VIBRATION CONTROL

INTRODUCTION TO VIBRATION CONTROL

• The Vibrations may cause the following adverse effects to machine,
structure or human beings:
(i) The accuracy of work piece machining gets adversely affected by the
vibrations present in the various parts of the machine tool.
(ii) The excessive resonant vibration of a system may lead to its complete
failure.
(iii) The sudden fatigue failure of a component may takes place due to
continuous vibration over a long period.
(iv) The vibration due to earthquakes or explosions can cause a severe damage
to structure or machine foundation.
(v) The vibration can damage the sensitive instruments or apparatus which
causes errors in the readings.
(vi) The excessive noise, generated by vibrations, is unwanted and may
damage the human ears.
 TYPES OF FAILURES DUE TO UNCONTROLLED
VIBRATIONS

• Whenever the natural frequency of a machine or a structure coincides with

the frequency of the external excitation, the resonance occurs which leads
to excessive deflection and failure of system.
• The vibtrational behavior of a structure is an important consideration in
many design applications. The problems associated with uncontrolled
vibrations include:
* Fatigue damage of the structure
* Operator and passenger discomfort in vehicles
* Occupant discomfort in buildings
* Earthquake damage buildings and bridges
* Damage to sensitive electronic equipment due to vibration
• The uncontrolled vibrations may cause two main problems:
(i) Fatigue Failure, (ii) Failure due to excessive deformation.
 METHODS OF VIBRATION CONTROL

Methods of vibration control

Excitation System Active

Source
Reduction Modificati feedback
Isolation
at source on control
• The various methods of vibration control at various phases are
shown in figure.
Active feedback control

Extra Excitation
Excitation

Source System Response

Excitation
Source
Reduction
Isolation
source
 1. Excitation Reduction at Source
• The various methods to reduce the excitation level at source are:
(i) Balancing of Inertia forces
(ii) Proper lubrication of joints
(iii) Smoothening of fluid flows in case flow induced vibrations
(iv) Modification in surface finish in case self excited vibrations
(v) Using proper coolant between tool and work piece

• It should be noted in practice, there is a limit to which the excitation

level can be reduced at source. Once the excitation level has been
reduced to the minimum level but the response level is still
unacceptable, the other methods can be tried.
2. Source Isolation
• The second method which modifies the transmission path of vibration is
known as Isolation. In such method, an appropriate suspension system or
an anti-vibration mountings are inserted in the path of vibration
transmission from the source to the system.
• Sometimes, a machine which creates significant vibration during its normal
operation may be supported upon isolators to protect other machinery and
workers from shock and vibrations.
Ex: A forging hammer tends to create a shock of magnitude great
enough to interface with the operation of delicate apparatus in the
vicinity of the hammer. This condition may be reduced by mounting
the forging hammer upon isolators.
• Equipment, often required to operate in an environment characterized by
severe shock and vibration may be protected by mounting it upon isolators.
3. System Modification
• A large number of method exist in the third group i.e., in system
modification. In this method, the system parameters namely inertia,
stiffness and damping are chosen or modified to reduce the response to a
given excitation.
• When designing a system, care should be taken that its natural frequencies
lie outside the excitation frequency range. This can be done by suitably
adjusting the mass and stiffness parameters. This process of avoiding the
resonance is called detuning.
• Also effort should be made to decrease the member of coupled resonators
in a system. This process is called as decoupling.
• The very useful and common method in this group is application of
vibration absorber or vibration neutralizer (Explained in detail).
8.3.4 Active Feedback Control:

