Almost all manufactured items are subjected to varying degrees of dynamic stimulation such as vibration, fatigue, mechanical, shock, acceleration, normal handling, and shipping. Items intended to withstand these stresses should be tested to ensure that they do.

Laboratory dynamics tests are performed on samples under controlled conditions, either as single tests or as a combination of several tests. The items evaluated may range from individual miniature components to completed, assembled units.

Dynamics testing considers the conditions encountered during a product's functional life, and the conditions encountered during storage and distribution. Often, these conditions are quite different. For example, parts of aircraft or military vehicles must stand up to heavy vibration levels and strong accelerations while in use. On the other hand, they must also withstand the pressure of being stacked on top of one another during storage and the various shocks and random vibrations of being shipped. For many items, the transportation portion of their mission life may present the harshest conditions which they ever experience.