Estimation of best mounting positions for vibratory equipment in buildings

It is of engineering interest to be able to estimate the best mounting position for isolated vibratory equipment in buildings, as doing so successfully means the minimum amount of overall structure-borne sound power will be transmitted to the floor structure. In this paper, a method is proposed to determine this position. A numerical approach, known as the finite difference method, and a modal testing process, the frequency domain decomposition method, are used to obtain a value for the floor mobility at all possible mounting points. The results show that it is difficult to select the best mounting positions at frequencies near the natural frequency of the vibratory system and eigenfrequency of the floor. Such positions are comparatively easier to determine at the higher frequency ratio of 6-14.