[pt] Neste trabalho a Análise de Vibrações é tratada no contexto da formulação fraca. Um sistema contínuo é formulado abstratamente em um espaço de Hilbert e uma base de projeção é escolhida para a dinâmica. Um esquema de convergência para a aproximação é garantido à medida em que se aumenta o número de funções da base usada para representar a resposta do problema. Esta é a idéia por traz de métodos como o Método dos Elementos Finitos e o Método dos Modos Supostos, que derivam do Método de Galerkin. Esta estratégia é diferente do que comumente é ensinado nos cursos de vibrações, onde um sistema massa-mola é analisado, e sistemas discretos formados por massas, molas e amortecedores são discutidos. Nestes casos não se sabe qual é o erro cometido na análise numérica. A Análise de Vibrações é muito usada na manutenção preditiva de máquinas rotativas. Alguns fenômenos observados nesses equipamentos motivaram o desenvolvimento de um modelo numérico que pudesse reproduzir tais fenômenos para melhor entendê-los. Um sistema rotor-mancal é modelado e sua resposta dinâmica comparada qualitativamente com a resposta dinâmica captada através de acelerômetros fixados nos mancais de um exaustor da Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão (CST). Durante o trabalho diversos programas foram desenvolvidos através da plataforma MATLAB. / [en] Vibration Analysis is treated in the context of weak formulation. A continuous system is formulated in the Hilbert space and one base is selected to project the dynamics. An approximation scheme is guaranteed by increasing the number of functions in the base used to represent the response. This is the idea behind methods like the Finite Element Method and Assumed Modes Method, which derive from Galerkin Method. This strategy is different from what is commonly taught in vibration courses, where a mass-spring system is analyzed and discrete systems composed by masses, springs and dashpots are discussed. In those cases the error of the numerical analysis is not known. Vibration Analysis is very used in predictive maintenance of rotating machines. Some phenomenons observed in those machines motivated the development of a numerical model that could reproduce such phenomenons to better understand them. A rotor-bearing system is modelled and its dynamic response is qualitative compared to the dynamic response captured by accelerometers fixed on the bearings of a blower of the steel company Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão (CST). During this work several programs were developed using MATLAB software.

Vibrations in staircases have during the last decades become an important issue in design. The main reasons are current architectural trends aiming for innovative, slender and high staircases, together with developments in material properties and building technique, making these aims possible. The improved material properties and slender design of the staircase makes the structure lightweight and have great impact on the flexibility and dynamic performance of the staircase. This have resulted in that vibration serviceability criteria increasingly often are becoming governing in design. The performance of staircases in serviceability under dynamic loads is however very hard to predict. In many cases hand calculations will not be sufficient, and a computerized model, e.g. a finite element model, need to be created. Creating a finite element model that performs well when subjected to dynamic loads is however not simple. Especially boundary conditions, connections and the effect of non-structural elements are hard to adequately represent. The formulation of the load is also a complex question. The main dynamic load that staircases are subjected to, that causes uncomfort for the user, is the load that the user themselves apply on the structure, when ascending or descending.  