Vibration
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) methods are useful to provide confidence that the subject design is capable of withstanding the vibration profile specified for the hardware component. Certain parts of the design such as accelerometers or gyros may be susceptible to mechanical fatigue or performance degradation at particular resonant frequencies. Large electrolytic capacitors for example may need to be secured with the use of an RTV adhesive or other mechanical fixing. This analysis can detect potential structural weaknesses and point to design changes so that issues are less likely to occur in the actual assembled hardware and avoid costly iterative hardware builds.
Mechanical analysis was performed for a recent custom automotive design to determine the value of using AV mounts to reduce the high frequency response at a frequency potentially detrimental to an accelerometer sensor.
It was determined that there is a clear difference here for the cases with (shown) or without AV mounts, showing that the AV mounts are acting as an isolator at high frequencies.