Low Frequency Vibration Metrology

This project will complete the research and development required to establish new calibration services and standard measurement procedures in low frequency vibration metrology in the range from ~0.2 Hz to 200 Hz. Accurate measurement of low frequency vibration is critical for applications such as inertial guidance systems, assessment of whole-body vibration in vehicles, and monitoring of seismic vibrations in nuclear reactors and other structures. Specific industries that require accurate low frequency vibration measurements include the transportation industry (planes, trains, autos), off-road heavy equipment manufacturers, nuclear power industry, building and construction industry, and transducer manufacturers.

The project objectives are to: (1) retire the existing exceedingly high-maintenance and operationally-inefficient low frequency vibration system that is currently used for much of the target range; and (2) establish a new low frequency measurement capability and calibration service that covers lower frequencies and has reduced uncertainty for the entire target range. 

The project approach will consist of completing the assembly and integration of the critical system components into a new low frequency vibration calibration platform; testing the individual components and the overall system; developing and testing the required software elements to control the system and to process the measurement results; analyzing and establishing the uncertainty budget for the calibration system; and bringing the system up to an “operationally ready” state (meaning well-defined operation and well-developed uncertainty budget) in preparation for the planned SIM regional measurement comparison in low frequency vibration. This high risk effort makes use of subsystems designed for other purposes and not integrated before for this application. The SIM regional comparison will be a key milestone for this project to validate the measurement capabilities and procedures, provide independent confirmation of the measurement uncertainty assessment, and provide the basis to begin using the new low frequency metrology system as part of a new calibration service for NIST customers.