San Jose State University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

ME 120 Experimental Methods

Dynamic Signal Analysis

BJ Furman
02NOV02

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

Static and Dynamic Signal Components

Static signal
❖ Value does not change appreciably over the time
scale of interest
• Ex. The average temperature in the room to the nearest
°C over the next second

Dynamic signal
❖ Value is time dependent
• Deterministic – can predict ahead of time

Periodic – ex. sine wave

Aperiodic – ex. step function

• Non-deterministic – cannot predict ahead of time

Ex. Freeway noise signal

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

1
Static and Dynamic Signal Components, cont.

Mean value is a measure of static or “dc”

component of a signal y t2

∫ y ( t ) dt
y
y= t1
t 2 − t1
time

RMS value is a measure of the magnitude of
fluctuations about the average of signal
t2

∫ y(t ) dt
2

y RMS = t1
t 2 − t1

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

Frequency Analysis of Dynamic Signals

Importantto know the frequency content of
measured signals
❖ Vibration analysis
• Structural resonant frequencies
• Excitation signal
❖ Noise abatement

Periodic dynamic signals can be represented by
a Fourier series 1
A = ∫ y (t )dt
T /2
0
T −T / 2

∞ 2 T /2 2π nt
T ∫− T / 2
y (t ) = A0 + ∑ ( An cos(nω t ) + Bn sin( nω t )) An = y (t ) cos( )dt
n =1
T
2 T /2 2π nt
Bn = ∫ y (t )sin( )dt
T −T / 2 T
T (=2π/ω) is the period of the signal
BJ Furman SJSU MAE

2
Example

Square Wave
1

-1
T=2π/ω

❖ A0=0 (the mean signal level is zero)

❖ An=0 (the signal is “odd”, y(t)=-y(-t))
Bn= 2 − 2 cos( nπ ) 4 Fourier Coefficients
❖ = for n odd
nπ nπ 1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
N

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

Frequency Analysis of Dynamic Signals, cont.

General (not necessarily periodic) dynamic

signals can be represented by the Fourier
transform
+∞
Y( f ) = ∫ y (t )e − i 2π f t dt
−∞

❖ Amplitude-frequency function is continuous in

frequency rather than multiples of the fundamental
frequency

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

3
Discrete Fourier Transform

Signals
are sampled by data acquisition
hardware
❖ Over a finite period of time (not ±∞)
t1 t2

❖ Finite number of samples (discrete, not continuous data,

usually taken at fixed sampling rate

❖ For sampled data, the Fourier transform integral

can be approximated by a summation
• the Discrete Fourier Transform

Next Page

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

The Discrete Fourier Transform, cont.

Discrete Fourier Transform
N −1
Y ( f k ) = ∑ y ( n∆t )e − i (2π k ∆f )( n∆ t ) for k=0, 1, 2..., N-1
n =0
f k = k ∆f
fs 1 1 1
∆f = = = =
N N ∆t T sampling period
= frequency resolution of the DFT (like the ω for the Fourier Series)

f s = sampling frequency
N = total number of samples (note the effect on ∆f )
∆t=time increment between samples

Fast Fourier Transform

❖ A DFT algorithm especially suited for digital
computation
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FFT for a Square Wave Signal

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

Things to Mind in Frequency Analysis

Dynamic range of measurement device and
signal amplitude Voltage

❖ Clipping 5V
• Ex. 0 – 5 V range setting on
A/D

Sampling frequency
Time

❖ Aliasing
• The sampling frequency must be at least 2x the highest
frequency component contained in the signal to be
measured, or else aliasing will occur

Aliasing is a “folding back” of actual frequencies

Ex. Aliasing.vi

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5
Calculation of Aliased Frequencies
frequency rules for signal frequency f and

Alias
sampling frequency fs:
❖ f < 1/2fs
• No aliasing
❖ f > 1/2fs
• Aliasing will occur

Alias frequency:

f alias = f − nf s
where nf s is the closest integer multiple of the sampling frequency

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

Aliasing Example

Suppose a signal has frequency components at
25, 70, 160, and 510 Hz and is sampled at 100
Hz. What will the aliased frequencies be?

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6
 Low-Pass Filtering to Avoid Aliasing

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/071CE6EC33E4377A8625686600580F22?opendocument

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

Frequency Band Limiting

The FFT algorithm implicitly extends the time
record of the sampled signal to make it “periodic”
❖ If the sampled signal doesn’t contain an integer
multiple of cycles of the underlying periodic signal(s),
additional frequency components are introduced in
the FFT result
• Spectral “leakage”

http://ni.techonline.com/scripts/tol.exe?CONFIG,ni.txt&SID,11585.19559.20021109&TEMPLATE,pc_main.ops&AREA,8&COURSE,1164

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

7
Frequency Band Limiting, cont.

Windowing
❖ To reduce the effects of spectral leakage (“noise” in
the frequency domain), apply a “window” to the
sampled data before taking the FFT.
• A “window” is a scaling factor applied to each data point that
has the result of minimizing the effects of discontinuities in
the periodic extension of the sampled waveform
• Types (not exhaustive)

Rectangle

Hanning

Hamming

Flat top

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Windowing Example

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8
Frequency Resolution
N −1
Y ( f k ) = ∑ y ( n∆t )e − i (2π k ∆f )( n∆ t ) for k=0, 1, 2..., N-1
n =0
f k = k ∆f
fs 1 1 1
∆f = = = =
N N ∆t T sampling period
= frequency resolution of the DFT (like the ω for the Fourier Series)

f s = sampling frequency
N = total number of samples (note the effect on ∆f )
∆t=time increment between samples

Increase N to achieve finer frequency resolution

BJ Furman SJSU MAE

References

Figliola, R. S., Beasley, D. E., Theory and Design for Mechanical
Measurements, 3rd ed., J. Wiley & Sons, New York, 2000.

National Instruments, “The Fundamentals of FFT-Based Signal
Analysis and Measurement in LabVIEW and LabWindows,
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/conceptd.nsf/webmain/C045A8907513
03A6862568650061EA98?OpenDocument, November 9, 2002.

Digital Signal Processing Tutorial,
http://www.dsptutor.freeuk.com/aliasing/AliasFrq.htm, November
9, 2002.

ME 82 - Mechanical Engineering Measurements,
http://www.me.psu.edu/me82/, November 9, 2002.

BJ Furman SJSU MAE