The 4th Annual Applications for Noise & Vibration Testing workshop was held at the Engineering Research Center in Birmingham, AL on February 15, 2008. Southern Research's Engineering Solutions Group would like to thank each participant, attendee, sponsor and Southern Research employee involved in making this event a success.
This year's workshop team included:
Special thanks to our contributing sponsors:
Participants listened attentively to instruction being given during the morning classroom training session.
Guest speaker, Dr. Paul Liang, Noise & Vibration Staff Scientist at the Harley-Davidson headquarters in Wisconsin, gave a brief overview of the noise and vibration research at Harley-Davidson.
Percy Wang demonstrated the sound intensity probe and presented realtime results. The sound intensity probe can be used to locate noise sources, or to measure sound power of a test object. The proprietary software calculates sound intensity in real-time and displays the results on the computer screen.
Gary West, Director of Systems Development, explained the development and functional operation of the AIRS system.
Participants viewed the demonstration of a seat frame under-going the squeak and rattle sine sweep test.
Steve Nelson demonstrated the reduction of tonal noise in a plastic pipe using Q-resonator technology. This technique can be applied to large industrial ducts for reducing tonal noise.
The torsional vibration measurement system is being demonstrated to measure the torsion content of a blower vibration signature. The system is comprised of a laser sensor, signal conditioner and a data acquisition system with proprietary software.
Interested participants viewed the shock testing capability of the 1200lbf shaker. A toy car is being subjected to a series of controlled vertical shocks.
"Topics and demonstrations were relevant and interesting. GREAT workshop, definitely worthwhile."
"Presenters were very knowledgeable. Good intro to Southern Research's capabilities in noise and vibration research. The type and variety of equipment in the laboratory was quite impressive."
"Very useful information and tools that I can see being used at work for testing purposes. Workshop was interesting and informative."