Nowadays there is a wide range of vibration isolators to choose from, including pads of cork or rubber, spring mounts, air mounts, isolation hangers and even seismic mounts. From the smallest pipes, even up to the ‘base isolators’ supporting the Museum of New Zealand – Te Papa Tongarewa in shaky Wellington, they’re all designed with...

Generally, the closer proximity to people, and the height above ground, will each increase the required efficiency of an isolation system. You can consult documents like the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 20816-1:2016, which provides general conditions and procedures for measuring and evaluating vibration of complete machines and find suitable efficiency from there. Your clients...

The demands created by vibration on a roof are going to be different to those in a basement, or in a hospital wing. A fan will have different demands to a motor. Choose a support system that’s too rigid, and you risk rapid fatigue and cracking; too soft, and you’ll end up with the vibration...

It shortens mechanical lifespans and increases the chance of early and potentially unpredictable failure. It can be a huge nuisance, especially if it’s in the range of human hearing. Even deep bass vibrations can affect users’ wellbeing in ways they may not be quick to identify, since they can feel it but not hear it....

The first is static vibration. This might seem like a contradiction of terms, but don’t stress it. Static vibration is the one-off events with low frequencies. Thump your fist on the table, and you’ve created a static vibration event. Second is quasi-static vibration. This is the kind of sporadic vibration from environmental factors like wind...