Abstract:
Structural qualification of flight hardware has inherent risks, including damage caused by over-test or transients caused by the abrupt shutdown of the shaker. The probability of such a catastrophe can be minimized by ensuring every part of the vibration qualification stand has been designed to protect the unit under test. The shaker, amplifier, slip table and hydraulic guidance, controller, and analyzer system all play their own critical role in protection against over-test and unwanted transients. This paper will examine the current state of technology for each of these subcomponents and will suggest best practices that mitigate the risk of damaging flight hardware during dynamic qualification.

Co-authored and presented by: Raman Sridharan
Raman Sridharan is Senior Product Manager at Data Physics Corporation and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California Berkeley, and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park. He has worked in the field of vibration acquisition, signal processing, and shaker control for 12 years. His recent work focuses on MIMO Vibration Control and developing algorithms and software for shaker control applications.

Co-authored by: Thomas Reilly
Thomas Reilly is Vice President of Data Physics Instruments at NVT Group. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He has worked in the field of vibration and acoustic testing and analysis for 38 years. He provided technical support for the successful vibration testing of both the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA Goddard and the Orion Service Module at NASA Armstrong.