There were two broad beginnings to the domain of Noise and Vibrations as for their applications are referred to; these were automotive / aerospace and machine tool / engineering industries, mostly.
A run through of the chronology of the evaluation since it all began is discussed to know where we at present are and what have got added. The discourse is on knowing the initial usage of N&V tools in each domain and how they are extended to the demands of the day.
Automotive / Aerospace: While this happens to be the most known historical application area, wherein the vibration dynamics were harnessed for structural stability and system operability; noise parameters were considered mostly around the emission requirements and to some extent on the passenger comfort factors. An upward extension of these sciences and application also covered rocket and space applications. The use of N&V tools till date is still in this domain and it holds the forte.
From a complete N&V based design approach to large scale GVTs and Modal testing, sound quality to noise emission, tools and technologies have taken a quantum leap and are developing ever more with sci-fi warfare equipment
Automotive and Aerospace, the primary application area of N&V Engineering
Predictive Maintenance In the 1900s, a large number of machine tool, process and product industries started flourishing; so came the challenges of their uptime and maintenance, from the practices of breakdown and preventive maintenance, the momentum shifted to predictive maintenance tools. Vibration (& to some extent noise) were the critical and reliable parameters that depicted the machine health and helped in trending the values over the operational run periods.
Many software tools of highly reliable machine health monitoring predictions combined with multiple data gathering methods have made this approach robust and dependable. With practices of Industry 4.0 and beyond, vibration and noise sensors are integrated into critical rotating machinery (motors, pumps, turbines, gearboxes) to continuously monitor health and detect early signs of wear, misalignment, or imbalance. This allows for proactive maintenance planning, reducing costly downtime
Industry 4.0 bringsin many aspects of vibration and noise into its scope
Beyond these traditional industries, N&V specific applications have got in majorly into Civil and Structural Engineering. Dynamic assessment of civil structures for their operational performance gained importance with the rapid urbanisation and infrastructure expansion. As an obvious approach, vibration sensors were embedded in large civil structures like bridges, dams, and tall buildings to monitor their dynamic responses, ensure structural integrity and enhance resilience to natural disasters like earthquakes.
Discrete and IoT based testing and assessments have now assumed a major role; mass rapid urban transport systems have opened up a flood gate to comprehensive structural and ground vibration analysis that are mandated by strict regulations. FTA, DIN and other international guidelines are helping these testing and assessment methodologies in a procedural approach.
NV Dynamics team conducting structural testing on pedestrian walkway for its dynamic responses
Qualitative research and collaborative work is going on between the structural design and its dynamics to arrive at optimal and enduring solutions as the entire world is on a ever changing transition to larger and taller civil structures to accommodate its needs.
Extended usage of vibration technology - Bio medical applications
Some of the interesting, AI and machine learning based applications of vibration engineering are evolving in the domain of Biomedical and Healthcare; these are being tried to assess stability of medical implants, like hip replacements, monitoring fracture healing and even in neurostimulation.
There are more of applications in the making; as like most technologies, demand and utilisation drives the initiative and we get to see all these evolving in the coming years.