ISO 13753:1998

Overview

ISO 13753:1998 specifies a laboratory method to measure the vibration transmissibility of resilient materials (foam, rubber, layered sheets, woven cloths) when loaded by the hand‑arm system. The standard defines a reproducible test to determine a material’s impedance and compute how much hand‑transmitted vibration would be passed to the palm when the material is used on handles or in gloves. The method assumes linear material behavior and negligible material mass.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Test setup: a shaker, a flat sample (minimum circular area radius 45 mm), and a metal loading mass (recommended 2.5 kg, radius 45 mm) placed on the sample. Two accelerometers measure acceleration on the shaker and on the load mass.
• Frequency range: measurements are recommended at one‑third‑octave centre frequencies between 50 Hz and 500 Hz (testing down to 10 Hz is recommended where possible).
• Instrumentation: accelerometers and preamplifiers suitable for 5–1000 Hz; twin‑channel frequency analyser; rigid transducer mounting ensuring unity transfer without sample up to 1 000 Hz.
• Excitation signals: wide‑band random (flat PSD ±10% between 10–500 Hz, minimum level specified) or sinusoidal excitation. Coherence between channels should be > 0.95 (except near resonance).
• Calculations: determine the complex transfer function A1/A2, compute material impedance Z_M (using jw·m·(A1/A2 − 1) formulation), then compute transmissibility T using the hand‑arm impedance Z_H (values from ISO 10068 provided in Annex A) via T = Z_M / (Z_M + Z_H). Full real/imaginary evaluation is provided in annexes.
• Assumptions & accuracy: assumes linearity and negligible material mass; expected repeatability around ±10% for linear materials. Annex E notes influences such as humidity, temperature, ageing, and non‑linearity.

Applications and users

• Material manufacturers (foam, rubber, antivibration coatings) for R&D and product comparison.
• PPE and glove designers for material screening (note: glove-level transmissibility requires ISO 10819 testing).
• Tool and handle designers and ergonomists assessing handle coverings.
• Occupational health & safety professionals and testing laboratories performing standardised antivibration material evaluations. Practical value: enables rank ordering of materials for vibration attenuation and supports informed material selection for reducing hand‑arm vibration exposure.

Related standards

• ISO 10068 - hand‑arm mechanical impedance (source of Z_H values used)
• ISO 10819 - measurement/evaluation of glove transmissibility (glove testing)
• ISO 5349, ISO 2041, ISO 5805 - vocabulary and exposure assessment references

Keywords: ISO 13753, hand‑arm vibration, vibration transmissibility, resilient materials, material impedance, accelerometer, shaker test, antivibration materials.