Text: [Mechanical] Vibration in engineering works is a fruitful source of deterioration of material, and if long continued produces fatigue of materials. The vibration produced by heavy caulking, hammering, etc., on rivet heads and seams is also liable to lead to fracture or starting of joints and consequent leakage. To prevent vibration in machines doing heavy sawing, planing, drilling, shaping, slotting, etc., the machine bases are bolted down to large stone or concrete foundations. Steam hammers are not only thus bolted down, but their anvils also are embedded on massive anvil blocks. The framings of heavy machines are made hollow the better to withstand vibration stresses; ties, struts, and distance pieces, etc., are also introduced into structures for the purpose of minimizing the stresses due to vibration.

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