• In this method, a signal generated by the response is

suitably processed to produce a desired amplification of
the phase change in the signal. This processed signal
drives an actuator which in turn provides an additional
excitation.
• This excitation is then fed back to the vibratory system
which shifts the excitation frequency away from its
natural frequencies, and hence, resonance is avoided.
Sometime, both vibration absorber and isolators are also
used to minimise the excitation level.
 8.4 STEPS IN VIBRATION CONTROL:
Following steps are to be followed in complete solution to a
vibration problem :
– Identify the source and characterize the excitation.
– Specify the level to which the vibration should be reduced.
– Select the appropriate method for controlling the vibration
level.
– Prepare an analytical design for the selected method.
– Realize in practice the analytical design.
8.5 CONTROL OF NATURAL FREQUENCIES:
• When the frequency of excitation coincides with one of the
natural frequency of the system, resonance occurs.
• In resonance condition, amplitude of vibration is large which
is undesirable and can lead to the failure of system due to
excess stress and strain.
• In most of the cases, the excitation frequency cannot be
changed or controlled, because it is imposed by the functional
requirements of the system or machine. Therefore, in such
cases, it is necessary to control the natural frequency of the
system to avoid the resonance condition.
• The natural frequency of the system depends upon mass ‘m’
and stiffness ‘K’ of the system. Therefore, by changing one of
these parameter, the natural frequency of system can be
changed.
• However, in many practical cases, the mass cannot be changed
easily, since its value is determined by the functional
requirements of the system. For example the mass of the
flywheel on a shaft is determined by the amount of energy to
be stored in one cycle. Therefore the stiffness of the system is
the parameter that is most often changed to change its natural
frequency .The stiffness of a rotating shaft can be altered by
varying one or more of its parameters like : material or number
and location of support points (i.e. bearings)
8.6 VIBRATION ABSORBER:

• When a structure externally excited has undesirable vibrations,

this vibration can be eliminated by coupling a properly
designed auxiliary spring-mass system to the main system.
This auxiliary spring –mass system is known as vibration
absorber or dynamic vibration absorber.

• After coupling the absorber to the system the mass (machine

or structure) which is excited before attaching absorber can
now have zero amplitude of vibration and the spring –mass
system (absorbers ) which is coupled to it is now vibrated
freely.
• The various types of absorbers used are as shown in figures
 8.6.1 Undamped Dynamic Vibration Absorber
(Frahm vibration Absorber):
• The undamped dynamic vibration absorber is extremely effective at one
speed only and thus it is suitable only for constant speed machines.
• The damped dynamic vibration absorber can be used for machines with
varying speed. However, the damped dynamic vibration absorber are not
suitable for all practical purposes, because for them to be effective, they
have to be operated in a very narrow range of natural frequencies.
• Consider a system shown in Fig.8.4(a), having mass m1 and stiffness k1
which is vibrating with excitation frequency . When this excitation
frequency is nearly close to the natural frequency ωn1 of the system, the
amplitude of vibration becomes very large due to resonance
• In such cases, the vibration of the system can be reduced by using a
dynamic vibration absorber, which is simply another spring mass system,
as shown in Fig. 8.4(b).
Contn…………….
• The dynamic vibration absorber is designed such that the
natural frequency of the resulting system is away from the
excitation frequency.
• The spring mass system (m2, k2) acts as vibration absorber
and reduces the amplitude of m1 to zero.
TORSIONAL VIBRATION ABSORBER:
• As in the case of rectilinear vibrations,
a torsional vibration absorber can be
used to reduce or completely eliminate
torsional oscillation of a system.
• From figure 8.6 it can be seen that, the
main system is represented by kt1 and
J1 and is subjected to a periodic
torque T0sinwt. The torsional
vibration absorber is represented by
kt2 and J2. The analysis for dynamic
vibration absorber holds good in this
case also.
8.6.3. Centrifugal Pendulum Absorber(Self- Tuned):
• As discussed earlier, the undamped dynamic torsional vibration absorber is
fully effective only at a particular frequency for which it has been designed.
• The centrifugal pendulum type dynamic vibration absorber can be
effectively used over wide range of speeds of rotation, in torsional system.
• Fig. 8.7 Shows a centrifugal pendulum absorber. A pendulum with string PB of length ‘L’ is
attached to a rotating member at point P, which is at a radius ‘R’ from the centre of rotation O.
The mass of the pendulum bob is ‘m’ and the string is assumed to have negligible mass. This
pendulum is subject to a centrifugal force, which is much greater as compared to the
gravitational force so that the latter is considered negligible. The rotating body rotates with a
angular velocity of and due to this rotation, a centrifugal force is experienced by the
pendulum.
• The usual torsional system receives a certain number of disturbing torques per revolution. The
number of these disturbing torques per revolution is known as order number of the system. A
two cylinder engine working on a four stroke cycle has one disturbing torque per revolution
and its order number is one. A four and six-cylinder engines working on four stroke cycle
have order number of two and three respectively.
• A pendulum absorber is designed to eliminate or reduce the torsional disturbances of a
particular order number. If several order numbers are present in a system, several pendulum
absorbers are required.
• For the pendulum absorber to be effective its natural frequency f should be equal to the
excitation frequency or frequency of disturbing torque.
• The most important application of centrifugal pendulum vibration absorber is in I.C. engines
where the frequency of torque contains the harmonics of speed ω.
8.6.4 Untuned Vibration Absorbers :
There are two types of untuned vibration absorbers :

