AEVE 3D: Acousto Electrodynamic Three-Dimensional Vibration Exciter for Engineering Testing

A high percentage of failures in sensors and devices employed in harsh industrial environments and airborne electronics is due to mechanical vibrations and shocks. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to test equipment reliability and ensure its survival in long missions in the presence of physical fluctuations. Traditional vibration testbeds employ unidirectional acoustic or mechanical excitations. However, in reality, equipment may encounter uncoupled (unidirectional) and/or coupled (multidirectional) loading conditions during operation. Hence, to systematically characterize and fully understand equipment's behavior, a testbed capable of simulating a wide variety of vibration conditions is required. The primary objective of this study is design, fabrication, and testing of an acousto electrodynamic three-dimensional (3-D) vibration exciter (AEVE 3-D), which simulates coupled and decoupled (with unpowered arms) 3-D acoustic and/or 3-D mechanical vibration environments. AEVE 3-D consists of three electromagnetic shakers (for mechanical excitation) and three loud speakers (for acoustic excitation) as well as a main control unit that accurately calculates and sets the actuators' input signals in order to generate optimal coupled and decoupled vibrations at desired frequencies. In this paper, the system's architecture, its mechanical structure, and electrical components are described. In addition, to verify AEVE 3-D's performance, various experiments are carried out using a 3-D piezoelectric energy harvester and a custom-made piezoelectric beam.