Vibration isolation of precision equipment

Abstract Isolation of precision equipment from environmental vibrations frequently is critical for assuring their adequate performance. In many cases, vibration isolation is obtained by using expensive and not very reliable active isolation systems. The paper provides a systematic analysis of vibratory environments as well as principles and criteria of vibration isolation. The results of this analysis are applied to determine requirements for vibration isolation of four high-precision pieces of apparatus for electronic production and numerous precision machine tools. It is demonstrated that in most of the cases, the isolation requirements can be satisfied by properly selected passive isolators having high damping. It was found that only in exceptional cases, the active isolation systems are required. Issues of the influence of isolators on the rigidity of isolated objects as well as on their stability (rocking) are addressed.