• Untuned Dry Friction Damper (Lanchester Damper)

• Untuned Viscous Damper (Houdaille Damper)
Untuned Dry Friction Damper (Lanchester damper)
• The Unturned dry friction is very advantageous to use for
torsional vibration near resonance conditions . It effectively
reduces the amplitudes of torsional vibration near resonance
conditions.
• It consists of two flywheels mounted freely over a hub, as
shown in Fig. 8.10. The hub is rigidly fixed to the shaft
undergoing vibrations. The friction plates are attached to the
extension of the hub. These friction plates apply pressure
between the friction plates and the flywheels can be adjusted
through the spring loaded bolts which hold both the flywheels
together.
• If the frictional torque is large, the pressure between the
friction plates and the flywheels is also large. Under such
circumstances, the flywheels become rigid with the shaft and
possess the same oscillations as that of the shaft. Thus, no
energy is dissipated during vibrations, since there is no relative
velocity between the hub on the shaft and the flywheels. The
energy dissipated is proportional to the friction torque times
the relative velocity.
• When the pressure between the friction plates and flywheels
becomes zero, the relative velocity is maximum but the
frictional torque is zero. Again there is no energy dissipation.
• When the speed of the main system is such that the torsional
vibrations are present in the system, the pressure between the
friction material and the flywheel is such that both the
frictional torque and the relative rubbing velocity (between the
friction material and the flywheels) are present. Thus there is
energy dissipation in the absorber which leads to reduction in
the energy of torsionally vibrating main system. Thus, the
energy reduction causes a consequent reduction in the
amplitude of vibration of the main system.
• The amplitude reduction will be greater if greater amount of
energy is dissipated.
Untuned Viscous Damper (Houdaille Damper):
• The unturned viscous damper (Houdaille damper) is similar in
principal to the Lanchester Damper except, instead of using
Friction Plates as in dry friction damping, this system uses a
viscous damping.
8.7 VIBRATION ISOLATION:

• Vibrations are produced in machines having unbalanced

masses or forces. These vibrations are transmitted to the
foundation upon which the machines are mounted, which is
undesirable.
• Therefore, it is essential to isolate the machines from
foundations so that the adjoining structure is not set into heavy
vibrations. This process of isolating the machines from the
foundations is known as vibration isolation.
Objective of vibration isolation:
The basic objective of vibration isolation are as follows:
• To protect the delicate machine (e.g. measuring instruments) from
excessive vibrations transmitted to it from its supporting structure.
• To prevent vibratory forces generated by machine from being transmitted to
its supporting structure.
– The effectiveness of isolation may be measured in terms of
the of the force or motion transmitted to that in existence.
Accordingly it is known as force isolation or motion
isolation. The lesser the force or motion transmitted the
greater is the isolation.
– In general, the vibration isolation is implemented on the
transmission path by reducing the amount of transmission
of excitation forces or displacements from one location to
another with no restriction on energy dissipation.
• The two typical cases of vibration isolation are shown in Fig.
8.13. These cases are discussed in section 8.9.
Case 1 : An operating machine generates oscillatory forces which propagate in
the supporting structure (i.e. force transmission) [Fig. 8.13(a)]
Case 2 : A supporting structure vibrates and transmits displacements to the
suspended body (i.e. motion or displacement transmission) [Fig. 8.13(b)].
8.8 METHODS OF VIBRATION ISOLATION
• The various methods of vibration isolations are classified into two
categories, as.
• Passive Vibration Isolation
• Active Vibration Isolation
8.9 PASSIVE VIBRATION ISOLATION
• The passive vibration isolation system does not require
external power to carry out its function.
• The passive vibration isolation for the two cases mentioned
above is achieved by reducing the amount of transmitted
forces or displacement using the inherent compliance of
passive vibration isolation device modifies the response of the
object to be isolated such that the transmission, either forces or
displacements, is attenuated above a particular frequency.
• The elementary form of a passive vibration isolation device
used in passive vibration isolation system can be a resilient
member connecting the disturbance source and isolating
object, as shown in Fig. 8.15.
• Fig. 8.15 shown the simplified passive vibration isolation model for the two
cases of vibration isolation problems shown in Fig. 8.15. The operating
machine, illustrated in Fig. 8.13(a), can be considered as a mass ‘m’
connected to the supporting structure through a passive vibration isolation
device modelled as a parallel spring ‘K’ and damper ‘C’ [Fig. 8.15(a)].
Similarly, the supporting structure through the same isolation device (i.e. K
and c) [Fig. 8.15 (b)]. These two single degree-of-freedom system form the
basic model for evaluating the transmissibility of a passive vibration
isolation device.
8.9.1 Types of Passive Vibration Isolators :