The main part of this master thesis project is a case study of two lightweight, steel staircases. To form a basis for the case study, current research have been summarized in a literature survey. An introduction of elementary dynamics is also made for less conversant reader. The literature survey reviews previous research about loads introduced by humans and how these can be formulated, both for single human excitation and group loading. How vibrations arise and how humans percept vibrations is also reviewed. The view and recommendations of standards and regulations about load formulation and vibration acceleration limits is presented. Recommendations in research for finite element modeling of staircases and dynamic loads is also reviewed. The case study consists of measurements and analyzing of finite element models of the staircases. Measurements of vibrations and the dynamic response of the staircases under human introduced loads have been conducted. The human introduced loads included are an impulse load created by a jump, ascent at a moderate pace of a single subject and descent at a moderate pace by a single subject. The measurements have been recreated in finite element models. Different modeling choices and formulations for ascending, descending, and impulse loads are studied.  The aim is to investigate how different modeling choices in connections, boundary conditions and adjacent structure, affects the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the staircase. Different load formulations for the loads are analyzed, both for the impulse load and for the loads created by a subject ascending and descending. With these results as a basis, some general recommendations about construction a finite element mode of a staircase and achieving appropriate load formulation for dynamic loads are made. / Vibrationer i trappor har under de senaste årtiondena blivit en viktig fråga vid projekteringen av trappor. De främsta anledningar är dagens arkitektoniska trender som eftersträvar innovativa, slanka och långa trappor, tillsammans med utveckling i material egenskaper och förbättrade byggmetoder som möjliggör dessa trender. De förbättrade materialegenskaperna samt den slanka designen av trappan gör konstruktionen lätt och har stor påverkan på styvheten samt det dynamiska gensvaret hos trappan. Detta har resulterat i att vibrationer i bruksgränstillståndet allt oftare är dimensionerande i designen av trappan.    Responsen under dynamiska laster i bruksgränstillståndet hos trappan är dock väldigt svårt att förutbestämma. I de flest fall är handberäkningar inte tillräckliga för att förutsäga detta beteende och en dator modell, t.ex. en finita element modell, behöver utvecklas. Att utveckla en finita element modell som genererar tillförlitliga respons är dock inte enkelt. Speciellt randvillkoren, kopplingar och effekten av icke bärande element är svårt att modellera tillförlitligt. Hur man formulerar lasten kan också vara en svår fråga. Den främst dynamiska lasten som trappor utsätts för som skapar obekväma vibrationer för användaren, är också skapade av användaren själv eller andra användare som går upp eller ner i trappan.  Huvuddelen av detta arbete består av en fallstudie av två lätta ståltrappor. För att få en bas för fallstudien har rådande forskning gåtts igenom och summerats i en litteraturstudie. En introduktion av grundläggande dynamik har även gjorts för den mindre insatta läsaren.  Litteraturstudien har gått igenom forsning om dynamiska laster orsakade av människor och hur dessa kan beskrivas, både för laster orsakade av en människa, samt även för en grupp av människor. Hur vibrationer uppkommer och hur människor uppfattar vibrationer har också undersökts. Standarders uppfattning och rekommendationer, samt regelverk om lastformulering och gränsvärden för vibrationer presenteras. Rekommendationer från forskning av finita element modeller av trappor och dynamiska laster i dessa gås också igenom. Fallstudien består av mätningar i de verkliga trapporna, och av uppbyggnad och analysering av finita element modeller av trapporna. Mätningar av vibrationer och den dynamiska responsen hos trapporna när de utsätts för dynamiska laster orsakade av människor har utförts. De studerade lasterna inkluderar en impulslast skapad av ett hopp, last från en människa som går upp i trappan och last från en människa som går ner i trappan. Mätningarna har sedan försökts återskapas i finita element modellerna. Olika modellerings val och formuleringar för gång och impuls lasterna har studerats. Syftet är att undersöka hur olika modelleringsval hos kopplingar, randvillkor samt närliggande struktur påverkar egenfrekvenserna och modeformen hos trapporna. Olika beskrivningar på lasterna analyseras, både för impuls lasten, samt lasten från en människa som gå upp eller ner i trappan. Med hjälp av dessa resultat kommer några generella rekommendationer om hur finita element modeller av trappor kan konstrueras och hur en tillbörlig lastformulering för dynamiska laster uppnås.

