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Top 8 Vibration Analysis

Software Packages
Posted by Steve Hanly on Jan 30, 2017 5:19:38 PM

Gathering vibration data can be a complicated and

laborious task, analyzing that data shouldn't also
always have to be so complicated!

In my last post I covered 6 programming options for

vibration analysis. These offer the greatest analysis
exibility; but sometimes they require an advanced
knowledge of the computing language and analysis
fundamentals which not everyone has.Standalone
graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are nice for providing
that initial overview of your data and performing some
analysis.

But wading through the sea of software options out

there can be daunting. In this post I'll provide some
software packages which I've heard good things about
or used myself. Hopefully with the links provided here
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you can nd an option that you're comfortable with

and one that can get you back to vibration testing!

Free Standalone Software Options

There are a wide range of standalone software
packages available for purchase; but lets rst identify
a couple free ones.

1) Tom Irvines vibrationdata

Tom Irvine offers both a MATLAB and Python version
of his signal analysis and structural dynamics software
GUI. These offer great versatility because it has a nice
GUI which is easy to work with; but all the source code
is available if you need to take the next step and
perform your own custom analysis. In nearly all of his
webinars he will go through an example that uses
these software packages so you can quickly see the
power and ease of use of these analysis options.

Figure 1:Vibrationdatas MATLAB signal analysis GUI

window is shown with a broad range of analysis
capabilities.

2) Slam Stick Lab

Mids Slam Stick Lab is available for free along with
some example recording les. This software currently
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only works with Slam Stick recording les; but Mid

has plans to open this up to other import les in the
future. The software only has basic analysis
capabilities but it covers the major ones typically
needed: FFT, PSD, spectrogram, unit conversion, and
general plotting. Data can also be exported to MATLAB
or CSV (readable by Excel, Python, and other software)
for follow-on analysis.

Figure 2:Slam Stick Lab software is a free standalone

GUI for analyzing Slam Stick vibration logger recorded
data.

Analysis Software Products (they

cost money)
The following represent a select few of many different
standalone GUIs available on the market for vibration
analysis. These will typically cost around $5K or more
but offer some unique benets over writing your own
code, namely a time savings advantage.

3) DPlot

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DPlotis the cheapest option on the list (besides the

free ones above) and only costs $195 per liscense. I've
had several Slam Stick customers recommend this
software package for analyzing and plotting vibration
data; and so in turn, I've recommended it to a lot of
folks that are cost conscious.

4) m+p International
This company specializes in vibration testing,
specically modal. They have a variety of hardware
products for data acquisition but also some software
packages for post processing and analyzing data in
real-time. Their m+p analyzer can interface with their
hardware for real time analysis but is also useful in
handling large datasets and post processing vibration
data.

5) VibrationVIEW
Vibration Researchs VibrationVIEW software is another
alternative to post processing and analyzing vibration
data in real time. This company makes a lot of
hardware forvibration testing (DAQ systems, shakers,
accelerometer calibration equipment etc.), so the
software works well with those too.

6) Brel and Kjaer

Bruel and Kjaer, a major accelerometer and shaker
company, have a couple different software packages
that are very impressive; again for both post
processing and analyzing vibration in real time.

7) ProAnalyst
Xcitexs ProAnalyst software is unique in that it uses
video for determining vibration levels and analyzing
them. Seems like a very powerful tool that can simplify
the hardware setup! The costs dont seem too

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ludicrous either, only $1,795 for their introductory

edition. It quickly starts climbing towards $10K and
beyond though for the professional edition and
different toolkits. I do like how they come right out and
list the pricing instead of requiring you to ll out a
form!

8) FEMtools
For modal analysis and validating CAD models with
experimental data, FEMtools is a very powerful tool. It
can also be used for general post processing of time
history vibration data.

More Resources
If you'd like to learn a little more about various aspects
in shock and vibration testing and analysis, download
our free Shock & Vibration Testing Overview eBook. In
there are some examples, background, and a ton of
links to where you can learn more. And as always,
don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any
questions!

Posted by:
Steve Hanly on Jan 30, 2017 5:19:38 PM

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Comments Section

Brijesh
2/5/2017, 7:42:48 PM

Just evaluate multi instrument compatible

software VibAnalyst at www.vibanalyst.com. It is
going on cloud soon to allow access from
anywhere in the world
ReplytoBrijesh

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