Vibrometer aids research at Pretoria University

University of Pretoria uses scanning laser vibrometer to measure vibrations on moving turbine blades without mass loading the system.

The Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering of the University of Pretoria has ordered a Polytec scanning laser vibrometer.

This product was launched in November 2005 in South Africa, with the first systems being shipped in January 2006.

The PSV-400 Scanning Vibrometer is used to study objects of different sizes including large automobile bodies, airplane fuselages, ship engines and buildings as well as tiny silicon micromachines, hard disk drive components and wire bonders.

Demanding applications such as measurements on hot running exhausts, rotating surfaces, underwater objects and delicate structures or ultrasonic devices are possible.

Project Leader at the University of Pretoria, Stephan Heyns, said: "The Dynamic Systems Group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pretoria has been very active in vibration related research since its inception in 1999".

"Most of the work to date focused on specialised applications of vibration monitoring and vehicle system dynamics".

"It was recently decided to expand our activities to laser vibrometery to deal with specialised turbine monitoring problems in which we required the ability to measure vibrations on moving turbine blades without mass loading the system".

The system has a distinct advantage of measuring vibration with a non-contact sensor, allowing measurement of difficult, hot or unsafe measurement measurement points, that could otherwise not be measured.

"Going for a scanning laser however would allow us to extend beyond the monitoring applications that we have originally foreseen, as well as vastly extending our understanding of the dynamic behaviour of complex machines".

"It would also allow a range of other applications that would complement and augment our vehicle dynamics programme to NVH applications".

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