Air Springs

Air Springs are typically used to isolate equipment that is very sensitive to vibration. They provide very high levels of isolation, can reach very low natural frequencies and are essentially resonance free. They would typically be used in but not limited to, research and medical facilities, and precision manufacturing environments.

An air spring is simply a column of air that is constrained by a rubber form and pressurised to varying amounts to obtain desired load capacities. The pressure from the compressed air generates an upward force that supports the equipment. This creates a vibration break, which in turn isolates the vibration. It is a simple relationship between force, area and pressure. Therefore, the larger the diameter of air spring, the higher the upward force will be at the same pressure.

Air springs come in a variety of types such as the following:

Our most typical air spring can achieve natural frequencies as low as 1.8Hz. They have a good range of load capacities and are low height therefore can be used in many applications.

These air springs can achieve lower natural frequencies of down to 1.4Hz. This allows them to gain higher isolation efficiencies against lower driving vibration frequencies. They have higher load capacities than the MT air springs for heavy duty applications.

Both the MT and MAS air springs are available with a SLR restrained housing to enable them to accept seismic and lateral loads. The restrained housing can act as a temporary support, therefore there is no need for bump/limit stops.

These air springs are available for very high loading applications. They can be manufactured to diameters of up to 1.2 metres and with maximum load capacities of up to 69,264kg.

Custom air springs can be manufactured for many applications. For example, cylinders can be added to the bottom of an air spring to increase the air volume and therefore the isolation performance.

Typical applications can include medical scanners and high precision imaging equipment such as electron microscopes. Other applications would be low tolerance manufacturing equipment in semiconductor factories. On the other hand, some types of electrical transformers require isolation via air springs due to their inherently complex vibration modes, especially when located on a suspended floor.

Swimming pools are often supported on air springs because the system is self-levelling. Unlike springs, this means the system will not pitch or lift up when water moves or the pool is emptied for cleaning or maintenance.

Air springs can be used in conjunction with steel or reinforced concrete bases. Steel bases allow for a cleaner alternative when retrofitting the system in a controlled environment where use of wet concrete is not an option. Providing a well-designed base will increase mass, lower the centre of gravity and provide a very stiff supporting structure to prevent additional vibration modes.

Mason UK have experience in installing air spring systems for various applications and designed many different arrangements. See below for additional installation photos for example.

If you would like to order or learn more about air springs and systems, please contact Mason UK’s engineers who will assist in working toward a solution.