Vibrating Table: 17 Powerful Buyer Considerations That Will Blow Your Mind

An engineer wrote this guide to help make your vibrating table shopping experience more pleasant.

When I first starting out making pots, I faced a lot of issues with quality. Cracks, rough patches, and discolorations were all too frequent. I was very frustrated because I knew I was pouring the concrete correctly. I was literally following the instructions to a T.

Through my struggle, I learned that vibrating the molds after pouring the concrete can help. Imagine my how excited I was when I discovered that a vibrating table could help me make my concrete molds faster. The pots also looked smoother than when I manually shook them.

Are you considering buying or making a vibrating table for commercial purposes? Or maybe just for personal use? You may already have a pretty good idea why you need it.

To get the most out of your new vibrating table, you should know about the different uses and types of tables. This way, you will be able to make an informed decision on purchasing the best vibrating table for your needs.

Keep the following considerations in mind when deciding on the appropriate vibrating table.

Table of Contents

1. How Big Should The Table Be?
2. The Design Depends On The Application
3. You’ll Need A Concrete Vibrating Table For Compacting And Setting Concrete In Molds
4. You May Need a Vibration Testing Lab For Performing A Vibration Test
5. You May Need Response Accelerometers For Vibration Measurement
6. The Vibration Test Equipment Needed For Lifetime Testing Of A Product
7. What Testing Specifications To Use For Your Equipment
8. Methods Used For Mounting The Product On The Table For Testing
9. Designing Earthquake Resistant Buildings With Vibrating Tables
10. Use For Sorting And Separating Waste In Food Processing Or Water Waste Treatment Plants
11. Mechanical Testing of Automobiles And Goods During Transportation
12. Using Vibrating Tables for Chocolate Manufacturing
13. Maintenance Required For A Vibrating Table
14. Where To Buy The Right Table For Your Needs
15. Is The Table Needed On-Site Or Can It Be Used In a Lab?
16. The Components Needed To Build Your Own Vibrating Table
17. Use For DIY Applications Like Concrete Casting

 

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1. How Big Should The Table Be?

A factor to take into account when selecting a vibrating table is the size. Size depends on the space required for the table and the equipment around it. There may be a conveyor belt, piping, or a loader ramp for placing material or products on the table. In that case, you’ll need to factor that into the space required.

The application for the table will also impact the size. For example, when compacting food products to pack them into tins or packets, the table will be standard size.

Tables used for concrete casting need to be deeper and wider. This is necessary to accommodate different mold sizes and greater numbers of molds. In case of heavy products, the tables may be lower for easing the loading and unloading process.

2. The Design Depends On The Application

The design depends on the need for vertical or horizontal vibrations.

Some features include:

An air suspension allows you to adjust the damping or spring rate by inflating or deflating it.

A rubber mounted vibration table also provides a damping effect. But once the rubber mounting is in place, you cannot vary the amount of damping. The vibrations can also be limited to the vertical vibrations.

A spring mounted vibrating table can cater to both vertical and horizontal vibrations. In some cases, the application requires movement in all three axis. In others, vibration along one or two axis is enough.

3. You’ll Need A Concrete Vibrating Table For Compacting And Setting Concrete In Molds

One of the main commercial uses of vibrating tables is in reducing the porosity of concrete. Vibrating concrete makes it more uniform and reduces air bubbles trapped inside. It also gives it a better surface finish.

Concrete’s strength and other properties improve as the water content decreases. The concrete also needs to be properly compacted and consolidated. A concrete vibrating table gives your concrete all the desirable properties. The result is a better looking concrete product. It also reduces the chances of cracks forming due to contaminants.

The principles of vibration are used in the construction industry to make higher quality concrete.

 

4. You May Need a Vibration Testing Lab For Performing A Vibration Test

Vibration testing and analysis equipment can be costly for small firms. Many companies choose to outsource their testing to product testing labs.