The vibration isolators are commercially available. They are

made from steel springs, elastomers, fibrous mats, and other
compressible materials. They are selected by specifying the
weight to be supported, the permissible deflection and the
lowest vibratory frequency of the unit to be isolated.
The various passive vibration isolators are :
– Spring
– Elastomers or Rubbers
– Ribbed Elastomers
– Pneumatic Isolators
– Other materials
Springs :
• The steel coil springs are most commonly used as passive vibration isolators. They
are highly efficient mechanical vibration absorber, durable and available with a
wide range of flexibility.
• Spring are capable of providing natural frequencies down to about 8Hz.
• The steel spring are virtually undamped. However, they have the disadvantage that
at high frequencies, vibration can travel along the write of the coil, causing
transmission into the structure. This is can be over come by incorporating a
elastomer pad in the spring assembly so that there is no metal-to-metal contact.
Many commercially available springs contain such a pad.
Elastomers or Rubbers :
Ribbed Elastomers :
Pneumatic Isolators :
Other materials :
• Several other materials, such as : wool felt, cork, glass fibers,
foam, wire mesh, etc., shown in Fig. 8.21, are used as
vibration isolators. These are often used in pad or blanket
form. However, their properties are not as well documented as
the spring, elastomer and pneumatic isolators.
8.10 ACTIVE VIBRATION ISOLATION

• A vibration isolation system is defined as active if it uses an external power

to carry out its function.
• A typical active vibration isolation system is shown in Fig. 8.22. It involves
the use of actuators, sensors, and a controller, to achieve the active
vibration isolation. The sensors are used to detect the vibrations to be
controlled, the actuators are used to reposition the mass, and the controller
is used to interpret the vibrations detected by the sensors and to execute
commands on the actuators.
• The response of the mass ‘m’, in Fig. 8.22, is thus the superposition of the
natural response and artificial response of the system. The natural response
is due to the mass (m) and the spring (K) and damping (c) of the actuators
while the artificial response is due to the control force (F) given by the loop
of sensors, controller, and actuators. The active vibration isolation
possesses the following advantages as compared with the passive vibration
isolation :
 – It is adaptive to a different vibrating objects. The objective of control
can be programmed to a targeted specifications.
– It is more effective to suppress low-frequency vibrations (< 70 Hz).
– Typical actuators, sensors, and controller used in active vibration can
provide isolation responses to within milliseconds.
– The repositioning accuracy can be controlled within 10µm.
• The effect of active vibration is isolation is illustrated in Fig. 8.23. Unlike
the passive isolation, which only effects above a particular frequency, the
vibrations across the whole frequency range, especially in the low-
frequency region can be isolated by using active vibration system.
8.11 REFERENCE STANDARDS FOR VIBRATION MONITORING
AND ANALYSIS

• Standards are criteria established by authority, custom, or general consent.

Good reference standards represent a broad consensus of broad consensus
of opinion among users, and are therefore widely accepted and applied.
Furthermore, standards should be clear, concise, and easily understood.

• Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications

or other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or
definitions of characteristics, to ensure that materials, products, process and
services are fit for their purpose.
• The various standards used in vibration monitoring and analysis are :
– ISO Standards for Vibration Monitoring and Analysis
– ISO Standards for Evaluation of Vibration Severity
– ISO Standards for Vibration measurements
– ISO Standards for training and certification
– Other standards for vibration monitoring and analysis
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