S

hops of t en over l ook vi br at i on i s s ues when i n-

s t al l i ng machi ne t ool s or equi pment . However,
pl anni ng f or vi br at i on c ont r ol , opt i mal l y be -
f or e c ons t r uc t i ng a ne w f ac i l i t y or dur i ng r e -
des i gn of an exi s t i ng one, can s ave s hops a l ot of
mone y i n t he l ong r un. Tha t s be c a us e i s ol a t i ng
machi nes and pr oces s es f r om unwant ed vi br at i on
r educes f ut ur e pr obl ems s uch as bad par t - s ur f ace
f i ni s hes , par t s out of t ol er ance, and even phys i o-
l ogi cal damage t o shop personnel .
According to Fabreeka International Inc., Stoughton,
Mass., all structures, including machine tools and other
equi pment, vi brate, or osci l l ate, when di spl aced from
MACHINEINSTALLATION
Isolation
systems
optimize
manufacturing
processes.
By Leslie Gordon,
associate editor
ISOLATING UNWANTED
VIBRATION
Large machines typically
require attaching their
frames or beds to a concrete
foundation, often called a
reaction or inertia mass.
Large machines typically
require attaching their
frames or beds to a concrete
foundation, often called a
reaction or inertia mass.
Reprinted from AMERICAN MACHINIST May 2005
0854_AM_FAIN 5/11/05 8:43 AM Page 40
A
n example from the Fabreeka
files includes a company with an
industrial fan transmitting vibration
into its floor support, felt by office
personnel on the same floor. The
vibration was not severe, but
personnel found it annoying.
t hei r equi l i br i um ( s t at i c)
posi t i on and cont i nue vi -
brating naturally until dis-
si pati ng al l the energy re-
c e i ve d. Vi br at i on i s
expressed i n frequency, or
number of oscillations/unit
of t i me. The uni t
c yc l e s / s e c i s c al l e d a
Hertz (Hz).
Eve r y phys i c al s ys t e m
possesses a nat ural vi bra-
t i on- f r equency pr oper t y.
For some, such as a slab of
steel, the natural frequency
is high, and for others, such
as rubber, it is low. An iso-
lator, which suppresses un-
wanted vibration, also has
a damping property that de-
creases t he f requency am-
pl i t ude of an os c i l l at i ng
system.
Unwanted
vibration
Machines and equipment
can be either the source or
the recipient of unwanted vi-
bration and both may require
isolation. For example, rotat-
ing, reciprocating, and im-
pacting equipment all create
unwanted machine-induced vi-
bration and shock, a t ran-
s i ent condi t i on wher e an
MACHINEINSTALLATION
After a survey, Fabreeka had
information that included:
- Fan weight: 14,000 lb,
uniformly distributed.
- Fan speed: 1,800 rpm (30 Hz).
- The fan is near a floor column
support, meaning the support is
stiff.
- There are no adverse
environmental conditions.
- The fan is skid-mounted and
anchored to the floor.
After calculations, the solution
involved placing isolators at the
anchor-bolt locations. Since
vibration disturbance was not
severe, only annoying, a 75%
reduction would suffice.
Fabreeka specialists calculated
the transmissibility ratio and
used an isolator with a 13.39-Hz
natural frequency.
REDUCING
INDUSTRIAL-FANVIBRATION
Equipment requiring isolation is often
the source of unwanted vibration...
...or the recipient of it.
applied force suddenly dis-
r upt s a s ys t e ms e qui l i b-
rium. This vibration trans-
mi t s t o t he mac hi ne s
support i ng f l oor- sl ab and
the soi l underneath. Here,
using isolation reduces the
vibration transmitted to the
floor.
On the other hand, preci-
s i on mac hi ne t ool s and
CMMs requi re prot ect i on
from vibration. With them,
i sol at i on syst ems keep vi -
brat i on wi t hi n accept abl e
limits to maintain machine
per f or mance and achi eve
desired finishes, tolerances,
and accuracies.
Machi nes can al so bot h
c r e at e and r e c e i ve un-
want e d vi br at i on. For
example, a surface grinder
t ypi cal l y requi res prot ec-
ti on from fl oor vi brati on.
Howe ve r, t he gr i nde r s
heavy table reversing while
in operation also produces
l arge dynami c f orces t hat
can di sturb nearby equi p-
ment.
Fabreeka says isolation is
not typically required for less-
sensitive machines. But pro-
tecti on i s cr i t i cal when i t
comes t o bi g i nves t ment s
such as ultra precise and ac-
curat e equi pment , or ma-
c hi ne s wi t h l ong b e d s ,
whi ch r equi r e anchor i ng
and aligning.
Robert Haley, engineering
manager at Fabreeka, ex-
plains, To better understand
A standard pneumatic isolator has a
natural frequency of approximately
2.5 Hz. These isolators require a
source of clean, dry gas with
pressures from 60 to 120 psi.
