Software Development for Data Analysis in Vibration Testing

Abstract

Rocket launches are violent and involve harsh events such as vibrations and shocks. Every structural system has its own natural frequency. When the frequency of the external forces (shocks and vibrations) syncs up with the natural frequency of the whole system, it leads to resonance. This causes the forces acting on the system to be multiplied several folds. It can lead to a structural failure or even complete loss of the system in some cases. To ensure, that every spacecraft launched in to space is able to withstand these environments, every component undergoes environmental testing on ground. To characterize and find the natural frequencies of the system, a resonance survey is performed with the vibration testing system. This is done both, before and after the system is subjected to any mechanical environmental tests. The comparison of these resonance surveys helps to identify whether or not the Device Under Test (DUT) has passed the testing criteria. In this work the vibration testing system available at Tartu Observatory, University of Tartu has been introduced along with the method for vibration testing in use. The aim of this work was to develop a software that would perform visualization and analysis of the vibration testing data. It has been made sure that the resultant plots of the software are easily customizable with the help of a Graphical User Interface (GUI), to meet specific customer requirements. In addition, the software is capable of identifying the resonances in the data which show up as peaks. It calculates the amplitude and frequency shift in the resonances to easily show the user, whether the test object has passed the tests. The developed software has been in use in the Laboratory of Space Technology at Tartu Observatory, UT for 8 months. The test certificates handed over to the customers after vibration testing has been performed, contain the plots that are generated by this software.