Measurement and Analysis of Rotational Vibration and other Test Data from Rotating Machinery

When collecting torsional vibration and other test data, many automotive testing departments utilise a combination of hardware and software tools whereby each tool is dedicated to a specific physical phenomenon. Following a series of measurements, the various data are merged for correlation and computer-aided analysis: a procedure which can be cumbersome and time-consuming. In addition, it can lead to errors when performing cross-channel time or phase analyses since all data will not necessarily have been collected on the same time base. In this paper, a portable pc-based data acquisition and analysis system is described which allows for reliable synchronised multi-channel acquisition and analysis of both torsional vibration and a variety of related signals.