Damping

Structural damping determines how quickly an excited resonance in a table top decays. The simplest way to measure damping is to hit the table top with a hammer and measure the decay with an accelerometer and oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer. The height of a resonance peak in the “compliance curve” also measures damping.

For a more information see the Dry Damping Page

Compliance

Compliance is a reciprocal measurement of the dynamic stiffness of a table top. The data are obtained by inputting a measured force to the table top with a calibrated hammer and measuring the resultant acceleration (or displacement) with an accelerometer. Compliance is the ratio of displacement to force expressed as a function of frequency