The Crucial Roles of Vibration Damping and Isolation in Precision Scientific Applications

January 1, 2023
Sonia Gossai

Vibration damping and isolation are two critical components that ensure precision and accuracy in various scientific applications such as confocal microscopy, interferometry, IVF, and patch clamping. Jake Porrazzo, a vibration consultant at TMC, enlightens us about the distinguishing factors and significance of these two components using TMC’s CleanBench laboratory table.

Damping is a property that describes how swiftly a surface vibration diminishes post an impact. To demonstrate this, Jake compared an undamped piece of steel with a TMC CleanBench laboratory tabletop which employs proprietary damping technology. The stark contrast in damping performance underlines the importance of this feature in reducing the potential for disruptive oscillations.

Isolation, on the other hand, pertains to the protection an experiment or application gets from environmental vibrations or energy transfer from the floor. The TMC CleanBench table incorporates gimbal piston pneumatic isolators that significantly reduce energy transfer. Jake demonstrated this by creating vibrations through a kick to the table, highlighting the limited energy transfer due to the isolation properties of the TMC table.

Comparing the isolated table to a completely rigid one (without isolation), it becomes obvious how environmental vibrations can dramatically impact an experiment. Hence, the demonstration underscores the role of isolation in safeguarding precise applications from environmental disturbances.

The clarification provided by Jake helps to better understand the role of vibration damping and isolation in precision applications. It underscores the need to consider these factors when choosing equipment for sensitive experiments or applications.

Recent Episodes

active vibration control system
View episode

What if I bump into, or step on, a platform supported by STACIS, what happens? Wes Wigglesworth short answer: almost nothing. Thanks to the hard-mount active vibration control system in STACIS, the active control is downward looking, which means that it is measuring and cancelling floor vibration. In layman’s terms, that means you would need […]

field surveys
View episode

In the world of microscopy, especially with high-precision electron microscopes, obtaining clean, precise images can be a complex endeavor, subject to a multitude of factors. Common sources that interfere with the quality of images produced by these microscopes include vibrations, magnetic fields, and acoustics. Given their high sensitivity, these microscopes can easily be affected by […]

vibration system installations
View episode

The Technical Manufacturing Corporation (TMC) ensures successful vibration system installations like  STACIS installations through its full-service team located globally, working either directly as TMC employees or through trained experts in their sales channels. The importance of a correct STACIS installation is well recognized, and TMC offers comprehensive on-site services. These range from supervising the physical […]