Fundamental frequency can be defined most simply as the lowest frequency at which a system is able to vibrate freely. In physics, there is vibration that is fixed- as in the movement is only allowed in certain areas of a piece of machinery – and then there is free vibration, which can come from any angle or from any component. Vibration is typically used to describe up and down motions of any speed, however, when people think of vibration, it is very rapid movement that they are thinking about.

Vibration is often a requirement for certain actions to occur. For instance, when you are creating sounds of any kind, the vibration is important for the sound to be made and for it to be heard. The way we hear the sound depends on the way that it travels from its origination spot and to the ear. Vibration is also responsible for sounds that we do not want to hear as well, however. In some machines, excessive vibrations are usually the start of minor damage that can cause additional sounds from the motor. These sounds are usually the first signals that something catastrophic is about to happen. There are mechanics who can diagnose the problem with some machines just by the sound they are hearing when it is in motion. (more…)

September 14^th – 2011

For A Limited Time – Enter The Discount Code FORTHECURE
And Receive 20% OFF Any RX Sorbo Performance Insole Purchase

After selecting the RX Sorbo Performance Insole that best fits your needs just enter the promo code FORTHECURE at check out, and receive a 20% discount. This discount is for a limited time and applies to every RX Sorbo Performance Insole.

In addition $2.00 from the sale of every RX Sorbo Performance Insole including the “Limited Edition” Pink insole, sold through March 2012, will go directly to support the Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohio Race for the Cure.

Go to – www.rxsorbo.com and enter the promo code FORTHECURE at check out for 20% OFF.

September 10th – 2011

Cleveland, OH – Rain couldn’t dampen the spirits of the participants at the 18^th Annual Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohio Race for the Cure. Held September 10, 2011 at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University – over 20,000 women, men and children of all ages and athletic abilities were expected to participate. Many RX Sorbo/Sorbothane employees, friends and family members ran or walked in the event. Susan G. Komen For The Cure® continues to be the global leader in the fight against breast cancer. (more…)

All materials, whether they are plastic or metal, can be subject to failure and eventually will succumb to fatigue failure. Thinner, more brittle materials may break more quickly, while thicker more flexible materials can take more weight or movement before breakage occurs. In the case of all materials, failure typically refers to damage that prevents the material and components from working correctly or to complete breakage.

The more movement between working parts, the more heat and friction can be built up. Metal tends to absorb energy from a load it is bearing and then expands under the pressure. When the load is removed from its surface, the metal will return to its normal position. Eventually though, the load will expand the metal beyond its normal capacity, which means that it will not be as able to return to its original condition any longer. This might result in small pits along the surface of the metal, which can weaken it, or in larger fractures that will eventually lead to a complete break. (more…)

During the building procedure, whether it is a small item or a huge building, there are several things that have to be considered. The materials that are used have to be strong enough to perform under the specified stresses but flexible and cost effective. They also have to be reliable under the expected conditions that they will be used under.

Every type of material performs in expected ways under different types of situations. That is one of the ways that experts choose the types of materials that will be used to build a machine, a building or anything else.

Fatigue is one of the keys to predicting how long an item can be expected to be useful. For instance, will fatigue cause failure in a certain metal or other type of material faster in certain temperatures or will additional weight or shape change how long the item will last? These are all things that are considered during the design process. And the answers are never just guessed at numbers or hoped for results. Instead, the designer uses fatigue analysis to determine how long an item will possibly last. In the past, the analysis was done by using difficult to understand, tedious formulas.

In the modern era, fatigue analysis is done by using computers and specially designed software. While it may take some of the work out of the process, it does not change its importance at all. You still have to consider how long the material will last and how effective it will remain for that life cycle. (more…)

Whenever anything is built, there are several tests that have to be performed. These tests are not only meant to prove safety of the material, machine or component, but its effective and expected life in general as well. All materials, regardless of their components will eventually wear out, leading them to break or become destroyed. This damage is the direct result of fatigue.

A fatigue test is done in several ways and may depend on the exact nature of the material or the machine involved. In most cases, the item is repeatedly exposed to the same type of motions that it would be exposed to while in regular use in a cycle until the item finally fails. If the item is used in an up and down motion, for instance, then it would be moved in an up and down motion until it failed. The more separate pieces and components to a machine, the longer the fatigue testing may take as each piece may have a different level of fatigue wear that it can handle before damage occurs. (more…)

Metal, one of the most commonly used materials in most applications, is an umbrella term for many different specific metal types. Each type of metal has its own pros and cons, including how many cycles it can handle before fatigue sets in. When working with metal, fatigue relates to the number of cycles that the material can handle before failure. Failure may or may not mean total breakage, depending on the type of material and the main use. For instance, a helicopter blade has to be in perfect shape before each flight or it may fail in mid air.

There are a number of factors that can influence how many cycles that a metal can be used in without succumbing to fatigue including the process that was used to create the item, how much stress is applied to the material, the temperature that it is exposed to and the presence of other substances.

The type of design or the shape of the metal might also influence the material’s useful life. Certain shapes may increase the amount of stress by increasing the bends or joins of a structure. (more…)

Fatigue life is a mechanical and scientific term that relates to how long an object or material will last before completely failing because of concentrated stresses. There are a number of different factors that can influence fatigue life including the type of material being used, its structure, its shape and temperature changes.

In most cases, fatigue life is calculated as the number of stress cycles that an object or material can handle before the failure. There are several different types of stress values that are considered when computing fatigue life, including the nominal maximum stress value, which is usually less than ultimate tensile stress limits. There is another value, the yield stress limit, which may be higher than ultimate tensile stress limits.

When a material is put into use, the design can increase the stress that is put on the object. For instance, certain sharper angles, such as the corners in a square object, can be a significantly higher stress area than a rounded area, which disperses the weight and stress of a load more evenly over a larger area. (more…)

Any material that you use will have pros and cons for use. There will be a number of benefits that you can get from adding certain elements to your object. Shear modulus refers to how the material might respond to certain types of strain. There are a number of different types of strains to consider when choosing your materials and application. The other types of strain include bulk modulus, which is the material’s response to uniform pressure. Another consideration is how a material responds to linear strain such as what occurs when there is strain applied to opposite ends or sides of the material.

Shear modulus refers to shearing strains, which occur when two surfaces rub against one another, in other words, when they shear over each other. That motion can cause serious damage to the material eventually, depending on a number of different factors. Weight limit and type of material can be two of the biggest determining factors and should be considered when choosing a design and a material for any application. (more…)

Machines, regardless of their purpose or their size, have a number of parts. Even the most rudimentary machine will have at least a few moving parts. The more parts involved, the more important that energy and energy resonance will become. Energy dissipation, when done correctly, can extend the life of the machine and can also make it work more efficiently.

Every part in a machine plays a specific role. Each part works together toward the function of the machine. For instance, in a washing machine, every part will spin or move in the act of getting the clothing clean and wrung out. But those parts can work against each other and defeat the overall purpose when there is too much vibration generated by the parts. The energy that is being generated to provide the required action is dissipated along those individual parts so the machine has to work harder and longer to perform its job. Eventually, that will wear the parts out and cause them to be weaker and more likely to break. Once one part ceases to work correctly, most machines are broken. (more…)