Dr. Schmitz described tap testing and its implications for machining as part of the Technology Centers Spotlight Series. His presentation covered the fundamentals of tap testing, or impact testing, to measure the dynamics (or vibration response) of structures. The approach is to use an instrumented hammer to apply a known, short duration force and a linear transducer, such as an accelerometer, laser vibrometer, or capacitance probe, to measure the corresponding vibration response. The time domain force and displacement signals are converted to the frequency domain and their ratio is used to describe the frequency response function (FRF). This FRF can be thought of as the dynamic fingerprint of the tool-holder-spindle-machine assembly and is used to select the best operating parameters for machining applications.
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