A number of non-invasive fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) techniques have been researched and have proven to have worked well in classifying faults in internal combustion engines (ICE) and other mechanical and electrical systems. These techniques are an integral step to creating more robust and accurate methods of determining where or how a fault has or will occur in such systems. These FDD techniques have the potential to not only save time avoiding a tear-down of a costly machine, but could potentially add another layer of safety in detecting and diagnosing a fault much earlier than was possible before. Looking at the previous research methods and the systems they used to acquire this data, it is a natural progression to try and make a system which is able to encapsulate all of these ideologies into one inexpensive module capable of integrating itself into the advanced set of FDD. This thesis follows along with the development of a new wireless sensor that is developed specifically for the use in FDD for ICE and other mechanical systems. A new set of software and firmware is created for the system to be able to be incorporated into previously designed algorithms. After creating and manufacturing the sensor it is put to the test by incorporating it into several Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and comparing the results to previous experiments done with previous research equipment. Using vibration data acquired from a running engine to train a neural network, the wireless sensor was able to perform equally as well as its expensive counter parts. It proved to have the ability to achieve 100% accuracy in classifying specific engine faults. The performance of three ANN training algorithms, Levenberg-Marquardt (LM), extended Kalman Filter (EKF), and Smooth Variable Structure filter (SVSF), were tested and compared. Adding to the feasibility of a standalone system the wireless sensor was tested in a live environment as a method of instant ICE fault detection. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

L’analyse vibratoire constitue une part très importante des moyens de mesures pour la surveillance et la détection des défauts mécaniques des machines tournantes. Le positionnement des accéléromètres est stratégique et contribue fortement à la réussite du diagnostic ; la proximité du capteur de l’élément défaillant est une condition très utile, mais pas toujours réalisable. La corrélation entre le bruit émis par une machine et son état est assez étroite et montre l’apport des mesures acoustiques pour l’optimisation du diagnostic. L’imagerie acoustique, très appliquée pour détecter des sources dans le domaine du transport, avec ses multiples méthodes (holographie, beamforming, etc…) peut être un moyen pour remonter aux défauts mécaniques. Dans cet objectif, plusieurs stratégies basées sur l’algorithme de beamforming sont développées. Premièrement, des indicateurs communément utilisés pour le diagnostic des machines sont visualisés en fonction de l’espace. Le kurtosis permet de localiser les sources impulsives qui peuvent être reliées à un défaut. De nouveaux indicateurs basés sur le spectre d’enveloppe des signaux focalisés sont également mis en place pour détecter les défauts de roulement de bague interne et externe. D’autre part, la moyenne synchrone angulaire est utilisée pour extraire le champ acoustique synchrone avec la rotation d'un composant de la machine. Les sources reliées à un défaut sont affectées au champ résiduel et peuvent être identifiées dans les cartographies. Enfin, une nouvelle méthode d'imagerie acoustique qui exploite les fonctions de transfert vibroacoustiques entre des accéléromètres positionnés sur la machine et une antenne acoustique est développée. Elle permet d'obtenir des cartographies de la pression rayonnée sur une surface de la machine uniquement à partir d'accéléromètres. Son applicabilité à la détection de défaut est également démontrée sur un banc à engrenages. / Vibration analysis is mainly used in condition monitoring and fault detection of rotating machine domain. The success of the diagnosis is strongly related to the position of the accelerometers. However, the machine geometry sometimes prevents the sensors to be placed close enough to the faulted part causing the diagnostic failure. The sound emitted by a mechanism and its condition are related. Using microphones to optimize condition monitoring is then justified. Acoustic imaging techniques (acoustic holography, beamforming, etc…) are mainly used as a source localization and quantification tool but they can be turned into a powerful diagnosis tool. Several strategies based on the beamforming algorithm are developed in this work. Firstly, diagnosis features commonly used in condition monitoring of rotating machinery are mapped as a function of space. Kurtosis allows localizing impulsive sources which eventually can be related to a mechanism failure. New features based on the squared envelope spectrum of the focused signals are also introduced. They aim toward the detection of inner and outer race fault in roller element bearings. On the other hand, angular synchronous average is used to extract the acoustic field synchronous with one component rotation. The sources related to a fault are localized in the residual field mappings. Finally, a new imaging technique based on the vibroacoustic transfer functions between a few accelerometers placed on the machine and the microphone array is developed. It allows obtaining the mappings of the radiated pressure on the machine surface only thanks to the accelerometers. It is tested as a fault detection tool on a test bench

