Low-vibration environments for sensitive machinery and scientific instruments

Some machinery and scientific instruments, for example electron microscopes and machines for high-precision fabrication, are very sensitive to vibration. They must be installed in environments where the vibration levels are extremely low.

Measuring floor vibration at the base
of a sensitive analysis machine

There are no national or international standards which apply, but a number of Vibration Criteria curves have been defined for acceptable levels in different environments. These range from operating theatres, where magnifying devices used in micro-surgery also magnify vibration levels, all the way down to silicon fabrication, which can need levels which are four orders of magnitude lower than the lowest levels perceptible to humans.

Colin Gordon, one of our previous managers, established these levels whilst working with BBN in the USA, and they have become a de-facto standard. The levels to be measured are extremely low, and ISVR Consulting have the specialist capability to make such measurements.

For further information contact

Malcolm Smith
ISVR Consulting
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ
UK

Telephone 023 8059 2162 (+44 23 8059 2162 from outside the UK),
or e-mail: consultancy@isvr.co.uk