Seems long but it's not too bad. the book used in class is: Advanced Engineering Mathematics by E...
Problem 3 (Frequency Response Testing) A common application for Fourier in mechanical design relates to the concept of resonance that we discussed earlier in the semester. Recall that resonance occurs when you drive a mechanical or electrical system at or near its natural frequency, whích then causes large amplitude oscillations. For relatively simple systems like the mass spring damper, the natural frequencies can be determined from the governing differential equation. But for complex mechanical parts like the one below, computing the natural frequency is not easy: For these situations, a modal analysis if often performed to determine the natural frequencies. There are many ways to perform a modal analysis, but one way is to strike the system with an impulsive forcing and observe the mechanical vibrations. A Fourier Series expansion is then performed on the response, and the resulting coefficients are presented as a power spectrum shown below: Power Spectrum for Frequency Response Test 30 25 20 15 10 0 2 46 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Frequency (Hz)