Rubber like materials find wide applications in damping treatment of structures, vibration isolations and they appear prominently in the form of hoses in many structures such as aircraft engines. The study reported in this thesis addresses a few issues in computational modeling of vibration of structures with some of its components made up of rubber like materials. Specifically, the study explores the use of fractional derivatives in representing the constitutive laws of such material and focuses its attention on problems of parameter identification in linear time invariant systems with fractional order damping models. The thesis is divided into four chapters and two annexures. A review of literature related to mathematical modeling of damping with emphasis on fractional order derivative models is presented in chapter 1. The review covers lternatives available for modeling energy dissipation that include viscous, structural and hybrid damping models. The advantages of using fractional order derivative models in this context is pointed out and papers dealing with solution of differential equations with fractional order derivatives are reviewed. Issues related to finite element modeling and random vibration analysis of systems with fractional order damping models are also covered. The review recognizes the problems of system parameter identification based on inverse eigensensitivity and inverse FRF sensitivity as problems requiring further research. The problem of determination of derivatives of eigensolutions and FRF-s with respect to system parameters of linear time invariant systems with fractional order damping models is considered in chapter 2. The eigensolutions here are obtained as solutions of a generalized asymmetric eigenvalue problem. The order of system matrices here depends upon the mechanical degrees of freedom and also somewhat artificially on the fractional order of the derivative terms. The formulary for first and second order eigenderivatives are developed taking account of these features. This derivation also takes into account the various orthogonality relations satisfied by the complex valued eigenvectors. The system FRF-s are obtained by a straight forward inversion of the system dynamic stiffness matrix and also by using a series solution in terms of system eigensolutions. As might be expected, the two solutions lead to identical results. The first and the second order derivatives of FRF-s are obtained based on system dynamic matrix and without taking recourse to modal summation. Numerical examples that bring out various facets of eigensolutions, FRF-s and their sensitivities are presented with reference to single and multi degree freedom systems. The application sensitivity analysis developed in chapter 2 to problems of system parameter identification is considered in chapter 3. Methods based on inverse eigensensitivity and inverse FRF sensitivity are outlined. The scope of these methods cover first and second order analyses and applications to single and multi degree freedom systems. While most illustrations are based on synthetic measurement data, limited efforts are also made to implement the identification methods using laboratory measurement data. The experimental work has involved the measurement of FRF-s on a system consisting of two steel tubes connected by a rubber hose. The two system identification methods are shown to perform well especially when information on second order sensitivity are included in the analysis. The method based on inverse eigensolution is shown to become increasingly unwieldy to apply as the order of the system matrices increases while the FRF based method does not suffer from this drawback. The FRF based method also has the advantage that the prior knowledge of order of fractional order derivative terms is not needed in its implementation while such knowledge is assumed in the method based on eigensolutions. While the methods are shown to perform satisfactorily when synthetic measurement data is used, their success is not uniformly good when laboratory measurement data are employed. Chapter 4 presents a summary of contributions made in the thesis and also enlists a few suggestions for further research. Annexure I provides a précis of elementary notion of fractional order derivatives and integrals. A case study on finite element analysis of aircraft engine component made up of metallic and rubber materials is outlined in Annexure II and the study points towards possible advantages of using fractional order damping models in the study of such structures.

