This is the ability to replicate vibration that occurs in the real world to your product and/or packages in order to witness the effects and identify weaknesses. Vibration occurs in all forms of transportation and at varying levels of intensity in the use environment. In the real world, vibration is much more complex and can excite the natural frequencies of a product causing rapid fatigue and failure. The cushioning of a package system also has a natural frequency. If the natural frequency of the product and the package are the same, damage can result quickly. Similarly, if a product is going to be mounted to the chassis of a vehicle, the same principle applies.

Vibration testing should be conducted on both the product and the package. Determining the product’s sensitivity to vibration is necessary in order to formulate intelligent decisions about the product sensitivity or the package design.

Measuring the resonance of the package system will help determine the ability of the package to dampen the vibration amplitude at the critical frequencies of the product. A more simplified concept is to think of the package system as the shock absorbers on a car. The shock absorbers dampen the amplitude levels of vibration from the road to the passengers.

Westpak uses a number of different vibration tests to isolate potential problems.