Author: Bryce Lovell
Status: Evaluation / Proof-of-Concept Kit (v0.1 target)
License: Evaluation-Only (internal test/build allowed; no commercial use without permission) — see LICENSE
Launch and entry environments impose vibration, acoustic forcing, and shock that can excite structural resonances. Those resonances amplify local motion and transmitted loads into mounts, avionics, wiring, and panels—driving fatigue, loosening, fretting, intermittent faults, and sometimes outright structural damage.
IX-Vibe is built as a stacked mitigation approach:
- Broadband attenuation (reduce how hard the structure gets “kicked” in the first place)
- Mode-targeted damping (reduce the peaks that actually break things)
- Distributed sensing + verification (measure what changed, don’t guess)
This repo is written to be auditable: explicit assumptions, explicit non-claims, explicit tests, and hard success metrics.
- A test-driven architecture combining:
- passive energy dissipation (PressureX-style constrained/shear-thickening or viscoelastic inserts),
- targeted resonance suppression (e.g., tuned electro-mechanical damping modules),
- distributed sensing + go/no-go assessment (AHIS-style health monitoring).
- A buildable evaluation kit with a full BOM, build guidance, and measurement scripts.
- A framework meant to demonstrate measurable reductions in:
- transmissibility at resonance peaks (dB),
- shock response (SRS),
- and/or panel acoustic response.
- A promise of “zero vibration everywhere.” Physics doesn’t work that way.
- A substitute for TPS, structural margins, propulsion reliability, or vehicle-level aero/thermal redesign.
- A “trust me” concept. If IX-Vibe can’t show deltas in standard tests, it fails.
Broadband layer intent (passive):
- Reduce peak transmitted acceleration/strain during mixed vibration and shock environments.
- Expected impact: material reduction in overall response (often modest), and reduced excitation energy into dominant modes.
Mode-targeted layer intent (resonance peaks):
- Suppress the worst resonance peaks (the ones correlated with damage/faults), by increasing damping ratio and/or shifting/flattening the FRF peak.
- Expected impact: large reduction at targeted modes when tuned correctly (this is where “stacking” delivers most of the win).
Truth layer intent (sensing/verification):
- Quantify before vs after in FRF/SRS/acoustic tests.
- Detect onset of damage or abnormal growth in modal energy.
- Convert a violent event from “unknown condition” to measured state.
IX-Vibe is considered successful if it demonstrates, with standard test methods:
- FRF peak reduction at targeted mode(s): measurable reduction in peak magnitude (dB) and/or increased damping ratio (Δζ)
- SRS reduction: measurable reduction at critical frequencies for shock events
- Acoustic response reduction: measurable reduction in panel/bay response under acoustic excitation
- Mass/complexity bounds: stays within explicitly stated mass and integration constraints
See docs/01_Requirements_and_Metrics.md once added.
- Read the project charter:
docs/00_Project_Charter.md - Review the architecture and limits:
docs/02_Architecture_Overview.mdanddocs/03_Failure_Modes_and_Limits.md - Build the minimum prototype modules per
docs/07_Prototype_Build.md - Run the measurement plan:
docs/04_Test_Plan_FRF_SRS_Acoustic.md - Use the scripts in
/scriptsto generate before/after plots and summary deltas
This is not a pitch deck. It’s an evaluation package designed to be falsified quickly. If the measured deltas are meaningful under realistic constraints, IX-Vibe becomes a candidate for deeper integration work and consulting support.
Commercial/production use requires a separate license. Evaluation use is permitted under the terms in LICENSE.