Mech 375
Mechanical Vibrations
Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Engineering
Winter 2024
Course Instructor:
Prof. Behrooz Yousefzadeh
behrooz.yousefzadeh@concordia.ca
Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 14:30-15:30, EV 4.122
Any updates to the office hours will be announced on Moodle.
Tutorials:
Please see your class schedule for details.
Tutorial MA: Mondays, 13:15-14:55, H 431, Ali Kogani (ali.kogani@concordia.ca)
Tutorial MB: Mondays, 13:15-14:55, LS 205, Aayush Rampal (aayush.rampal@concordia.ca)
Labs:
Please see your class schedule for details.
All the information relevant to the labs are provided via a dedicated Moodle page. This includes
information about the lab schedule, manual, demonstrators and coordinates.
Course Calendar Description:
Transient and steady-state vibrations under periodic, impulsive shock and arbitrary excitation;
multi-degree-of-freedom systems (free and forced response, influence coefficients, orthogonality
principle, and numerical methods); introduction to free vibrations of prismatic bars; Lagrange’s
equations; vibration measurement and control.
Note: Students who have received credit for MECH 443 may not take this course for credit.
Prerequisites: AERO 371 or MECH 370
Co-requisites: N/A.
Specific Knowledge and Skills Needed for this Course:
Students taking this course are expected to have sufficient knowledge of the following topics.
Should you have difficulties in any of these topics, you are strongly encouraged to review them
before the DNE deadline.
Free-body diagrams. Force and momentum in equilibrium. Ordinary differential equations with
constant coefficient (homogeneous and inhomogeneous). Dynamics. Modeling and analysis of
mechanical systems. Topics from mechanics of materials.
Course materials
Required Textbooks:
- B.H. Tongue, Principles of Vibrations, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 2002.
https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/176049841
- W.T. Thomson and M.D. Dahleh, Theory of Vibration with Applications, CRC, 4th ed., 1993.
https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1023087623
Additional Helpful Resources:
- A.A. Shabana, Theory of Vibration, Springer, 3rd edition, 2019.
https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1057409558
- S.S. Rao, Mechanical Vibrations, Pearson, 6th edition, 2017.
https://concordiauniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/913164335
Instructor’s Lecture Notes:
The instructor will deliver the course on the white board. This includes all the relevant theory and
example problems. Additional notes, slides or videos will not be provided. Students are expected
to prepare their own notes.
Lab Manual:
See the Moodle page dedicated to the labs for the manual.
Grading Scheme:
Assessment Tool Weight
Laboratory 15%
Assignments 5%
Quizzes (announced on Moodle) 5%
Midterm exam (tentative date: Mar. 18, 2024) 20%
Final exam (date set by the university exam office) 55%
Total 100%
- There is only one grading scheme. Alternative grading schemes will not be considered.
- There will be no make-up tests for the midterm exam, quizzes or any other components.
Passing Criteria:
- The laboratory is mandatory. Students who receive less than 60% of the total mark in the
laboratory will fail the course regardless of their performance in any other aspect of the course.
- Students who receive less than 30% in the term work (assignment + quiz + midterm) will
receive the grade R. This would prevent you from deferring the final exam.
Tentative Course Schedule
A detailed week-by-week schedule is provided on Moodle, indicating the corresponding sections
of the textbooks covered each week. The following topics are covered:
- Introduction to mechanical vibrations
- Free vibration of 1DoF systems (systems with one degree of freedom)
- Response of 1DoF systems to external excitations
- Vibrations of systems with more than one degree of freedom (free and forced)
- Control of mechanical vibrations
Lab Details
There are six experiments where students perform experiments to collect data, prepare and
submit a report following instructions in the lab manual. Each student must go through the
instruction and experiment description in the lab manual prior to coming to the lab. Experiments
are performed and reports submitted in groups formed by the lab instructor.
- There is a separate Moodle page for the laboratory section of the course, where details on
experiments, reporting and evaluation are provided.
