Teaching one degree-of-freedom vibration on the WWW

Abstract

This paper describes an extensive set of WWW pages that include the transient and forced vibration of a single degree of freedom system. There are Java applets that allow animation, parameter variation and self-test questions with diagnostic feedback. In addition there are more conventional notes with access to theoretical derivations. As far as possible there are links to other pages where definitions of terms are given and illustrated. As the volume of material increased to even include non-linear vibration the question of ease of navigation arose. It is proposed that recommended route options are a possible aid to students. It would of course be possible to explore the material in a free browsing manner but recommended routes for particular requirements are available. Thus a user who wishes to just look up definitions can follow one route, a student wishing to learn at a deeper level may follow another route and so on. The authors have effectively used sign posts similar to those available in National Parks so the preferred route may be chosen but users may choose to explore in their own way. It is concluded that such predefined routes may be very helpful to those who would otherwise get lost in the large amount of material available.