Site Vibration & Noise Testing
We routinely perform site surveys for the installation of sensitive equipment and make comparisons with manufacturers' environmental specifications or industry standard guidelines. We typically make measurements of floor vibration, acoustic noise and stray magnetic field/EMF.
We can make a quick on site "snapshot" of the environment if all the sources of concern are known, and are known to be running. In most cases the floor vibration, acoustic noise, and other disturbances are not fully known and we recommend monitoring for a period of time sufficient to gather a representative data set. This may include a full 24 hour period to capture the impact of worker activities on the vibration and acoustic environment throughout a typical day, or a full work week to gather data while shipments and deliveries occur, or longer periods to capture and characterize the full range of environmental conditions.
(See our section on Monitoring).
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More often we will setup a monitoring system to gather data over a representative period of time so that we will get the full picture of the disturbances that affect a site and the gather statistics on how often certain disturbances occur, with what frequency content, as well as capturing the event waveforms from which to identify transient sources. We have two types of monitoring systems, one is specialized for construction monitoring, the other system is for all other situations where we would like to capture and characterize disturbance of any kind. It can be configured to be a small 4 channel system or a large system with dozens of channels.
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Site surveys often include the following:
•Floor Vibration
•Stiffness Testing
•Resonance Testing
•Damping Testing
•Acoustics Noise
•Reverberation Testing
•Absorption Testing
•Magnetic Field Mapping
•Transmission Path Testing
•Engineered Solutions
Some systems require knowledge of the dynamic floor stiffness and we perform dynamic testing of floor systems to quantify the rigidity of the floor, resonant frequencies, and modal coupling to other areas of the floor system and building. We perform the Vibration Testing and Modal analysis of floor systems and building structures to determine modal coupling and deformation shape. The analysis of this testing is used to make tool site selections, place vibration sources in the least vulnerable locations, and often to aid in the design of structural modifications to solve dynamics issues.
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Acoustic noise surveys may be required for sensitive tools or for sensitive people. We perform Acoustic Testing measurements for building acoustics, including T60 decay measurements for sound absorption estimates, speech intelligibility, transmission loss and privacy.
We work with architectural and engineering teams to consult on Facility Vibration issues relating to criteria development for floor vibration, floor stiffness, acoustic noise, and the STC requirements of walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors.
We perform tests and analyze data to design solutions for problems with vibration, acoustics noise, and Stray Magnetic Field/EMF in rooms, manufacturing floors, industrial processing spaces, office space, and residential areas.