Vibration Damping: What Is It and What Rubber Is Best for It?

Sometimes in products, or in industrial applications, vibration is an issue that requires a solution. In our business, we create solutions called vibration damping, and we do it with extruded rubber components.

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In fact, when vibration is an issue, the right rubber formulation can make all the difference. But first, let’s get back to basics. What is vibration?

Vibration is a mechanical occurrence where shaking or oscillations occur due to imbalances in a rotating part (like a motor) or uneven friction. If vibration isn’t controlled, it can cause damage to the entire assembly or unit, specific parts, or even worse, fail and cause damage far beyond a part failure. To prevent any of these bad things from happening, you need vibration damping materials and components.

Vibration damping uses materials, often rubber, to absorb vibrations caused by machinery or moving parts. It 

can take the form of rubber vibration mounts, pads, washers, isolators, or gaskets, and can be made with a variety of rubber compounds, but are commonly made of natural rubber, EPDM, neoprene, and butyl rubber.

We’ll cover these materials one by one, but first, a few qualities that vibration dampeners require: adhesion to substrates, durometer, and resistance to other substances (ie, chemicals, oils, heat). Which material you choose for your vibration damping needs will depend on your application, and it’s important to know how different rubber compounds perform under different conditions.

Substrate Adhesion

No material can deaden vibrations if it doesn’t adhere to your parts or components. If a rubber doesn’t adhere well to your substrates, it will fall off and render the damping useless. 

Durometer

Making sure the rubber used in your damping components isn’t too hard or too soft is crucial. Too hard and you may lose damping ability; too soft and your part may tear and fall off. It’s important to test different formulations to determine the exact right durometer for your project.

Resistance

Considering the environment in which your rubber components will be used is extremely important. Vibration dampeners need to survive and lead a productive life, so understanding what elements the rubber will be exposed to is crucial. Temperature, oils, chemicals, weather, etc., can wear down parts and cause failure so it’s vital to understand rubbers’ interactions with its environment.

There are a few different vibration damping rubber materials used in most applications:

Natural Rubber

Natural rubber is a good vibration damping material that features high tensile strength, but its main drawback is that it doesn’t hold up well outdoors or in conditions that feature oils, due to its poor oil resistance.

EPDM

EPDM is a synthetic rubber that features high resistance to heat and weather and features excelled substrate adhesion and durometer. It can also be formulated in numerous different compounds for many different applications.

Neoprene

Neoprene excels in two specific areas for vibration damping: its superior adhesion to substrates, and its resistance to oil. Neoprene is a bit more expensive than other rubbers but its ability to stick to substrates (especially metal) and its ability to perform in oily conditions makes it a great damping option.

Butyl Rubber

Butyl rubber is a synthetic rubber that features low gas and moisture permeability and is extremely resistant to heat, abrasion, and tearing, which makes it an excellent option for damping vibrations.

As you can see, vibration damping parts and components can be made with a variety of rubbers, but it is crucial to find the best performing and most cost-effective option for your project. But that can be difficult unless you are a rubber expert. Fortunately, Sperry & Rice has a trained team of engineers experienced in all rubber formulations to help you determine which is right for your next project.

For more adss hardwareinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

Sperry & Rice offers innovative engineering, advanced manufacturing processes, and comprehensive quality controls to produce precision extruded synthetic rubber components for the HVAC, automotive, transportation, and appliance industries. Our reputation lies in making sure that the rubber we provide makes the finished products of our clients reliable, and of the highest quality. 

Vibration mount damping, isolation, and selection is easier when you work with Elasto Proxy.

Vibration mounts protect vehicles, machinery, and equipment from the damaging effects of vibrations, repeated back-and-forth movements (oscillations) that can accelerate wear, consume excess power, raise safety issues, and result in unplanned downtime. Anti-vibration mounts, as they’re also called, are designed to withstand specific loads and come in different shapes, sizes, and materials of construction.

Keep reading to learn more about these rubber-to-metal bonded assembles or see our standard products.

Vibration Damping vs. Vibration Isolation

Vibration mounts consist of a rubber jacket and a metal core with tapped holes for fasteners. Through vibration damping or vibration isolation, the rubber jacket dissipates the vibrational energy that causes oscillations. Although damping and isolation are sometimes used interchangeably, these two terms are not the same. Practically speaking, vibration damping reduces vibrational energy while vibration isolation prevents the transmission of this energy in the first place.

Typically, vibration isolators are installed near sources of vibrational energy such as engines, motors, and generator sets. Vibration dampers are installed elsewhere on vehicles, machinery, and equipment, and in a distributed fashion. That’s because vibrations are transmitted through structural members such as metal frames and body panels. Vibration dampers dissipate energy from these transmissions and, unlike vibration isolators, don’t depend on changing the natural frequency at which an object vibrates.  

Vibration Mount Selection

Selecting the right vibration mount isn’t just about choosing a vibration damper instead of a vibration isolator, or vice versa. Ask yourself these questions, and evaluate these five considerations.

1. System weight and weight distribution
2. Maximum loads and deflection
3. Installation locations
4. Materials of construction
5. Shape and sizes

The following sections explain.

#1 System weight and weight distribution

Heavier vehicles, machines, and equipment usually require larger or more numerous vibration mounts. You may also need larger or more numerous anti-vibration mounts if the weight of a system isn’t distributed evenly, or if there is more weight in some locations. For example, a dump truck that is fully loaded with rocks is probably heavier in the dump bed than in the cabin.

#2 Maximum loads and deflection

Vibration mounts can withstand different types of loads: compression, shear, torsion, tension, and/or buckling. By determining the types and maximum loads that your application needs to withstand, you can compare vibration mounts based on their load-deflection characteristics. This information may be listed as maximum values on product specification sheets or given as a load-deflection curve.

#3 Vibration mount installation locations

As their name suggests, vibration mounts are designed to be mounted on vehicles, machinery, and equipment. Although isolators are installed at or near the source of vibrations, dampers are installed where vibrations need to be reduced, such as where vibrational energy that produces noise is transmitted through a vehicle chassis. Ease of installation is also an important consideration.

#4 Materials of construction

The rubber that’s used in vibration mounts is available in different compounds and durometers. The compound determines the rubber’s environmental resistance, such as to machine oils. The durometer affects the rubber’s ability to recover from loads and, importantly, to reduce vibrations. Harder, stiffer rubber has a higher load capacity but is not as effective as softer rubber in reducing vibrations.  

#5 Vibration mount shapes and sizes

Vibration mounts come in various shapes and sizes. The shape matters because rubber that is under different types of loads needs to dissipate energy across multiple planes and directions. Products with flatter surfaces reduced localized stress, but the shape also affects stiffness. Sizes can range from small vibration mounts for electronic instruments to larger anti-vibration that are used in railcar applications.

Elasto Proxy supplies standard vibration mounts and is a one-stop shop for manufacturers who need rubber products that include molded rubber parts, thermal and acoustic insulation, and finished gaskets. Check out our standard vibration mounts or contact us to discuss your specific application.