Uncertainties in load and system properties play a significant role in reliability analysis of vibrating structural systems. The subject of random vibrations has evolved over the last few decades to deal with uncertainties in external loads. A well developed body of literature now exists which documents the status of this subject. Studies on the influ­ence of system property uncertainties on reliability of vibrating structures is, however, of more recent origin. Currently, the problem of dynamic response characterization of sys­tems with parameter uncertainties has emerged as a subject of intensive research. The motivation for this research activity arises from the need for a more accurate assess­ment of the safety of important and high cost structures like nuclear plant installations, satellites and long span bridges. The importance of the problem also lies in understand­ing phenomena like mode localization in nearly periodic structures and deviant system behaviour at high frequencies. It is now well established that these phenomena are strongly influenced by spatial imperfections in the vibrating systems. Design codes, as of now, are unable to systematically address the influence of scatter and uncertainties. Therefore, there is a need to develop robust design algorithms based on the probabilistic description of the uncertainties, leading to safer, better and less over-killed designs. Analysis of structures with parameter uncertainties is wrought with diffi­culties, which primarily arise because the response variables are nonlinearly related to the stochastic system parameters; this being true even when structures are idealized to display linear material and deformation characteristics. The problem is further com­pounded when nonlinear structural behaviour is included in the analysis. The analysis of systems with parameter uncertainties involves modeling of random fields for the system parameters, discretization of these random fields, solutions of stochastic differential and algebraic eigenvalue problems, inversion of random matrices and differential operators, and the characterization of random matrix products. It should be noted that the mathematical nature of many of these problems is substantially different from those which are encountered in the traditional random vibration analysis. The basic problem lies in obtaining the solution of partial differential equations with random coefficients which fluctuate in space. This has necessitated the development of methods and tools to deal with these newer class of problems. An example of this development is the generalization of the finite element methods of structural analysis to encompass problems of stochastic material and geometric characteristics. The present thesis contributes to the development of methods and tools to deal with structural uncertainties in the analysis of vibrating structures. This study is a part of an ongoing research program in the Department, which is aimed at gaining insights into the behaviour of randomly parametered dynamical systems and to evolve computational methods to assess the reliability of large scale engineering structures. Recent studies conducted in the department in this direction, have resulted in the for­mulation of the stochastic dynamic stiffness matrix for straight Euler-Bernoulli beam elements and these results have been used to investigate the transient and the harmonic steady state response of simple built-up structures. In the present study, these earlier formulations are extended to derive the stochastic dynamic stiffness matrix for a more general beam element, namely, the curved Timoshenko beam element. Furthermore, the method has also been extended to study the mean and variance of the stationary response of built-up structures when excited by stationary stochastic forces. This thesis is organized into five chapters and four appendices. The first chapter mainly contains a review of the developments in stochas­tic finite element method (SFEM). Also presented is a brief overview of the dynamics of curved beams and the essence of the dynamic stiffness matrix method. This discussion also covers issues pertaining to modeling rotary inertia and shear deformations in the study of curved beam dynamics. In the context of SFEM, suitability of different methods for modeling system uncertainties, depending on the type of problem, is discussed. The relative merits of several schemes of discretizing random fields, namely, local averaging, series expansions using orthogonal functions, weighted integral approach and the use of system Green functions, are highlighted. Many of the discretization schemes reported in the literature have been developed in the context of static problems. The advantages of using the dynamic stiffness matrix approach in conjunction with discretization schemes based on frequency dependent shape functions, are discussed. The review identifies the dynamic analysis of structures built-up of randomly parametered curved beams, using dynamic stiffness matrix method, as a problem requiring further research. The review also highlights the need for studies on the treatment of non-Gaussian nature of system parameters within the framework of stochastic finite element analysis and simulation methods. The problem of deterministic analysis of curved beam elements is consid­ered first. Chapter 2 reports on the development of the dynamic stiffness matrix for a curved Timoshenko beam element. It is shown that when the beam is uniformly param-etered, the governing field equations can be solved in a closed form. These closed form solutions serve as the basis for the formulation of damping and frequency dependent shape functions which are subsequently employed in the thesis to develop the dynamic stiffness matrix of stochastically inhomogeneous, curved beams. On the other hand, when the beam properties vary spatially, the governing equations have spatially varying coefficients which discount the possibility of closed form solutions. A numerical scheme to deal with this problem is proposed. This consists of converting the governing set of boundary value problems into a larger class of equivalent initial value problems. This set of Initial value problems can be solved using numerical schemes to arrive at the element dynamic stiffness matrix. This algorithm forms the basis for Monte Carlo simulation studies on stochastic beams reported later in this thesis. Numerical results illustrating the formulations developed