Page 60 - Shock and Vibration Overview

Analysis Software Options

ANALYSIS SOFTWARE

OPTIONS

Setting up test hardware and knowing what/how to analyze the vibration data is
meaningless without the means to perform that analysis. Software is also typically
needed to acquire the vibration data in the first place. There are a wide variety of
software packages available to the test engineer but he/she needs to answer two
questions before settling on a software option or combination of options:

 Do you need to analyze data in real-time, or post-process the shock and
vibration data?
 Do you prefer developing your own analysis and simulation programs, or using
a standalone graphical user interface?

If the products you will be using acquire the data and export it then the software will
“only” need to do the post-processing. This would be the case for a data logger. But for
applications that require real-time (or near real-time with a buffer) data streaming and
analysis will limit the options available. Real-time data streaming and processing is
needed for typical modal analysis, and for controls applications (where an action is
taken based upon recorded data).

Writing custom analysis and simulation programs will require some advanced
knowledge of the computing language and analysis fundamentals; but is the preferred
path for most post-processing analysis applications. Standalone graphical user interfaces
(GUIs) are nice for providing that initial overview of your data and performing some

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