Enhancing the learning experience using simulation and experimentation to teach mechanical vibrations

Mechanical vibrations represent an important subject in mechanical engineering. This paper describes a simulation-based online laboratory that was developed to assist students in understanding the concepts of mechanical vibrations in the context of practical engineering applications. This system was designed with a flexible multi-layered graphical user interface, and it can be used to illustrate the physical phenomena of vibrations in a visual manner. It comprises interactive applications, virtual experiments, and auxiliary tools for instruction. Examples from real engineering systems provide the missing link between the theoretical concepts and the real engineering world, thus helping the students to capture the essential aspects of the problems in a mechanical model, making reasonable simplifying assumptions, and reducing this model into solvable problems such as single-degree-of-freedom free and forced vibrations. In addition, the remote control of real instruments through the Internet was integrated into the vibration laboratory experience.