Mechanics of gelation distinction between a sol (solution) and a gel therefore appears to be understood in a manner analogous to the practical distinction between the elastic and plastic deformation ranges of a metal. The distinction lies in the ability to respond to an applied shear force via macroscopic viscous flow. In a dynamic sense, the response of a gel to an alternating force (oscillation or vibration) will depend upon the period or frequency of vibration. As indicated here, even most simple liquids will exhibit some elastic response at shear rates or frequencies exceeding 5 x 10 cycles per second. Experiments on such
Vibration fatigue amplitude distribution is known. This distribution can be obtained from a time-history simply by counting cycles. To obtain it from the PSD another approach must be taken. Various vibration-fatigue methods estimate damage intensity based on moments of the PSD, which characterize the statistical properties of the random process. The formulas for calculating such estimate are empirical (with very few exceptions) and are based on numerous simulations of random processes with known PSD. As a consequence, the accuracy of those methods varies, depending on analyzed response spectra, material parameters and the method itself - some are more accurate than others. The