Need for Controlling Noise and Vibration Dampening in Industrial Equipment

Need for Controlling Noise and Vibration Dampening in Industrial Equipment
Industrial equipment when they are in operation can produce considerable amounts of vibration. Though it is not possible to eliminate these vibrations, they have to be dampened or controlled and if not done it can lead to several problems for the life and performance of the equipment.
Why Vibration Dampening
Without sufficient vibration dampening, the wear and tear of every component is accelerated leading to early failure of machine parts. The steady vibrational motion creates cyclical stress. These repetitive stresses add up and result in machinery failure. Vibrations cause bottlenecks due to machine maintenance and excessive downtime. Also, vibration dampening protects workers from high noise levels. As per factory regulations, average noise level in an eight-hour shift, must be kept within stipulated limits and vibration control helps to achieve this.
Methods of Vibration Control
One method uses leveling pads for maintaining machine balance. Like washing machines, industrial equipment also will begin to vibrate when it is out of balance, causing noise and damage. This method is cheaper and easier to level uneven floors or machinery. Vibration pads are also used for vibration control because they absorb and muffle vibrations thereby reducing noise.
Another technique of vibration control is installation of vibration mounts. Similar to shock absorbers in automobiles, vibration mounts create a pneumatic or mechanical dampening effect to nullify vibrations by generating a force equal and opposite to the vibration. A mechanical vibration mount usually consists of a high-tension spring similar a car’s shock absorbers. Pneumatic devices use either compressed air or liquid to cancel out shock by either emptying or filling a cylinder support.
There is a third method available when vibration cannot be reduced by vibration mount or pad. Injection moldable, thermoplastic materials of high density are also an excellent way to provide vibration dampening solutions. Having high mass, these materials are custom made to the correct density needed for the application, by component manufacturers who produce and assemble the correct size, mass and shape of balance-weight required. These materials can be made to density of 11 g/cc and can be cast into complex geometries, giving freedom to part makers to design the perfect counter balance, that is, the vibration control part they require. Moreover by their very nature these high density materials are good sound dampeners, adding value by reducing equipment noise as well.
Conclusion
The various solutions available for dampening vibration and leveling industrial equipment provide a number of ways to prevent any unwanted wear and tear of equipment or any risk to worker as even vibrations and sound of low-levels can be harmful to man and machine. Vibration control reduces the ambient sound level in machinery and can help in cutting down the maximum sound level existing. Hence, effective control of vibration is a sensible investment both for worker safety and machine performance.