FSD Active

What we do

We offer innovative technology for the control of vibrations in building floors. Through years of academic and industrial research, we have mastered compact and lightweight CalmFLOOR™ technology. Our Active Mass Dampers are suitable for a wide range of structures and can be simply bolted to the underside of a floor.

Our highly efficient and effective CalmFLOOR™ dampers have been proven to reduce floor vibrations from people walking by a factor of 10. This huge reduction enables engineers to design modern, efficient and sustainable buildings without problematic vibrations.

Why do we need vibration control?

Over the next 40 years, the world is expected to create 230 billion square metres of structural flooring in new buildings to address the needs of the growing human population. Buildings and construction together account for 36% of global energy use, a huge proportion of which (40%) is energy embodied in making and erecting construction materials.

As much as half of these materials are wasted as a result of over-specification in floor design to manage risks due to unknown loads and structural behaviour. The main driver in this wasteful over-design is not safety (against collapse) but ‘serviceability’, chiefly avoiding excessive floor vibrations in normal daily use due to people just walking across the floor. 

Modern Construction Techniques

Modern slender floors in buildings use smaller quantities of conventional steel or concrete in ever lengthening open plan floor spans, or they use lightweight composite construction and materials such as cross-laminated timber (CLT).

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Innovative modular construction techniques in particular require much reduced weight to facilitate transportation. 

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Such structures are particularly prone to resonant vibrations caused by modest forces generated by human walking. Almost 50% of structural engineers report problems with building floor vibrations during their professional life.

How it works

It works in a similar way to noise cancelling headphones: vertical floor vibrations are continuously measured and then processed using algorithms developed by us to calculate the continuously changing dynamic force needed to best reduce those vibrations. This force is generated through a 50kg unit bolted to the floor at key locations. 

The benefits

Every 1kg of AMD replaces up to 1000kg of steel and/or concrete otherwise needed to control vibrations. As well as enabling sustainable lightweight design of new building structures, AMDs can fix existing floors with excessive vibrations, where there is usually no viable alternative. Likewise, it can reduce vibrations in existing buildings for a new tenant with specific requirement for lower floor vibrations.

About Us

We are renowned industry experts in vibration serviceability based in Exeter, UK, and have over 80 years of combined experience as consultants through sister company Full Scale Dynamics.