KNOWLEDGE // ARTICLES

Vibrations and Museum Collections, Part 2

 

Vibrations from a variety of sources can have a detrimental impact on museum collections. Protecting museum collections from vibrations due to human activity and building construction is a recognized concern, and was summarized in Part 1 of this series.

In this article, engineers Arne Johnson and Mohamed ElBatanouny provide a number of case studies, including the recent NASCAR Street Race event where cars roared around the Art Institute of Chicago at speeds of nearly 150 mph. Each case study summarizes some of the factors that should be considered in museum facility operations to help reduce the risks to museum collections from these sources of vibrations.

This article was originally published in the November 2023 issue of Papyrus, the magazine of the International Association of Museum Facility Administators (IAMFA).