Mission
“The AVRG’s central goal is to conduct fundamental and applied research in the broad field of Acoustics & Vibration, with special emphasis on the development of advanced testing and system identification methodologies with application in the domain of mechanical engineering.” – Patrick Guillaume
Our fundamental research results are being applied in numerous fields, being Experimental and Operational Modal Analysis, Damage Assessment and Structural Health Monitoring, Offshore Wind Turbine Monitoring, Additive Manufacturing Modelling and Control and Optical Measurement Techniques.
History
Within the department of Mechanical Engineering at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Acoustics & Vibration Research Group (AVRG) was founded back in 1992.
AVRG has a strong knowledge and 20 years of experience with signal processing, data analysis and system identification. In collaboration with LMS International (now Siemens PLM Software) AVRG developed the PolyMAX modal parameter estimator. This realisation was an important scientific and industrial breakthrough allowing to solve complex modelling problems that were not possible before.
The more recent introduction by AVRG of the Transmissibility‐based Operational Modal Analysis (TOMA) methodology has been recognized as one of the greatest achievements in the field of OMA during the last decade.
Next to our strong recognition in the field of modelling by the academic as well as industrial community, AVRG was also able to build a strong reputation in monitoring application of airplane components (in collaboration with ASCO Industries, LMS/Siemens, Airbus France, Dassault, …) and more recently offshore wind turbines (in collaboration with Belwind, Vestas, Northwind, ZF, CG, …). AVRG excels in academic breakthroughs and the translation of these academic results into useful industrial applications in close collaboration with important industrial players.
AVRG has also 15 years of experience with fatigue testing of metallic airplane components (in collaboration with ASCO Industries) and non‐destructive inspection of fatigue cracks. AVRG was also involved in several EU Projects (Aeronews, Aisha‐I and Aisha‐II) in close collaboration with ASCO Industries. During these projects AVRG was able to build knowledge and experience with several damage testing and inspection techniques including ultrasonic surface acoustic waves linear and nonlinear detection techniques using different types of sensors including Laser Doppler Vibrometry. The developed methods were tested on real airplane components.
