Classical shock vibration testing assesses product durability by employing a sharp transfer of energy with a pre-defined shock pulse. Perform closed-loop control of transient waveforms with the Shock software. Select from industry-standard pulse shapes or a user-defined transient pulse.
Define the test duration at each output level. Enter up to 200 separate levels and loop to repeat sequences without interruption.
Test and level scheduling: Repeat a pulse from 1 to more than 2 billion times with a configurable repetition rate. Tests can be configured to run pulses at different amplitude levels.
Frequency range: Standard frequency range is DC-4,990Hz. High-frequency shock extends sample rates to 108,000Hz (VR9303 High-Frequency). Contact your sales representative for software add-ons.
Shock Pulse Shapes
Access standard classical shock pulses and vary pre/post-pulse compensation amplitude and shape.
Half-sine
Haversine
Initial-peak sawtooth
Terminal-peak sawtooth
Triangle
Trapezoid
Square
Alternatively, select the user-defined transient option to build a pulse from a recorded waveform.
User-Defined Transient
Import a time-history file to form a pulse shape from a recorded transient. Supports up to about 65,000 samples.
Fulfill requirements from test standards such as MIL-STD-810, DO-160, ISTA, ASTM, SAE, and IEC 60068. Select the tolerances defined by the test standard.
Industries
Shock testing may be required in industries such as:
Control signal can be a single input channel or an average of 2 to 4 channels.
Set configurable acceleration and drive limits to protect the test article and shaker system. Control input is also verified against shaker force, velocity, and displacement ratings.
VR controllers automatically equalize the response of the shaker/fixture/product prior to running the test. Equalization can be memorized and stored with the test to quickly start a test at a full equalized level.
Shock Graph Display Options
Available graph display options include acceleration, velocity, displacement, output voltage, acceleration, and drive spectrum.
Graphs can be easily auto-scaled, and the cursor display can be adjusted. Data and text annotations can be easily placed on the graphs, and data values update live with changes.
When to Use a Classical Shock Test
Similar to sine and random testing, shock tests are often listed in vibration test specifications. An example of a classical shock test definition might appear as 3 – 10mS, 20Gpk, half-sine pulses in all six orthogonal axes for a total of 18 shocks.
A shock test is employed to test a system’s capability to survive a drop, hit, impact, fall, explosion, or any other source of transient vibration that may occur in the real world.
Many vibration test standards define classical shock pulses. However, more advanced shock testing may require a complex transient pulse that cannot be replicated by a classical shock.
Classical and Complex Shock
Classical shock pulses are a simple method of generating a shock pulse. Although simple, classical shock tests generate a reliable and straightforward response that can be used for product evaluation and durability testing.
However, a vibration test may require a user-defined transient or shock-response spectrum (SRS) to generate more complex shock pulses than possible with classical pulses. There are specialized software packages designed to re-create these complex pulses, such as Shock Response Spectrum.
Complex shock pulses better represent real-world conditions. Many synthetic pulses can represent a complex transient waveform with a frequency response comparable to the original environment. It is also possible to replicate a recorded signal from the real world and process the signal using an iterative shock control loop in order to effectively generate and control the complex waveform.
What Machinery is Required?
A shock test can be performed with a drop shock machine or an electrodynamic shaker. Several factors determine the type of drop shock machine used to generate classical shock pulses.
A vibration test may require a user-defined transient or shock-response spectrum (SRS) for more complex shock pulses. There are software packages available for generating more complex shock testing, including Shock Response Spectrum – SRS VR9302 and Transient Waveforms Control – VR9301.
Additionally, there are software packages in VibrationVIEW designed for IEEE-344 standards, chatter monitoring, and other advanced analyzer functions. These transient events are difficult to characterize and analyze with basic tools.