Massive Shaker (shock and vibration) Austest Melbourne

Austest Laboratories is pleased to announce a major expansion of its Melbourne vibration and shock testing facilities through the commissioning of a new heavy-duty, long-stroke electrodynamic shaker.

The new machine, which weighs nearly 10 tonnes and located at Austest’s Melbourne (Thomastown) Laboratory, significantly exceeds the capabilities of any other commercial test house within this country and provides Australian industry, an unprecedented range of vibration and shock testing services with some unique capacities such as high-frequency testing of large items.

The shaker has been designed to meet specific requirements of Austest Laboratories and our clients, which includes the ability to generate a huge 60 kN‘s of force, support for heavy payloads of up to 2,000 kg and a maximum displacement of 75 mm. Such parameters ensure an exceptional level of performance at both low and high vibration frequencies, as well as capacity to generate high level and long duration shock pulses for Military, Rail and Automotive applications in particular.

While there are other providers which currently offer vibration testing on large/heavy products, it’s important to note the frequency range of these tests is severely limited, as they are typically carried out using hydraulic shakers. A hydraulic shaker is usually designed to operate within 2-50 Hz range, with some expansion possible for light items but generally not exceeding 150 Hz. In contrast, the combination of a long-stroke and high force enables the new Austest shaker to vibrate large test items at frequencies anywhere between 1 – 3000 Hz.

With this new shaker, Austest is also able to perform profile shocks tests on most larger items, more efficiently and accurately than incline shock machines. Furthermore, we have already used this machine to perform Side Impact, Mechanical Handling tests required by ASTM-D4169 on a large pallet weighting close to 500kg (refer picture).

Among the many tests that manufacturers were previously not able to have performed at a commercial test house in Australia that this shaker can now deliver, include:

• Composite Two-Wheeled Trailer Vibration Exposure to Table 514.7C-III, Category 4 of Method 514.7 of MIL-STD-810G. Hydraulic shakers are unable to achieve the high frequency content of the spectrum, while the smaller electrodynamic shakers do not have the required displacement let alone the required force to meet the standard.
• Other commonly requested Method 514.7 of MIL-STD-810G tests on larger items including Jet Aircraft Cargo Vibration Exposure to Category 7 and Propeller Aircraft Vibration Exposure to Categories 8 and 13. Previously only very light items could be tested to this standard on smaller electrodynamic shakers, while hydraulic shakers could not generate the required high frequency content. Now, for the Category 7 Jet Aircraft test we can meet the standard for the most severe profile (for the C-17 aircraft) for test items whose combined item and fixture mass is up to 900 kg.
• The full suite of Section 8 of RTCA/DO-160G Vibration tests on most items – including the severe Helicopter Vibration tests and the Robust Vibration spectrums for products located in the most challenging parts of aircraft. Thus the new shaker can achieve the very intense D1 Robust Vibration spectrum for equipment on nacelles and pylons for items whose combined item and fixture mass is up to 280 kg.
• Extreme tests that would previously not even be considered as possible for testing in Australia for anything but very light items. Such tests include the Turbine Engine Vibration Exposure test to Category 22 of Method 514.7 of MIL-STD-810G (w/Change 1) and one of the most notorious of all tests, the Category 24 Minimum Integrity Exposure test. Austest can now offer this test for items whose combined item and fixture mass is up to 500 kg.

In addition to vibration testing, the new shaker is ideal for performing profile shock tests on most equipment racks and large control and instrumentation systems commonly used in defence applications. In comparison with incline shock machine traditionally used for this type of work, shaker is capable of performing positive and negative shock in same axis in one setup, which reduces the overall testing time by more than 50%. Furthermore since the test items always remains in their normal orientation, connection of instrumentation and support equipment can be carried out quickly and safely in fraction of the time required on the incline machine.

This latest acquisition brings our total to 3 electrodynamic shakers + 2 dedicated shock machines and compliments our large range of environmental test services including thermals and UV / Solar radiation, enabling Austest to fill gaps in the Australian market for vibration/shock testing of large items. While the new shaker was purchased primarily to serve the needs of the Australian Defence and Rail Industries, it also has a great potential for application in other sectors including automotive, transportation and mining.  For quotes and scheduling, please contact either Ashley Mansell in our Melbourne Lab or Goran Tomic in our Sydney lab.  Contact us here.