ASHRAE RECOMMENDED

VIBRATION CRITERIA

Presented By

Neil Moiseev,
Associate Principal
Cerami & Associates, Inc
New York, NY
ASHRAE TC 2.6
HUMAN PERCEPTIBILITY
VIBRATION STANDARDS

There are two major standards for human

perceptibility to vibration:

• American National Standard Guide for the Evaluation

of Human Exposure to Whole-Body Vibration
— ANSI S3.18-1979 (R1993)

• International Standards Organization Mechanical

vibration and shock -- Evaluation of Human Exposure
to Whole-Body Vibration
— ISO 2631-2:1997
ASHRAE TC 2.6

The following figures present recommended

vibration guidelines for planning new facilities.
Human Perceptibility is based on the ANSI and ISO
standards. The criteria for equipment operation,
such as electron microscopes were developed by
Bolt Bernek and Newman and have become
industry practice.
These recommendations are displayed in a table
and then a graph using vibration velocity in terms
of micro inches per second. This leads to constant
levels throughout much of the frequency range.
ASHRAE TC 2.6
Guideline Criteria for use
in Planning New Facilities
Criterion
Curve (see
Figure 1)
1
Max Level
2
Description micro inches/sec Detail Size
of Use (dB) (microns) Description
Workshop
32,000 (98) N/A Distinctly feelable vibration. Appropriate to workshops and nonsensitive areas.
(ISO)
Office (ISO) 16,000 (92) N/A Feelable vibration. Appropriate to offices and nonsensitive areas.
Residential Day Barely feelable vibration. Appropriate to sleep areas in most instances. Probably adequate for
8,000 (84) 75
(ISO) computer equipment and low-power (to 50X) microscopes.
Op. Theatre Vibration not feelable. Suitable for sensitive sleep areas. Suitable in most instances for
4,000 (80) 25
(ISO) microscopes to 100X and for other equipment and low sensitivity.
Adequate in most instance for optical microscopes to 400X, microbalances, optical balances,
VC-A 2,000 (74) 8
proximity and projection aligners, etc.
An appropriate standard for optical microscopes to 1000X, inspection and lithography
VC-B 1,000 (68) 3
equipment (including steppers) to 3 µ line widths.
A good standard for most lithography and inspection equipment (including electron
VC-C 500 (60) 1
microscopes) to 1 µ detail size.
Suitable in most instances for the most demanding equipment including electron microscopes
VC-D 250 (56) 0.3
(TEMs and SEMs) and E-Beam systems, operating to the limits of their capability.
A difficult criterion to achieve in most instances. Assumed to be adequate for the most
VC-E 125 (50) 0.1 demanding of sensitive systems including long path, laser-based, small target systems
requiring extraordinary dynamic stability.

Notes: 1 As measured in one-third octave bands of frequency over the frequency range of
8 to 100Hz. The dB scale is referenced to 3.94 x 10-8 micro inch per second
2
The detail size refers to the line width in the case of microelectronics fabrication, the particle (cell) size in the case of medical and pharmaceutical
research, etc. The values given take into account the observation that the vibration requirements
of many items of the equipment depend upon the detail size of the process.
ASHRAE TC 2.6
Vibration Sensitive
Equipment Criteria
100000

ISO Work Shop 32,000 µ inches per second

Vibration in Micro Inches per Second

ISO Office 16,000 µ inches per second

10000 ISO Residential Day 8,000 µ inches per second

ISO Operating Rm 4,000 µ inches per second

ISO VC-A 2,000 µ inches per second

ISO VC-B 1,000 µ inches per second

1000
ISO VC-C 500 µ inches per second

ISO VC-D 250 µ inches per second

ISO VC-E 125 µ inches per second

100
2 4 8 16 31.5 63 125 250 500 1000 2000
One-Third Octave Band Center Frequency (Hz)
ASHRAE TC 2.6

The next figure presents human perceptibility

to vibration in terms of vibration velocity.
This graph was published in the Architectural
Record in September, 1973 and is based on
work by T. Mikawa. We have used this
graph with great success in predicting how
people react to vibration over the last 30
years
ASHRAE TC 2.6
HUMAN PERCEPTIBILITY OF AND
AUDIBLE NOISE FROM VIBRATION
130
AUDIBLE RANGE 20-20,000 HZ

120
Peak Vibration Velocity in dB re 39.4x10 inches per second

110
VIBRATION CLEARLY PERCEPTIBLE
VIBRATION CLEARLY PERCEPTIBLE AND
BUT NOISE INAUDIBLE
NOISE AUDIBLE NC-60
100
-8

NC-50
90

NC-40
80
VIBRATION BARELY
PERCEPTIBLE
NC-30
70

NC-20

60
VIBRATION IMPERCEPTIBLE
BUT NOISE AUDIBLE
VIBRATION AND NOISE
IMPERCEPTIBLE
50

40
2 4 8 16 31.5 63 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000

1/3 Octave Band Center Frequency in Hertz

ASHRAE TC 2.6

The following graph presents general

guidelines for bearing vibration of HVAC
equipment. This guideline comes from
material published by the NEBB.
 EQUIPMENT VIBRATION GUIDELINES
1

0.444
Extremely Rough
0.222
Rough
RMS Velocity, Inches per Second

0.111
Slightly Rough
0.1

0.0555
Fair
0.0277
Good
0.0139 Very Good
0.01
Smooth
0.0069
Very Smooth
0.0035

Extremely Smooth
0.001
1 10 100
Frequency, Hz
ASHRAE TC 2.6