A New vibration exciter for dynamic tests of full scale structures

Abstract

Design criteria are established for a vibration exciter unit suitable for steady-state resonance tests of full-scale building structures, and several design configurations are compared. These ideas are embodied in the design of a new unit, which produces a horizontal, uni-directional sinusoidally varying force of about 1000 lb magnitude at I cycle per second, with a maximum force limit of 5000 lb. The total weight of the machine with its maximum load of eccentric weights is about 1500 lb, which can be broken down into units not exceeding 580 lb for handling and transportation. The general features of a servocontrolled electronic amplidyne speed control and D. C. drive for the vibration exciter are given. A field test of the new vibration exciter system is described, and typical results of the determination of the dynamic properties of a concrete intake tower of a dam by means of the new machine are given.

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