I would vote Den Hartog. You cannot possibly find more value for the money. You can get it for around $15 new.
Probably not the book to have as your only/first textbook in vibration. It is not a perfectly structured ground-up textbook.
It is not a pure practical book and not a pure theory book, but a very good blend of applied theory and example problems. The specific examples he gives are some of the most valuable parts of the book. I think subjects related to rotating equipment are hit pretty well that are completely ignored in the more theoretical Rao book.
Worthwhile to pause and ask... what is your main area of interest... rotating equipment or something else?
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Thomson covers a lot of problems from a more practical point of view, Rao tends to go far off into a depper level of analysis. Perhaps another way of putting it is that Thomson to some extent plonks a method on the page, and runs through how to use it in a real situation, Rao tends to explain the exact mathematical derivation, and some alternative formulations. I've used Thomson far more than Rao, but there are things in Rao that don't appear in Thomson. From a practical perspective Thomson is the better bet in the short term I think.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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I went ahead and ordered mine: $3.58 including shipping from a 5-star rated vendor who said it was in good condition. I'm not sure if this is the latest revision, but for $3.58, I'll take my chances.
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I used Thompson for my undergrad vibrations class. I hated it then, but now I realize it is pretty practical. Unfortunately he has a tendency to jump to the solution without really explaining well how he got there...
Den Hartog is a wonderful book on the other hand.
For rotating machinery stuff I also like Robert Eisenmann, and son, "Machinery Malfunction Diagnosis and Correction: Vibration Analysis and Troubleshooting for Process Industries" but it is out of print I think and hard to find. Bob is a friend of mine and he did a nice job on this book.
The Vibration Institute also publishes their texts, mostly by Eshelmann, and they are very good as well.
"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?" Oddball, "Kelly's Heros" 1970
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I'd say it's one of the classics. Lacks some of the more modern theory (e.g. digital systems, controls theory, Laplace Transforms, FFT's, etc.), but Timoshenko was great for working out classical solutions. My prof. for vibrations in uni. used this book in his syllabus, and quoted from it directly in a lot of his lectures, but I could never find a copy as a student.
I have to second Steinberg['s book. Steinberg came up as an engineer and not an academic (he is not a PhD). His books are ultra-useful. While this book is rich on empiricism and pearls of wisdom he also isn't afraid of the math (for example he goes into how to derive plate/pcb vibration natural frequency formulas by separation of variables). The point is he doesn't use the math to come up with equations that COULD be solved after years of test and analysis to determine the the many unknown constants. His approach is 100% pragmatic and can apply equally well to structural vibration problems (seeing how he tailored structural vibration theories for use on electronic equipment problems).