When contacting the lab about testing, keep in mind the following information:

1. The size of the product that will undergo testing
2. The weight of the product
3. How many samples do you need?

The lab may need a sketch or diagram of the DUT. This will help them assess the method of mounting it for testing. The size and weight of the product can impact the cost of the testing as well. Larger and heavier products need extra space on the vibrating tables. They may also need extra sensors and modifications to the testing setup.

There are several other considerations for the product testing in a lab discussed in more detail below.

5. You May Need Response Accelerometers For Vibration Measurement

Some specifications need accelerometers during the test. These can include control accelerometers and response accelerometers. Response accelerometers are usually used for performing resonance scans with small accelerations. They also provide a range of frequencies.

Control accelerometers control the oscillations of the vibration tests. They are placed on the vibrating table’s surface, without the use of adhesives, and in the right position relative to the DUT and to each other.

Consider using charge accelerometers when testing under extreme temperature conditions. This is because standard accelerometers cannot withstand such conditions.

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6. The Vibration Test Equipment Needed For Lifetime Testing Of A Product

For testing your product in a lab, you’ll need specialized equipment. This depends on which specifications need testing. Besides a vibrating table, the test might need:

1. Heat exchanger system
2. Electrical load system
3. Mechanical loads
4. Data loggers, oscilloscopes and digital multimeters
5. Sensors such as thermocouples
6. Chambers for temperature and humidity

7. What Testing Specifications To Use For Your Equipment

For vibration testing, there are several testing standards. They vary on your need to meet military specs or other commercial requirements.

Common specifications contain rules about the vibrations, oscillations, and shocks to apply. They also include what environmental conditions to perform the testing in.

8. Methods Used For Mounting The Product On The Table For Testing

You will need to mount your product in a specific way. This will depend on the types of tests required by the specifications and test standards.

Most testing labs will not drill holes in their expensive vibration tables. You need this to match the mounting points of your product. But they may use aluminum adapter plates that can have holes added to fit your product. The aluminum plates have two sets of holes in different patterns. The pattern on one side will match your product’s mounting. And the other side will match the vibration table.

The mounting plate attaches to the product and the table via screws, bars or rods.

9. Designing Earthquake Resistant Buildings With Vibrating Tables

Specialized vibration tables called shake tables are common in civil engineering. Engineers use them for studying the effects of seismic activity on structures. The test is usually performed on scale versions of the actual buildings. They construct models from materials used in actual construction.

Hybrid shaker table testing combines vibration testing with computational modeling and simulation.

Shaker tables can be small enough to fit in a classroom or a lab. But some are large enough to hold an entire building. For example, thetwenty-meter by fifteen-meter shake table in Miki, Japan. A huge table like that can simulate an earthquake of up to 6.7 on the Richter scale.

The earliest shaker tables were invented in Japan in the late nineteenth century. They have evolved into the sophisticated and powerful shake tables of today.

10. Use For Sorting And Separating Waste In Food Processing Or Water Waste Treatment Plants

Several industrial processes have steps that need sorting and separating. This can be a tedious and time consuming job if done manually.

Products like nuts, bolts, food items and even solids in waste water are separated.This works by combining vibrations and meshes of varying hole sizes.

Farmers use vibrating tables for cleaning and sorting freshly harvested fruits. They pour the fruits onto the table and spread them out gently through the vibrations of the table.

The bad or rotten fruit is removed by hand. Insects, debris and small waste matter falls through the slots and into the waste collection tank. This process is common for grapes, berries and other agricultural products.

11. Mechanical Testing of Automobiles And Goods During Transportation

Most of the damage caused when transporting packages and goods by truck or by train is due to shaking. You can decrease the shaking and shocks encountered in transit with better packaging. To design the optimal packaging, you can test the packaging on a vibrating table.

Each package undergoes various types of shaking and shocks, like in a real world environment. Vibration recorders record the frequencies and power density of the vibrations. These are then applied to the package during testing.

During manufacturing, autombiles endure similar testing. A six degree of freedom multi-axis simulation table can be used for testing a finished car. They help check for rattles and squeaks. These tables are costly and need more lab space than most transport companies can afford.

