 Mechanical driving-point impedance

Mechanical driving-point impedance describes the relation between a driving force and motion at the same mechanical port. Here the convention iswhere $F,V$ are Laplace transforms with zero initial conditions, and $v$ is the signed relative velocity of the two terminals. Choose signs so $Fv$ is entering power. The units of this mechanical impedance are $\mathrm{N}s/m$. Its inverse is the mechanical driving-point mobility. Conventions must be checked explicitly: in The Inerter: A Retrospective by Malcolm C. Smith, the force–current analogy calls $V/F$ the mechanical impedance and $F/V$ the admittance.^[ref]

For a spring, dashpot and inerter sharing the same terminals, relative velocities agree and forces add. HenceAt a sinusoidal angular frequency $\omega$, using complex amplitudes proportional to $e^{i\omega t}$,The real part determines mean absorbed power, while the imaginary part records the out-of-phase reactive response. With peak velocity amplitude $|V|$, the mean entering power is $\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{Re}(Z)|V{|}^2$.

For an original example, choose $b=10\mathrm{kg}$, $c=30\mathrm{N}s/m$ and $k=1000N/m$. At $\omega =10rad/s$, the inertial and elastic terms cancel, giving $Z=30\mathrm{N}s/m$. A relative velocity amplitude $0.020m/s$ requires force amplitude $0.60\mathrm{N}$, and mean absorbed power is $0.006\mathrm{W}$. The individual spring and inerter still store and exchange energy.

A mechanical impedance measurement drives the chosen port and records synchronized force and motion there. A load cell measures force; displacement or an accelerometer can supply motion. For an acceleration complex amplitude $A$, $V=A/(i\omega )$, so the phase as well as magnitude matters. Fixture inertia, sensor measurement calibration and the second terminal's motion belong in the measurement model. Using a response at a different point instead defines a transfer relation, not this driving-point relation. Initial stored motion also prevents interpreting an arbitrary transient quotient as a zero-initial-state transfer function.