0854_AM_FAIN 5/11/05 8:43 AM Page 42
vibration isolation and damp-
i ng, pi cture a car. Its chassi s
rest s on l eaf spri ngs. I f you
t ravel down a road wi t hout
shocks and hit a pothole, the
whol e c ar os c i l l at e s at t he
nat ur al f r e que nc y of t he
springs for many cycles until
dissipating the energy and the
car stops. However, when you
put s hoc k abs or be r s on,
which are really dampers, the
car oscillates at the same fre-
quency, but onl y f or maybe
one cycle and at a much lower
amplitude.
According to Fabreeka, the
bi ggest sources of unwanted
vibration are machines gener-
ating pulses or impacts, such
as i nj ecti on mol ders, i mpact
t est ers, hammers, st ampi ng
presses, cent ri f ugal pumps,
and compressors, which typi-
c al l y s e nd s e ve r e dynami c
forces to the floor.
Achieving isolation
Shops achi eve i sol ati on by
placing an isolator, or elastic
element, between the unit vi-
brating and its support struc-
ture. Francis J. Andrews, P.E.,
explains, A vibration isola-
tor acts as a mechanical filter.
Isolator efficiency varies with
its natural frequency, which is
both a function of the isolator
MACHINEINSTALLATION
A T-shaped foundation puts the isolator
in the same horizontal plane as the
combined center of gravity of the
machine and the foundation to eliminate
motion.
stiffness and the mass being
supported.
All vibration isolators are
essentially springs with the
added element of damping.
I n s ome cas es , t he s pr i ng
and damper are separat e,
such as a coil spring isola-
t or us e d wi t h a vi s c ous
dampe r. Mos t i s ol at or s ,
however, incorporate both
in one unit.
I n addi t i on t o s pr i ngs ,
other types of isolators in-
clude rubber; mats of vari-
ous materi al s such as fel t,
r ubbe r, and c or k; me t al
coi l s; ai r bags; pneumat i c
c yl i nde r s ; and c onc r e t e
floating foundations. Air
i sol at ors yi el d t he l owest
nat ur al f r e que nc y, wi t h
steel springs next, followed
by e l as t ome r ( nat ur al or
synthetic rubber) pads.
Unfortunatel y, j ust pl ac-
i ng a r ubber mat under a
compressor, f or exampl e,
doe s n t al ways wor k. I n
f ac t , i t c an dr amat i c al l y
amplify vibration transmit-
ted to the floor. What hap-
pe ns i s t he nat ur al f r e -
que nc y of t he i s ol at or
coincides exactly (resonates)
with the compressors driving
frequency . The r es ul t ant
increase in vibration ampli-
tude i s l i mi ted onl y by the
amount of damping present
in the isolation system.
Thi s i s why Fabr e e ka
stresses that designing a vi-
bration-isolation system is
not a do-i t-yoursel f proj ect.
An experts skill lies in select-
i ng the proper system based
on i t s nat ur al f r e que nc y,
whi ch i nvol ves det ermi ni ng
application variables such as
transmi ssi bi l i ty, or the rati o
of output vi brati on to i nput
vibration.
An effective isolator for an
application has a natural fre-
quency well below the appli-
cations input vibration. If the
transmissibility ratio is much
greater than one, vibration is
amplified, whereas if the ratio
i s l ess than thi s, vi brati on i s
reduced. Vi brati on i sol ati on
for any isolator begins at a ra-
tio of 1.414.
Small machines are typically
mounted directly to isolators.
Larger machi nes requi re at -
taching their f rames or beds
t o properl y designed founda-
t i ons , al s o c al l e d r e ac t i on
masses or inertia blocks. Ac-
cording to Haley, it takes a lot
more force to move a machine
joined to a concrete block at-
tached to springs than it does
to move a machi ne attached
only to springs.
Some equi pment manufac-
turers provi de al l owabl e-vi -
br at i on s pe c i f i c at i ons f or
t he i r mac hi ne s , but mos t
dont, which makes choosing
an i sol at or syst em di f f i cul t .
The key is knowing the ampli-
An elastomeric isolator consists of a
neoprene-elastomer vulcanize-bonded
to steel components, giving it stiffness
in all directions.
0854_AM_FAIN 5/11/05 8:43 AM Page 44
MACHINEINSTALLATION
tudes of vibration frequencies
t hat har m mac hi ne r y. Fab-
r eeka r epor t s t hi s i s wher e
savvy companies call in a con-
sultant or company specializ-
ing in vibration protection.
Such specialists measure vi-
brati on wi th hi ghl y accurate
instrumentation such as real-
ti me si gnal anal yzers. These
de vi c e s c apt ur e r aw dat a,
wi t hout bi as , f or pos t - pr o-
cessi ng and quant i f y ampl i -
tude and frequency of vibra-
t i on. Wi t h t hi s dat a, t he
s pe c i al i s t r e c omme nds t he
best isolation solution. Engi-
neers then conduct acceptance
t est measurement s af t er i n-
stallation to verify amplitudes
and t he r e s u l t a n t t r a n s -
mi t t e d v i br a t i on.
This housed spring isolators side
bolt provides adjustable damping
by applying a compression load to
an internal elastomer pad.
Copyright 2005 by Penton Media, Inc.
w w w . f a b r e e k a . c o m
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