in this chapter are also presented. A satisfactory agreement of these results has been demonstrated with the corresponding results obtained from independent finite element code using normal mode expansions. The formulation of the dynamic stiffness matrix for a curved, randomly in-homogeneous, Timoshenko beam element is considered in Chapter 3. The displacement fields are discretized using the frequency dependent shape functions derived in the pre­vious chapter. These shape functions are defined with respect to a damped, uniformly parametered beam element and hence are deterministic in nature. Lagrange's equations are used to derive the 6x6 stochastic dynamic stiffness matrix of the beam element. In this formulation, the system property random fields are implicitly discretized as a set of damping and frequency dependent Weighted integrals. The results for a straight Timo- shenko beam are obtained as a special case. Numerical examples on structures made up of single curved/straight beam elements are presented. These examples also illustrate the characterization of the steady state response when excitations are modeled as stationary random processes. Issues related to ton-Gaussian features of the system in-homogeneities are also discussed. The analytical results are shown to agree satisfactorily with corresponding results from Monte Carlo simulations using 500 samples. The dynamics of structures built-up of straight and curved random Tim-oshenko beams is studied in Chapter 4. First, the global stochastic dynamic stiffness matrix is assembled. Subsequently, it is inverted for calculating the mean and variance, of the steady state stochastic response of the structure when subjected to stationary random excitations. Neumann's expansion method is adopted for the inversion of the stochastic dynamic stiffness matrix. Questions on the treatment of the beam characteris­tics as non-Gaussian random fields, are addressed. It is shown that the implementation of Neumann's expansion method and Monte-Carlo simulation method place distinc­tive demands on strategy of modeling system parameters. The Neumann's expansion method, on one hand, requires the knowledge of higher order spectra of beam properties so that the non-Gaussian features of beam parameters are reflected in the analysis. On the other hand, simulation based methods require the knowledge of the range of the stochastic variations and details of the probability density functions. The expediency of implementing Gaussian closure approximation in evaluating contributions from higher order terms in the Neumann expansion is discussed. Illustrative numerical examples comparing analytical and Monte-Carlo simulations are presented and the analytical so­lutions are found to agree favourably with the simulation results. This agreement lends credence to the various approximations involved in discretizing the random fields and inverting the global dynamic stiffness matrix. A few pointers as to how the methods developed in the thesis can be used in assessing the reliability of these structures are also given. A brief summary of contributions made in the thesis together with a few suggestions for further research are presented in Chapter 5. Appendix A describes the models of non-Gaussian random fields employed in the numerical examples considered in this thesis. Detailed expressions for the elements of the covariance matrix of the weighted integrals for the numerical example considered in Chapter 5, are presented in Appendix B; A copy of the paper, which has been ac­cepted for publication in the proceedings of IUTAM symposium on 'Nonlinearity and Stochasticity in Structural Mechanics' has been included as Appendix C.

Analysis of vibration of systems with uncertainty in material properties under the influence of a random forcing function is an active area of research. Especially the characterization based on mode shapes and frequencies of linear vibrating systems leads to much discussed random eigenvalue problem, which repeatedly appears while analyzing a number of engineering systems. Such analyses with conventional schemes for significant variation of system parameters for large systems are often not viable because of the high computational costs involved. Appropriate tools to reduce the size of stochastic vibrating systems and efficient response calculation are yet to mature. Among the mathematical tools used in this case, polynomial chaos formulation of uncertainties shows promise. But this comes with the implementation issue of solving large systems of nonlinear equations arising from Bubnov-Galerking projection in the formulation. This dissertation reports the study of such dynamic systems with uncertainties characterized by the probability distribution of eigen solutions under a stochastic finite element framework. In the context of structural vibration, the determination of appropriate modes to be considered in a stochastic framework is not straightforward. In this dissertation, at first the choice of dominant modes in stochastic framework is studied for vibration problems. A relative measure, based on the average energy contribution of each mode to the system, is developed. Further the interdependence of modes and the effect of the shape of the load on the choice of dominant modes are studied. Using these considerations, a hybrid algorithm is developed based on polynomial chaos framework for the response analysis of a structure with random mass and sickness and under the influence of random force. This is done by using modal truncation for response analysis with in a Monte Carlo loop. The algorithm is observed to be more efficient and achieves a high degree of accuracy compared to conventional techniques. Considering the fact that the Monte Carlo loops within the above mentioned hybrid algorithm is easily parallelizable, the efficient implementation of it depends on the SFE solution. The set of nonlinear equations arising from polynomial chaos formulation is solved using matrix-free Newton’s iteration using GMRES as linear solver. Solution of a large system using a iterative method like GMRES necessitates the use of a good preconditioner. Keeping focus on the par-allelizability of the algorithm, a number of efficient but cheap-to-construct preconditioners are developed and the most effective among them is chosen. The solution process is parallelized for large systems. The scalability of solution process in conjunction with the preconditioner is studied in details.

