Generic Vibration Criteria

A major task in vibration engineering is the specification of the maximum acceptable vibration level to run a vibration sensitive device. Sometimes the acceptable limit has been specified by the manufacturer of the device but sometimes the limit is unknown. For this case different “Generic Vibration Criteria” have been elaborated by different institutions and experts, e.g. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA or Colin Gordon & Associates in Brisbane, California, USA.  A more sophisticated method has been formulated by the “ISO/TS 10811:2000(E), Mechanical vibration and shock – Vibration and shock in buildings with sensitive equipment – Part1: Measurement and evaluation, Part 2: Classification“. Whereas the Vibration Criterion (VC) by Colin Gordon and the NIST criterion are based on empiric data mainly from the semi conductor industry the ISO/TS 10811 approach takes the dynamic of the sensitive device with respect to measured site data into account.