, k-Nearest Neighbors, Bagged Ensemble, and Support Vector Machine). The Pseudo-Energy Ratio/Fall-Out (PERFO) curve, a novel classification assessment tool, is also introduced to calibrate the algorithms and compare their detection performance. In the context of shock detection, the PERFO curve has an advantage over classical assessment tools, such as the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, as it gives more importance to high-amplitude shocks. Full article

This study provides a forced vibration analysis to evaluate the stresses at the pedicel interfaces of the fruit-peduncle system of Coffea arabica L. var. Colombia by means of finite element analysis. The real topology of the fruit-peduncle system was developed from a proposed numerical procedure to complete a dynamic analysis. The Young’s modulus of the fruit was approximated from firmness indices for all stages of ripening. Numerical computations were performed in the frequency range of 0 to 400 Hz and three vibration modes were identified in this bandwidth. Results show that the second natural frequency (128 Hz) is acceptable for stimulating the detachment of ripe fruits because the fruit-pedicel-peduncle system induces bending in the fruit interface. As a final conclusion, we determine that dynamic excitations between 120 and 150 Hz could permit selective stimulus of ripe fruits, since other ripening stages were not stimulated in this frequency range. Full article

Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) are widely used for the control and mitigation of vibrations in engineering structures, including buildings, towers, bridges and wind turbines. The traditional representation of a TMD is a point mass connected to the structure by a spring and a dashpot. However, many TMDs differ from this model by having multiple mass components with motions of different magnitudes and directions. We say that such TMDs have added mass. Added mass is rarely introduced intentionally, but often arises as a by-product of the TMD suspension system or the damping mechanism. Examples include tuned pendulum dampers, tuned liquid dampers and other composite mechanical systems. In this paper, we show how a TMD with added mass can be analyzed using traditional methods for simple TMDs by introducing equivalent simple TMD parameters, including the effective TMD mass, the mass of the equivalent simple TMD. The presence of added mass always reduces the effective TMD mass. This effect is explained as a consequence of smaller internal motions of the TMD due to the increased inertia associated with the added mass. The effective TMD mass must be correctly calculated in order to predict the TMD efficiency and in order to properly tune the TMD. The developed framework is easy to apply to any given general linear TMD system with a known motion. Here, we demonstrate the approach for a number of well-known examples, including tuned liquid dampers, which are shown to use only a small fraction of the total liquid mass effectively. Full article

This research aims to analyze the vibration response of damaged rolling element bearings experimentally and to assess their degree of degradation by examining parameters extracted from the time domain. This task was accomplished in three phases. In the first phase, a test rig was carefully designed and precisely manufactured. In particular, an innovative solution for rapidly mounting and dismounting bearings on the supporting shaft was tested and used successfully. In the second phase, a specific technique of seeding defects inside the ball bearings was developed. In the last phase, damaged bearings (and healthy ones serving as a reference) were installed on the test rig, and different vibration measurements were taken. The results obtained from this work show that different parameters could be extracted from the time domain. In addition to the six common indicators (peak, root mean square, crest factor, kurtosis value, impulse factor, and shape factor), four hybrid new ones have been proposed (Talaf, Thikat, Siana and, Inthar). The experimental results confirm the well-known efficiency of kurtosis in the detection of bearing defects. However, the newly proposed parameters were found to be more responsive to defect growth. Full article

In this work, the nonlinear behaviour of a parametrically excited system with electromagnetic excitation is accurately modelled, predicted and experimentally investigated. The equations of motion include both the electromechanical coupling factor and the electromechanical damping. Unlike previous studies where only linear time-varying stiffness due to electromagnetic forces was presented, in this paper the effect of the induced current is studied. As a consequence, nonlinear parameters such as electromechanical damping, cubic stiffness and cubic parametric stiffness have been included in the model. These parameters are also observed experimentally by controlling the direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) passed through the electromagnets. In fact, the proposed apparatus allows to control both linear and nonlinear stiffnesses and the independent effect of each parameter on the response is presented. In particular the effect of the cubic parametric stiffness on the parametric resonance amplitudes and the influence of cubic stiffness on the frequency bandwidth of the parametric resonance are shown. This model improves the prediction of parametric resonance, frequency bandwidth, and the response amplitude of parametrically excited systems and it may lead to refined design of electromagnetic actuators, filters, amplifiers, vibration energy harvesters, and magnetic bearings. Full article