Rotating and non-rotating beams are widely used to model important engineering struc-tures. Hence, the vibration analyses of these beams are an important problem from a structural dynamics point of view. Depending on the beam dimensions, they are mod-eled using different beam theories. In most cases, the governing differential equations of these types of beams do not yield any simple closed-form solutions; hence we look for the inverse problem approach in determining the beam property variations given certain solutions. The long and slender beams are generally modeled using the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. Under the premise of this theory, we study (i) the second mode tailoring of non-rotating beams having six different boundary conditions, (ii) closed-form solutions for free vibration analysis of free-free beams, (iii) closed-form solutions for free vibration analysis for gravity-loaded cantilever beams, (iv) closed-form solutions for free vibration analysis of rotating cantilever and pinned-free beams and (v) beams with shared eigen-pair. Short and thick beams are generally modeled using the Timoshenko beam theory. Here, we provide analytical closed-form solutions for the free vibration analysis of ro-tating non-homogeneous Timoshenko beams. The Rayleigh beam provides a marginal improvement over the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory without venturing into the math-ematical complexities of the Timoshenko beam theory. Under this theory, we provide closed-form solutions for the free vibration analysis of cantilever Rayleigh beams under three different axial loading conditions - uniform loading, gravity-loading and centrifu-gally loaded. We assume simple polynomial mode shapes which satisfy the different boundary conditions of a particular beam, and derive the corresponding beam property variations. In case of the shared eigenpair, we use the mode shape of a uniform beam which has a closed-form solution and use it to derive the stiffness distribution of a corresponding axially loaded beam having same length, mass variation and boundary condition. For the Timoshenko beam, we assume polynomial functions for the bending displacement and the rotation due to bending. The derived properties are demonstrated as benchmark analytical solutions for approximate and numerical methods used for the free vibration analysis of beams. They can also aid in designing actual beams for a pre-specified frequency or nodal locations in some cases. The effect of different parameters in the derived property variations and the bounds on the pre-specified frequencies and nodal locations are also studied for certain cases. The derived analytical solutions can also serve as a benchmark solution for different statistical simulation tools to find the probabilistic nature of the derived stiffness distri-bution for known probability distributions of the pre-specified frequencies. In presence of uncertainty, this flexural stiffness is treated as a spatial random field. For known probability distributions of the natural frequencies, the corresponding distribution of this field is determined analytically for the rotating cantilever Euler-Bernoulli beams. The derived analytical solutions are also used to derive the coefficient of variation of the stiffness distribution, which is further used to optimize the beam profile to maximize the allowable tolerances during manufacturing.

