Test Lab for modal analysis?

[jmblur]

Looking to do modal analysis on a hand-held structure in an effort to reduce uncomfortable vibration for the user - think baseball bat and the stinging sensation when mishit.

Ideally, we'd be able to quantify the amount of damping (and therefore "sting reduction" for the marketing folks) from anything we'd come up with - with data from initial testing to guide us as to what modes and corresponding frequencies to focus on.

This isn't something we do often, so we don't have any real contacts to speak of in this area. I haven't been able to locate a test lab to do this sort of thing outside of academia - any leads?



[Also, related - any tips on a low cost system we could use to do this in house? I figure bare minimum is impact hammer/very light triax acceleromter/DAQ of some sort/software, with the expensive part being DAQ and software. Any suggestions on "good enough" systems for DAQ/software that could keep costs down?]

 

[cincibcats]

If you're interested in possibly trying to do some of this yourself I would contact the ModalShop. They'll rent you all the equipment to let you do it yourself, I think they even will send someone to teach you the basics (for a price of course). They rent equipment for almost any acoustic/vibration situation.

They also have a long list of contacts who can perform the work you're looking for and may be able to get you in contact with a specialized person most tailored to the data your looking for.

http://www.modalshop.com/

 

[jmblur]

thanks for the link, definitely a great site for what I'm looking for.

 

[snoopnoon]

University of Mass Lowell has an entire lab dedicated to baseball modal research. Check out thier webpage. They are either the only, or one of a very limited few who can actually certify NCAA bats

 

[Rob45]

An interesting paper on Lodengraf damping references work done on aluminum bats; it was published in Sound & Vibration and posted on their website.