Learning objectives
Knowledge and ability to understand:
through the lectures held during the course, the student will acquire the skills necessary to describe the dynamics and vibrations of machines and mechanical systems and to understand their modelling and analysis criteria. The student will also learn the principal methodologies to obtain analytical and numerical solutions also through practical applications of interest for mechanical engineering.
Applying knowledge and understanding: through practical exercises, the student will learn how to apply the acquired knowledge in a real design context. The students will be involved, in groups, in a year's project that will allow them to extend and apply, through practical activities, the theoretically acquired knowledge.
Making judgments:
the student will be able to understand and critically evaluate the main problems related to vibrations of mechanical systems. In particular, the student will be able to choose the appropriate modelling methodology to predict their behaviour, evaluating the computational performance and accuracy of the selected solution.
Communication skills:
through the lectures and the year's project, the student will acquire specific vocabulary related to the course. It is expected that, at the end of the course, the student will be able to communicate, in oral and written form, the main contents of the course, e.g. ideas, engineering problems and related solutions. The student will be able to communicate his/her knowledge adequately and understand and use common tools, such as tables, schemes, and software.
Learning skills:
the student who has attended the course will be able to enhance his/her knowledge through the autonomous consultation of specialized texts, scientific or popular magazines, technical catalogues, etc., to deal with more complicated problems and be prepared for his/her chosen career or further specific training courses in the same field.
Prerequisites
There are no mandatory propaedeutics. Basic knowledge of Mechanics and Mathematical Analysis are required.
Course unit content
The course provides the concepts and methods for modelling the dynamics and vibratory behavior of machines and mechanical systems. In particular, the principal methodologies to obtain analytical and numerical solutions for the study of the vibrations of discrete and continuous systems are presented, also considering practical applications of interest for mechanical engineering. The exercises use software for numerical calculation and simulation to learn the specific contents of the course.
Full programme
Introduction to the Study of Mechanical Vibrations
Formulation of Motion Equations in Matrix Form
Free Vibrations of Single-Degree-of-Freedom Systems
Forced Vibrations of Single-Degree-of-Freedom Systems (Harmonic Excitations)
Forced Vibrations of Single-Degree-of-Freedom Systems (General Excitations)
Vibrations of Lumped-Parameter Systems with Multiple Degrees of Freedom
Vibration Control and Isolation
Practical Examples andExperimental Activities in the Laboratory
Technical Applications and Exercises
Bibliography
All the PowerPoint presentations and the material presented during the lectures are available in the platform Elly.
In addition to the shared material, the student can find some of the topics presented during the course in the following books:
- S. S. Rao, Mechanical Vibrations, 5th edition, Prentice Hall, 2011
- Giorgio Diana, Federico Cheli - Dinamica e vibrazioni dei sistemi meccanici, Torino, UTET libreria, 1993
Teaching methods
The course counts 6 CFUs (one CFU, University Credits equals one ECTS credit and represents the student's workload during educational activities to pass the exams), corresponding to 48 hours of lectures. The didactic activities are composed of frontal lessons and exercises. During the frontal lectures, the course topics are presented from the theoretical and modelling point of view. Students will also apply theoretical knowledge to exercises and real case studies.
The slides and notes used to support the lectures will be uploaded to the Elly Platform. To download the slides from Elly, enrolling in the online course is required.
All the shared material is part of the didactic material. For non-attending students, it is important to stay up-to-date on with the course content, information and announcements through the Elly platform, which is the teacher/student tool used for this course. On this platform, day by day, the topics discussed in the lesson are uploaded, providing the students with the contents for the final exam.
Assessment methods and criteria
The assessment of learning includes a written test and an oral exam. The written test consists of open-ended and closed-ended questions and lasts approximately 2 hours. The test typically consists of 6-8 questions covering theoretical content, demonstrations, and exercises addressed during the course. The weight of each question is determined for each written test and, if different from 1, is communicated to the students. The test is considered passed if a score of at least 18 out of 30 is achieved.
The oral exam consists of a discussion on the course syllabus. The oral exam is considered passed if a score of at least 18 out of 30 is achieved. The final grade is the arithmetic mean of the scores obtained in the oral and written exams. If either the written or oral exam receives a score lower than 18 out of 30, the exam is considered insufficient and must be retaken in full. Honors (lode) are awarded in the case of achieving the maximum score on each item, along with mastery of the disciplinary terminology.
For students attending the course and laboratory sessions, and to encourage a gradual preparation and assessment of the topics covered, the written test may be replaced by two interim tests. The first and second interim tests will be held approximately in mid-March and mid-May. Similarly, for students attending the course and laboratory sessions, the oral exam may be replaced by the presentation and discussion of a year-long project. The available topics for the year-long project will be presented by the instructor approximately halfway through the course. The project must be submitted one week before the exam session the student intends to attend, in the form of a single .pdf file or a .zip archive uploaded to the designated submission area. Any code developed for computing results must be attached to the submission and will be considered an integral part of the project. The year-long project can be carried out in groups of at least 4 and at most 6 students. Each group member must have full knowledge of the entire project and must explicitly state the parts they personally worked on. During the oral discussion, students will be assessed on their understanding of the project phases, their ability to apply the methods correctly and independently, and their ability to communicate the results using appropriate disciplinary terminology. The assessment is considered passed if a score of at least 18 out of 30 is achieved.
Project Evaluation Criteria:
Clarity (max 20 points): Structure, completeness, and style. Grammatical correctness and accuracy of scientific expression. The sentences are clear, and the ideas are well explained. The objectives are clearly identified. The initial dataset is complete. Conclusions are supported by data.
Theory (max 20 points): The explanation is correct. No plagiarism (copy-paste). The theoretical part is closely linked to the problem.
Implementation (max 20 points): Is the code well-structured and commented? Is the model validated? Is the numerical implementation described in the report? Testing and validation.
Graphic Quality (max 20 points): Clarity and quality of diagrams. Quality of figures, such as 2D and 3D graphs (captions, labels, legend).
Presenter (max 10 points): Is the presenter able to engage the audience? Can the presenter answer questions (with the help of the group)?
Independence, Proactivity, and Creativity (max 10 points): Deepening of one or more aspects of the project. For example: discovering something new, investigating the limitations of the theory or solution.
Other information
It is recommended to attend lectures and laboratory sessions
2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