Pharmaceutical and electronics industries may use these multi-axis vibration tables. They can test products and packaging in life-like conditions with them.

12. Using Vibrating Tables for Chocolate Manufacturing

Vibrating tables are not just used in the construction and building industry. In the manufacture of confectioneries such as chocolates, vibrating tables are also used.

Chocolate makers use vibrating tables to expel bubbles of air from the chocolate. They are also used to spread chocolate more evenly.

You can read more about the effects of vibration on chocolate here.

 

13. Maintenance Required For A Vibrating Table

To keep the vibrating table in good running condition, it needs to well maintained. During operation, the moving shaft and belt should be well lubricated. Within the lab testing environment, the table should be monitored. This prevents test samples from leaking and damaging the vibrating table’s surface.

Each gear should be cleaned, and gear oil replaced every six months. Or maintain them as per manufacturer’s recommendations. The equipment may be cleaned after the experiment/tests. The table should be completely switched off when not in use.

You may need to factor the maintenance costs of the vibrating table when buying it. Due to the mechanical moving parts, these tables need regular maintenance. This can increase the total cost of ownership over time.

14. Where To Buy The Right Table For Your Needs

With vibrating tables available for a range of purposes and applications, it is vital that you buy from a reliable vendor. For laboratory testing, you should opt for a custom-made vibrating table. The table should meet the strict specifications of your testing requirements.

To buy vibrating tables for compacting concrete, food sorting, seismic or package design testing, you can try to search online, however you may come up short. It can be very hard to find vendors with good reputations, and vibrating tables may be too technical for you to look on large wholesale e-commerce websites.

If you are looking to buy a vibrating table and you want some expert help, feel free to contact us below and we will be glad to assist.

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15. Is The Table Needed On-Site Or Can It Be Used In a Lab?

In some cases, the vibration testing is done on-site instead of the lab. This requires a portable vibrating table. These tables are smaller, lighter and designed to be moved around easily.

But they may not have as many features as a full-fledged testing table from a lab. Some companies make portable tables, if that is whats needed based on your requirements.

Such portable vibrating tables can be used for sorting glass imitation jewelry according to their shapes. They can also sort rock containing precious metals or semi precious stones. Another use is the sorting of electronic components like cables.

16. The Components Needed To Build Your Own Vibrating Table

Some people prefer to make their own vibrating tables. This can often be cheaper than buying one manufactured by a company. Large vibrating tables can often be bulky and costly to transport. Sometimes it can be cheaper to order the parts and build it on-site or wherever it is needed.

Choosing what parts you need to build a vibrating table obviously depends on the design. The design, in turn, depends on the purpose you need it for. For example, a shake table for seismic testing will differ from a table made for sorting rubbish.

For a simple DIY vibrating table, you can make do with a few easily available parts. You may also need parts like a motor, steel for the table legs and to make a framework and bolts and pins for fasteners. You may also need a table top, bush, springs, rubber mountings or air cushion (depending on the design). Also required are a load, some pin rods, and steel seats.

17. Use For DIY Applications Like Concrete Casting

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when using a vibration table for concrete casting.

First, the vibrations decrease the internal friction between the moving particles. This liquifies the mortar and fills in the trapped air bubbles, bug holes and honeycombs in concrete.

Second, the length of time you vibrate the concrete for is based on the depth of the concrete, the amplitude and the frequency of the vibrations. By varying the frequency and amplitude to match the load, you can decrease the time the concrete is compacted in the mold. Then move the mold for the next step.

Third, inspecting the concrete for faults or issues after the vibration is essential. This helps ensure quality. Too much vibration can be just as harmful as too little vibration. Excessive vibration can lead to sand streaks and cracking due to shrinkage.

Conclusion

Just as I discovered when working with my concrete molds, vibrating tables can automate moving or shaking objects. I was able to improve the quality of my finished products, just like you can.

Vibrating tables are now used in several industries, ranging from food preparation to concrete molding. They help make tedious and manual jobs a lot easier and faster.

Purchasing a vibrating table makes sense if you want to ensure performance.