F

irst, in order to explain resonance

we have to explain the terms we
will use.
A resonance is a particular frequency.
Frequency measures the amount of time
it takes to complete one cycle
The number of cycles in one second is
the frequency of an oscillation.
Frequency is measured in Hertz, named
after the 19th-century German physicist
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
A single Hertz is equal to one cycle per
second.
In technical terms, resonance is the tendency of
a structure or material to oscillate at maximum
amplitude at a certain frequency. This frequency
is known as the structures resonant frequency. A
dictionary gives us - the state of a system in which
an abnormally large vibration is produced in response
to an external stimulus, occurring when the frequency
of the stimulus is the same, or nearly the same, as the
natural vibration frequency of the system.
When damping is small, the resonant frequency is
approximately equal to the natural frequency of the
structure, which is the frequency of free vibrations of
the molecules of the material itself.
Further, resonance is the condition when the natural
frequency of a structure or material and the frequency
at which it is operated are equal or very nearly
equal. This makes the structure or material become
very excited; this is the classical resonance state.
This resonance state can often lead to unexpected
behaviour of the structure or material.
The natural frequency, often called the fundamental
frequency, is related to the size of the structure and
the material it is made of. This is because the larger
the structure the lower the frequency and therefore
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What is Resonance ?
1
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What is Resonance ? 3 What is Resonance ? 2
Figure 2
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What is Resonance ? 3 What is Resonance ? 2
a larger waveform can exist inside the structure or
material. The natural frequency is also related to
the speed the waveform can propagate through the
structure. This is determined largely by the molecular
make up of the material. Gas, for example, has
many free molecules with high kinetic energy, so the
waveform can move quickly through the material. A
solid has much fewer free molecules and is much
denser, therefore the waveform moves much more
slowly.
In order to measure the resonance of a structure or
material with a Prosig P8000 data acquisition system
and DATS Professional signal processing software it is
necessary to attach an accelerometer to the structure.
It is then required to exert or stimulate the structure
with the frequencies that it is normally exposed to
in its working life. For example, an automotive car
tyre would need to be subject to the frequencies it
would encounter whilst in use. This would normally
be accomplished by use of a shaker or a large heavy
hammer. The tyre for example would need to be tested
in isolation, whilst not connected to anything else like
the vehicle suspension or wheel rim as these other
parts would have their own resonant frequencies
and would make the capture and analysis of the tyre
resonant frequency difcult.
The measured response from the accelerometer will
be relative to the excitation. The excitation must be
an acceptable representation of the normal working
frequencies applied to the structure or material. If this
structure has a resonance in this frequency range there
will be a large peak. This large peak is the resonant
frequency of the structure or material. If no peak is
detected then the resonant frequency is outside the
operating range of the structure or material. In order
to nd the resonant frequency of the structure or
material it is then required to apply a wider range of
frequency excitation until the resonance is found.
Figure 1 shows a frequency spectrum, this spectrum
is a response of a structure to its excitation. A large
spike can clearly be seen at approximately 250 Hz.
Figure 2 shows a frequency spectrum, this spectrum
as in Figure 1 shows a frequency response. However,
Figure 2 shows, using cursors, the exact frequency of
the resonance. In this case the resonant frequency is
245 Hz.
This means that this structure should probably not
be used if in its working life it will be exposed to this
frequency. Figure 2 also shows that if this structure
was to be used, and only exposed to 300Hz to 400
Hz or perhaps 0Hz to 200Hz , its resonant frequency
would not be excited. And therefore the structure
would behave as expected.
Prosig provide data acquisition,
noise & vibration, acoustic,
health & condition monitoring and
renement solutions for the scientic and engineering
communities and offer a number of standard hardware
and software products. Take a look at www.prosig.com to
discover why major automotive, military, aerospace, power
and industrial companies rely on Prosig for their complete
data acquisition, signal analysis and reporting software &
hardware.
James Wren
James Wren is Sales Manager and an
Application Engineer for Prosig Limited.
James graduated from Portsmouth
University in 2001, with a Masters degree
in Electronic Engineering. He is a member
of the Institute of Electronic Engineers. He
has been involved with motorsport from a
very early age with special interest in data
acquisition. James is a founder member of the Dalmeny
Racing team.
Prosig Software Used in This Note
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full catalogue. Or email your queries to sales@prosig.com.
DATS Professional software (01-55-622)
Acquisition, analysis & reporting
Wide range of analysis functions
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The DATS software package contains all of
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Data acquisition software comes as standard.
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DATS offers outstanding value both in cost
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This provides a complete audit trail from
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DATS includes a full featured acquisition
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Scripts offer a fully featured Visual
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