Mechanical vibration

Article By:

Dym, Clive L. Fletcher Jones Professor of Engineering Design, and Director, Center for Design Education, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California.

Den Hartog, J. P. Formerly, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.412200

The continuing motion, repetitive and often periodic, of a solid or liquid body within certain spatial limits. Vibration occurs frequently in a variety of natural phenomena such as the tidal motion of the oceans, in rotating and stationary machinery, in structures as varied in nature as buildings and ships, in vehicles, and in combinations of these various elements in larger systems. The sources of vibration and the types of vibratory motion and their propagation are subjects that are complicated and depend a great deal on the particular characteristics of the systems being examined. Further, there is strong coupling between the notions of mechanical vibration and the propagation of vibration and acoustic signals through both the ground and the air so as to create possible sources of discomfort, annoyance, and even physical damage to people and structures adjacent to a source of vibration.

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