Beating

A phenomenon where a signal pulsates periodically because the signal

comprises two signals of nearly the same frequency. The frequency of
pulsation or beating is equal to the difference between the frequencies
of the two signals. Beating can occur when there are identical
machines operating at about the same speed, or when the frequency of
the excitation force is close to the natural frequency.

Bending moment
The cause of bending and shear stress. A force applied
perpendicularly to the tip of a cantilever causes a bending moment at
every position of the cantilever. The higher the bending moment, the
higher the shear stress, and the more the bending.

Bin
See Spectral line.

Bit
Binary digit. The binary number system uses only two digits, “0” and
“1” (as opposed to the decimal number system which uses ten digits,
“0” to “9”). Each “0” or “1” appearing in a binary number is a “bit”.

Blade pass frequency

The speed at which fan blades rotate past a fixed reference point. This
is equal to the operating speed of the fan multiplied by the number of
fan blades. The vibration spectrum of a fan shows a peak at the blade
pass frequency. The term “blade pass frequency” is often abbreviated
as “BPF”.

Bode plot
A set of two graphs, one showing how amplitude varies with frequency
and the other showing how phase varies with frequency. A Bode plot
is used to show the frequency response of a system. See also
Nyquist plot.

Copyright  2003 COMMTEST INSTRUMENTS 66 Beginner’s Guide To Machine Vibration