Experimental vibration analysis of mechanical structures is a well established field.Plenty of literature exists on macro scale structures in the fields of civil, mechanical and aerospace engineering, but the study of vibrations of micro scale structures such as MEMS, liquid droplets, and biological cells is relatively new. For such structures, the amplitudes of vibration are typically in nanometeror sub-nanometer range and the frequencies are in KHz to MHz range depending upon the dimensions of the structure. In our study, we use a scanningLaser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) to measure the vibrations of micro-scale objects such as MEMS structures, micro droplets and cells. The vibrometercan capture frequency response up to 24 MHz withpicometer displacement resolution. First, we present the study of dynamics of a 2-D micromechanical structure—a MEMSelectrothermal actuator. The structure is realized using SOI MUMPs process from MEMSCAP. The fabricated device is tested for its dynamic performance characteristics using the LDV. In our experiments, we could capture up to 50 out-of-plane modes of vibration—an unprecedented capture—with a single excitation. Subsequent FEM based numerical simulations confirmed that the captured modes were indeed what the experiments indicated, and the measured frequencies werefound to be within 5% of theoretically predicted. Next, we study the dynamics of a 3-D micro droplet and show how the substrate adhesion modulates the natural frequency of the droplet. Adhesion properties of droplets are decided by the degree of wettability that is generally measured by the contact angle between the substrate and the droplet. In this work, we were able to capture 14 modes of vibration of a mercury droplet on different substrates and measure the correspondingfrequencies experimentally. We verify these frequencies with analytical calculations and find that all the measured frequencies are within 6% of theoretically predicted values. We also show that considering any two pairs of natural frequencies, we can calculate the surface tension and the contact angle, thus providing a new method for measuring adhesion of a droplet on an unknown surface. Lastly, we present a study of vibrations of biological cells.Our first study is that of single muscle fibers taken from drosophila.Muscle fibers with different pathological conditions were held in two structural configurations—asa fixed-fixed beam and a cantilever beam—and their vibration signatures analysed.We found that there was significant reduction in natural frequency of diseased fibers. Among the diseased fibers, we could confidently classify the myopathies into nemaline and cardiac types based on the natural frequency of single fibers. We have noticed that the elastic modulus of the muscle which decides the natural frequency is dictated by the myosin expression levels. Our last example isa study of the vibration signatures of cancer cells. Here we measure the natural frequencies of normal and certain cancerous cells, and show that we can distinguish the two based on their natural frequencies. We find that the natural frequency of cancerous cells is approximately half of that of normal cells. Within the cancerous cells, we are able to distinguished epithelial cancer cells and mesenchymal cancer cells based on their natural frequency values. For Epithelial cells,we activate the signaling pathways to induce EMT and notice the reduction in the natural frequency. This mechanical assay based on vibration response corroborates results from the biochemical assays such as Western blots and PCR, thus opening a new technique of mechano-diagnostics.

Disertační práce se zabývá bezkontaktní analýzou vibrací pomocí metod akustické holografie v blízkém poli. Akustická holografie v blízkém poli je experimentální metoda, která rekonstruuje akustické pole v těsné blízkosti povrchu vibrujícího předmětu na základě měření akustického tlaku nebo akustické rychlosti v určité vzdálenosti od zkoumaného předmětu. Konkrétní realizace této metody závisí na použitém výpočetním algoritmu. Vlastní práce je zaměřena zejména na rozbor algoritmů, které využívají k rekonstrukci zvukového pole v blízkosti vibrujícího objektu transformaci do domény vlnových čísel (prostorová transformace), kde probíhá vlastní výpočet. V úvodu práce je vysvětlena základní teorie metody akustické holografie v blízkém poli s popisem základních vlastností a dále rozborem konkrétních nejčastěji používaných algoritmům pro lokalizaci a charakterizaci zdroje zvuku a pro následnou vibrační analýzu. Stěžejní část práce se věnuje pokročilým metodám zpracování, které se snaží určitým způsobem optimalizovat přesnost predice zvukového pole v blízkosti vibrujícího předmětu v reálných podmínkách. Jde zejména o problematiku použitého měřicího systému s akustickými snímači, které nejsou ideální, a dále o možnost měření v prostorách s difúzním charakterem zvukového pole. Pro tento případ byla na základě literárního průzkumu optimalizována a ověřena metoda využívající dvouvrstvé mikrofonní pole, které umožňuje oddělení zvukových polí přicházejících z různých stran a tedy úspěšné měření v uzavřených prostorách např. kabin automobilů a letadel. Součástí práce byla také optimalizace, rozšíření a následné ověření algoritmů publikovaných v posledních letech pro měření v reálných podmínkách za použití běžně dostupných akustických snímačů.