NOISE AND VIBRATION INSULATION IN THE ELEVATORS FOR BUILDINGS

12/11/2023

INTRODUCTION

Lifts in buildings can be a potential source of noise and vibration production, they can be one of the most problematic areas for building occupants. This noise and vibration generated is transmitted to the entire surrounding structure where the elevator is operating. This can lead to a significant disturbance to the occupants and ruin the enjoyment of the building, in particular the sleeping conditions. In fact, noisy lifts are one of the most important sources of complaints in customer´s hotel reviews.

There are often challenges to identify the transmission path (airborne vs. structure borne) and how the transmission paths can be mitigated to reduce the noise and vibration. Issues relating to the reliability and safety of the elevator operation can introduce difficulties and conflicts with implementing vibration isolators.

That is why AMC MECANOCAUCHO® sees the need to offer different solutions with vibration specialists for this type of application. Since these machines have different parts that are in contact with the surrounding structure, solutions for each of them are shown below.

ENGINE FRAME

Depending on the type of elevator, this engine frame can go in a machine room, attached to the lift shaft or at the top of the shaft of the lift installation. For a calculation of the correct anti-vibration mount selection, it would be important to know if it is an elevator with electric traction or if it is a hydraulic elevator (where it could have a small installation, for example, inside the shaft).

Before proceeding with a calculation, it is important to have a technical datasheet of the lift. For the motor mount, for example, we could consider its insulation using Sylomer® material. To recommend the correct Sylomer® material, it would be necessary to know the loads of the motor-pulleys, cabin, counterweight, cables, etc. and the contact surfaces or surface area of the engine mount where Sylomer® strips would be installed.

To know the appropriate density, it is necessary to know the weight to be supported and the dimensions of the base plate.

In addition, it is crucial to avoid acoustic bridges. For this, one of the options is to place CB supports, secured with a central bolt, as shown in the images below.

GUIDES

In principle, the purpose of these guides is to guide the elevator without the intermediate fixings having the function of supporting the mass of the guides, and therefore normally the reactions at the fixing points are usually not too high.

The typical solution that it can be adopt in this type of application is the installation of TF type supports at the fixing points of the guides to the wall. Below are shown several photographs of similar installations with these TF type supports. In order to propose the most suitable TF type support for the application, it is necessary to know the operative and maximum axial and radial reactions at each fixing point, and the number of total installation points.

As this type of mount is installed in pairs, for each installation point we would need 2x supports (1x pairs of mounts) and it would be very important to respect the T dimension of the frame. The number of supports needed will be determined by the loads. The assembly would be carried out with the supports in a horizontal position (perpendicular to the guide) and the Rx reaction would be given axially to the support.

LINK

In relation to the counterweight, it would be necessary to see how the installation of the guides is carried out and, if necessary, also isolate them.

BOTTOM BASE

It is important to insulate the base where the structure of the guides would rest in order not to transmit vibrations through the base.

The best and simplest solution for the base plate of a lift or elevator is its suspension on Sylomer®.

In addition, it is crucial to avoid acoustic bridges. If the bolts are directly fixed to the floor, vibration can be transmitted through them. For this, one of the options is to place CB supports, secured with a central bolt, as shown in the images below.