- Lab reports are only accepted through Moodle.
- It is the responsibility of students to follow the laboratory rules from the relevant Moodle page.
- Repeating students who completed the labs within the past 12 months can request to transfer
their lab grade by asking the previous instructor to email the lab grade to the current instructor in
a timely manner. Students who received DISC in a previous attempt must repeat the labs.
Other information
Examination and grading:
- To request re-grading of quizzes and midterms, students need to submit a written form that is
available on Moodle. A re-grade request is only accepted until 7 days after a grade is announced.
Only one re-grade request is accepted for each quiz or midterm.
- The instructor reserves the right to conduct an individual oral examination after each quiz or
exam to verify a student's response to specific questions and/or to re-evaluate a student’s
knowledge on any aspect or component of the course. This re-evaluation can override any
component of the student’s grade.
- The course letter grade is an indicator, among other factors, of a student’s performance and
relative standing in the class. There is no fixed relation between overall marks and letter grades.
Policy on official short-term absence:
- If you miss an exam because of an official short-term absence, you can make up for the missed
grades. At the discretion of the instructor, this accommodation can be in form of a substantial
extra project (individual), an individual oral or written alternative exam, or redistribution of the
grade to other components.
- More details on short-term absence: https://www.concordia.ca/students/absence-form.html
Graduate Attributes:
The following is the list of graduate attributes (skills) that students use, learn and/or apply
throughout the term.
Attributes Indicators Level of Knowledge
Knowledge base of Advanced
mathematics
Knowledge base of natural Advanced
science
Problem identification and Advanced
formulation
Modeling Advanced
Problem solving Advanced
Idea generation and selection Intermediate
Validation and implementation Advanced
Life-long learning Continuous improvement and Intermediate
An ability to identify and to self-learning
address their own educational
needs in a changing world in
ways sufficient to maintain
their competence and to allow
them to contribute to the
advancement of knowledge.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs):
By the end of this semester, students are expected to master the following mechanical
engineering concepts.
Identify mechanical systems as one, two or A knowledge base for engineering/
multi degrees-of-freedom dynamic systems; Knowledge base of natural science
Problem analysis/ Modeling
Problem analysis/ Problem identification and
formulation
Develop mathematical models of mechanical A knowledge base for engineering/
systems for vibration response analysis. Knowledge base of natural science
A knowledge base for engineering/
Knowledge base of mathematics
Problem analysis/ Problem identification and
formulation
Identify essential vibration properties of A knowledge base for engineering/
mechanical systems in translation and rotation. Knowledge base of natural science
Problem analysis/ Problem solving
Problem analysis/ Problem identification and
formulation
Understand principles of vibration control of A knowledge base for engineering/
systems. Knowledge base of natural science
Problem analysis/ Problem identification and
formulation
Problem analysis/ Problem solving
Design/ Idea generation and selection
Develop methods for design and performance A knowledge base for engineering/
analyses of vibration isolation systems and Knowledge base of natural science
vibration absorbers; Problem analysis/ Modeling
Problem analysis/ Problem solving
Design/ Idea generation and selection
Design/ Validation and implementation
Life-long learning/Continuous improvement
and self-learning
Understand the principles of vibration A knowledge base for engineering/
measuring instruments and their potential Knowledge base of natural science
errors; Problem analysis/ Modeling
Problem analysis/ Problem identification and
formulation
Design/ Idea generation and selection
Build essential knowledge in methods for A knowledge base for engineering/
analyses of vibration properties of multi- Knowledge base of natural science
degree-of-freedom dynamic systems; Problem analysis/ Problem solving
Health and Safety Guidelines
All health and safety rules specific to this course can be found in the lab manual. General health
and safety instructions and available health and safety trainings can be found at:
Safety Programs - Concordia University (https://www.concordia.ca/campus-life/safety/general-
safety.html)
On Campus Resources
Please visit Student services at Concordia University for the services available to Gina Cody
School students.
