vibrationproneness

Vibrationproneness is a term used to describe the propensity of a mechanical system to exhibit significant vibrations when subjected to external dynamic excitation. It encompasses the system's susceptibility to resonant amplification, large-amplitude responses, or undesired vibrational modes arising from its dynamic properties.

It is largely determined by natural frequencies, damping, mass distribution, stiffness, boundary conditions, and how components are coupled, as well as the spectrum and direction of the excitation.

Assessment typically involves modal analysis, either experimental (experimental modal analysis or operational modal analysis) or computational (finite element modeling) to identify natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping. Metrics include peak transmissibility, frequency response functions, and peak acceleration.

Proneness can lead to fatigue, noise, wear, misalignment, and reduced service life. Mitigation options include adding damping, isolation mounts, tuning stiffness, mass redistribution, or implementing tuned mass dampers, or redesigning the structure to shift natural frequencies away from excitation bands.

Applications span machinery, vehicles, aerospace, and civil engineering, where vibrationproneness is considered in design optimization, reliability assessment, and maintenance planning. Note: the term is informal and not uniformly standardized; in professional practice, the concept is often referred to as dynamic susceptibility or vibro-dynamic response.

See also: vibration; structural dynamics; modal analysis; damping; tuned mass damper.