Structural Dynamics Testing in Practice
The Shaker, the Measurement, and the Judgment
A series on structural dynamics testing, beginning with vibration and shaker testing, for the people who run the tests: the engineer new to test, the technician on the floor, the engineer who inherited the lab, and the program or quality person who signs the report. It treats the shaker as a machine that fails, the measurement as something that can lie, and multi-axis testing as a practice. Theory appears where it changes a decision on the floor, and no calculus is required. Each volume stands on its own.
The Volumes
The series currently comprises three volumes. Each is priced and sold on its own, and buying one does not open the others.
- Volume 1: The Machine. Available now The machine: the shaker system, the facility, and keeping both running. Volume 1 and Volume 2 together are what it takes for a reader straight out of school to start testing. About 34 hours in 68 sections across 10 chapters, edition 2026.1.
- Volume 2: The Test. Available now The test: instrumentation and data acquisition, the tests you will see, sine, random, shock, mixed-mode, time waveform replication and specialized tests, the control loop, planning, data analysis and data quality, running the test, and writing the report. Volume 1 and Volume 2 together are what it takes for a reader straight out of school to start testing. About 51 hours in 122 sections across 16 chapters, edition 2026.1.
- Volume 3: Multi-Axis Testing in Practice. Coming soon Multi-axis and MIMO testing as a practice, for the reader who already runs tests and is moving to multi-axis work. Slated for 2027.
How the Course Works
The section is the unit. Each one is a single sitting: the prose, the figures live in the page, a Decide box where the material changes a decision on the floor, author-prepared Common Questions, and an open-book quiz of five questions drawn from that section's pool. Four correct opens the next section; retake as often as you need, and only the passing attempt counts.
A seat covers one volume for 12 months from first sign-in. The lab kit pages print; the rest is read online. Questions asked from a section page are answered best effort, typically within one to two weeks, and the useful ones go to the public FAQ. Pass every section and the volume certificate is issued, with a verification page and a transcript of every chapter score.
Chapter 1 of each volume, one signature section per volume and the interactive tools are free to read, so the course can be judged before it is bought.