Transmission of vibrations through welded joints

Paweł Nieradka

The individual components of machines (and other mechanical systems) are connected with each other by various technical joints. In steel structures, one of the most common joints is the welded joint. As part of the research carried out at the KFB Acoustics laboratory, vibration reduction introduced by the welded joint was determined. The objects of the research were two plates joined at right angles. The measuring system (with accelerometer and vibration exciter) is shown in figure 1.

Apart from the measurements, simulations of vibration reduction using the SEA method were also carried out. Satisfactory compliance of measurements and simulations was obtained. The research also examined how the imprecision of the weld affects the scatter of the results. For this purpose, many similar mechanical systems were made, differing slightly in the details of the weld. No statistically significant differences were found in vibration reduction (figure 2).