Vibrations and Sensor Technology

Vibrations

This course will provide the student with engineering aspects of linear vibrations in mechanical systems – in particular continuous structures. The following areas are addressed

• The simple mechanical oscillator
• Free and forced response
• Impedance, mobility and similar measures
• Resonance and energy
• The vibrating string, simple and complex boundary conditions, normal modes and Fourier’s theorem
• Longitudinal and transverse vibrations of a bar
• Vibrations of membranes and plates
• Introduction to Modal analysis
• Introduction to Finite Element Analysis

Sensor Technology

• This course will provide the student with practical aspects of sensor design, construction, and testing including
• Sensor performance characteristics
• Physical principles applied in specific sensor platforms such as motion sensors, electromagnetic sensors, and temperature sensors
• Measurement uncertainty and errors
• Sensor interfacing and signal conditioning
• Signal noise and noise reduction detection schemes, e.g. lock-in detection
• Computer-controlled instrumentation and data acquisition in sensor systems

Vibrations

The student will acquire knowledge on:

• Simple vibrating systems and the terminology used to describe them
• Linear vibrations in strings, bars, membranes and plates
• Damping of vibrations
• Modal analysis and Finite Element analysis

Sensor Technology

• The student will acquire knowledge on:
• Different sensor classes and physical principles applied in specific sensors
• Sensor characteristics and dynamic properties: Transfer function, dynamic range, time response, hysteresis, linearity, saturation, repeatability, resolution, dead band, and other aspects
• Calibration and calibration error, accuracy, precision, measurement uncertainty and errors
• Signal noise: signal-to-noise ratio, noise, sources and properties, e.g. thermal noise, 1/f-noise, and shot noise 
• Sensor interfacing and signal conditioning: Amplification, ratiometric circuits, bridge circuits, lock-in detection, compensation techniques 
• Computer-controlled instrumentation and data acquisition in sensor systems

Vibrations

The student will be able to:

• Describe vibrating systems in terms of point and transfer impedances and mobilities
• Derive analytical expressions for linear vibrations in strings, bars, membranes and plates
• Describe vibrating systems in terms of modes
• Perform Finite Element Analysis of structures both with respect to free and forced response

Sensor Technology

The student will be able to:

• Experimentally determine the characteristics of a sensor system including the signal conditioning circuit and data acquisition hardware
• Perform a sensor calibration 
• Select and apply appropriate signal conditioning circuits for specific sensor applications
• Evaluate the measurement uncertainty and measurement errors of the sensor system
• Asses the immunity of the sensor to interference from the environment 
• Be able to determine the noise characteristics and quantify the noise  
• Use computer-controlled instrumentation and data acquisition

Vibrations

The student is able to:

• Setup and discuss the governing equations that describe linear vibrations in continuous structures
• Solve vibrational problems using several methods and discuss the strengths/weaknesses of the methods used

Sensor Technology

The student is able to:

• Select appropriate sensors, signal conditioning, and data acquisition hardware for given applications
• On the basis of an evaluation of the occurring noise sources choose an appropriate detection scheme maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio
• Document the characteristics and performance of the sensor system according to industrial standards

This course is co-teached with

• Mechanical Vibrations (T470006101)

• Sensor and Measurement Technology (T470007101)