Testing Services
We know from our extensive experience as Vibration Consultants and as Acoustic Consultants that the initial assessment is critical to asking the right questions at the start of investigation. These questions will lead to a set of initial hypotheses about the issues at hand. A sound foundation of vibration and acoustic noise theory, basic physics, strong mechanical intuition, and years of structural dynamics experience are necessary to design an effective set of tests. The limitations of where instrumentation can be placed, the inherent sensor limitations, and the impact on the system dynamics need to be considered. Thus, designing the experimental setup to extract meaningful vibration analysis and acoustic analysis results is perhaps the most important step in solving a pressing issue where time, patience, and resources are in short supply.
We design tests to measure static and dynamics strain, static and dynamic pressure, acceleration, velocity, displacement, magnetic field, temperature, fluid flow, and light intensity, to name a few.
Key concepts common in diagnostic testing:
-Multi-variable testing is usually necessary to really get a handle on an issue involving multiple disciplines of physics.
-Real world problems involving the measurement of multiple variables require an understanding of the physics of the coupling between them as well as the physics and limitations of the measurement instrumentation.
-Additionally, problems in different frequency ranges necessitate unique approaches involving instrument selection, mounting dynamics, cabling, and coupling with other structures and media.
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We use testing expertise and various methods of systems modeling to make sense of the system problems so that we will have confidence that our understanding is indeed correct (or sufficiently correct). We also make an effort to know what we don't know by considering measurement error, instrumentation noise, resolution limitations, and non-linear behaviors.
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It is in the nuts and bolts of knowing good data from bad that brings indispensable value to our analyses. We perform under pressure to solve critical vibration, acoustic, thermal, control stability, and other engineering challenges. Where a team of excellent engineers and physicists are stretched thin and fall short, we join the effort and help the team succeed by bringing our structural dynamics expertise and over 30 years of multi-disciplined problem solving experience to the table.
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We get our hands dirty and build prototypes, create mock-ups, and proof-of-concept “fixes”, often by improvising with what we have on hand, to demonstrate engineering solutions. We then work with the client to make these “fixes” manufacturable.
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We most often characterize a problem first and work from known conditions, and stay in “the known” as we proceed by making sense of what we observe as we move forward. This is very important. We test and analyze the change in dynamics we are trying to create in real-time, on site, and often make changes to our experimental test plan on the fly as we discover how a system is actually behaving. In doing so we often get meaningful results from which we can make sound engineering decisions in a short time frame. We do NOT make measurements and spit out data.
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We focus on the important dynamic parameters of the system and its boundary conditions, and design tests to prove or disprove hypotheses. When performing vibration analysis and vibration testing, there are countless ways to create erroneous results. It takes effort and experience to extract meaningful results, interpret them, and then engineer creative and sound solutions. Whether it involves testing in the cleanroom instrumenting a delicate optical interferometer using a tiny non-contact capacitive sensor, or climbing through a power plant structure running hundreds of feet of cable to an accelerometer array to troubleshoot a Turbine Isolation Issue, we often employ many of the same principles, concepts, and methodologies of vibration analysis and acoustic analysis.
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Response Dynamics has made Diagnostic Testing our bread and butter for over 30 years. We do this work well because we enjoy and are well grounded in basic physics and have particular expertise in structural dynamics and how it relates to vibration and acoustic noise issues on a myriad of levels. We get our hands dirty and build prototypes, create mock-ups, and proof-of-concept “fixes”, often by improvising with what we have on hand, to demonstrate engineering solutions. We then work with the client to make these “fixes” manufacturable.
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We know instrumentation, digital signal processing, and spectral analysis. We use our specialized skill set, and a vast array of instrumentation that we have collected for over 3 decades, to design tests and solve tricky problems from nanometer disturbances in interferometers, to thermal and acoustic issues in military control hardware, to magnetic/acoustic/vibration issues in scanning electron microscopes, to turbine isolation issues in hundred megawatt power plants, to optics vibration and servo control issues in sub-micron genomics microscopes and mountain top telescopes, to name a few.
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We design tests to measure static and dynamics strain, static and dynamic pressure, acceleration, velocity, displacement, magnetic field, temperature, fluid flow, and light intensity, to name a few. Key concepts common in diagnostic testing: Multi-variable testing is usually necessary to really get a handle on an issue involving multiple disciplines of physics. Real world problems involving the measurement of multiple variables require an understanding of the physics of the coupling between them as well as the physics and limitations of the measurement instrumentation.Additionally, problems in different frequency ranges necessitate unique approaches involving instrument selection, mounting dynamics, cabling, and coupling with other structures and media.
​
We use testing expertise and various methods of systems modeling to make sense of the system problems so that we will have confidence that our understanding is indeed correct (or sufficiently correct). We also make an effort to know what we don't know by considering measurement error, instrumentation noise, resolution limitations, and non-linear behaviors.
It is in the nuts and bolts of knowing good data from bad that brings indispensable value to our analyses.