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Annotated bibliography on vibration as a part of the agent of deterioration physical forces Eszter Buis 16256980 Preventative Conservation March 13, 2026 2332 Words The effects of vibration can be detrimental to both buildings and by extension cultural heritage objects. Vibration is categorised as the agent physical force under the ten agents of deterioration. The ten agents of deterioration are ten categories of damage phenomena which objects may face. As the agent ‘physical force’ can have adverse effects on heritage objects, it is important to understand under what circumstances they occur, what their effects might be and how to prevent damage from occurring. In this annotated bibliography I will take a Youtube video published by ‘Dig It With Raven’ (from here on called Raven) as a starting point and consider how complete the information on the risk factor provided in the video clip is. I will do this by comparing it to a publication regarding risk management for collections by the Dutch Rijksdienst voor Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) and other sources. I will first discuss the video by Dig It With Raven and then discuss the publication by the RCE. I will then discuss six sources that provide deeper insight into the topic of vibration in the context of conservation in the order: cause, effect, and prevention. These sources consist of publications by government agencies, reprints of symposia and handbooks. Dig It With Raven. “PHYSICAL FORCES- The Agents of Deterioration (1/10) | Art Conservation 101”. Posted May 15, 2020. Youtube, 8 min.,37 sec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFkNZNENAeE In her video titled PHYSICAL FORCES- The Agents of Deterioration (1/10) | Art Conservation 101 , Raven focuses on one specific agent of deterioration, namely physical forces. She lists the five physical forces which need to be taken into account, these being impact, shock, vibration, pressure and abrasion.^1 She defines vibration as an oscillating motion in relation to a fixed point of reference, taking this definition from the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI). She notes that the main things to consider (^1) Dig It With Raven. “PHYSICAL FORCES- The Agents of Deterioration (1/10) | Art Conservation 101”. Posted May 15, 2020. Youtube, 8 min.,37 sec. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFkNZNENAeE
with regards to vibration are its frequency (how often the vibration happens) and its amplitude (how strong the vibration is).^2 She makes a short comment on there being different types of vibration, but does not comment further on what these might be. Raven identifies a few sources of vibration, these being transportation, construction and sound.^3 She further notes that different materials react differently to vibration, but does not comment on how objects that consist of multiple materials react to vibration. She does note, however, that objects that are made of multiple parts may lose parts as a result of vibration.^4 Raven further remarks that objects may move as a result of vibration and as a result may fall and break or harm other objects in their vicinity. Raven cites the CCI in the description. The CCI is a renowned organisation in the field of conservation. The CCI is continually updating their webpages to include recent developments and research to provide accurate information. The aim of Raven's video is to summarise the information on the CCI page and introduce people to the concept of the ten agents of deterioration. Raven herself has a bachelor’s degree with honors in Classical and Near Eastern Civilisations, a Master of the sciences degree in Art Conservation and Restoration as well as a Master degree in Archaeology and Heritage of Egypt and the Middle East. Ankersmit, Bart, Agnes Brokerhof, and Frank Ligterink. Risk management for collections. Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, 2017. https://www.cultureelerfgoed.nl/documenten/2017/01/01/risk-management-for- collections The RCE published the document Risk management for collections. This document provides extensive discussion on the ten agents of deterioration. The chapter on physical forces identifies different forces than Raven does, these being static load, shock load, cyclic load and friction. Vibration is discussed as part of the cyclic load, or also called dynamic load, which is defined as forces that change over time and repeat themselves.^5 Causes of a cyclic load are identified as transportation, sound and local movement, like the walking of visitors through a space.^6 A cyclic load may be an (^2) Ibid. (^3) Ibid. (^4) Ibid. (^5) Bart Ankersmit, Agnes Brokerhof, and Frank Ligterink, Risk management for collections (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, 2017), 55. (^6) Idem, 56.
acoustics. He participated in designing and construction of many halls and was active throughout his career in the scientific field, including membership in both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. He has been the recipient of the Gold Medal and the Sabine Medal of the Acoustical Society of America, the Franklin Medal of the Franklin Institute, the Gold Medal of the Audio Engineering Society, and the A.I.A. Medal of the American Institute of Architects. The co-editor Allan G. Piersol did research on the measurement and interpretation of ordinary power spectra for vibration problems. While this source is extensive in discussing vibration, it is not written as a handbook for conservation. It may still provide information necessary to understand vibration and its effects. Sauvage, Leila, William Wei, and Jenny Wölk. “Baseline limits for allowable vibrations for objects.” In Preprints of the ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Meeting Melbourne. The International Council of Museums, 2014. This source provides information about the risks of most common vibration causes for painting, being traffic, either through transporting an object or outside traffic, sound, such as concerts held in the museum building, and visitor traffic. The publication aims to provide information regarding a baseline with regards to vibration for cultural heritage objects in the shape of a diagram which shows the amount of cycles needed to reach material fatigue, as this information in relation to cultural heritage objects was not published earlier. The source stresses that damage due to vibration is cumulative and is thus unpredictable, as often this information was not and is not monitored and logged.^11 It is concluded in the publication that these background vibrations do not cause harm to objects immediately and it may take millions of years to reach a point of complete material fatigue, and thus failure.^12 It advises that museums keep their collection below a frequency of 2 mm/s in the span of six months, as this is the threshold for damage. This publication is based on research conducted by the RCE in a lab setting, so while it provides useful information on stress and fatigue in paintings due to vibration, it may not reflect reality in its entirety. Leila Sauvage is active as a book conservator at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, William Wei was a senior researcher at the RCE, and Jenny Wölk oversees the registration of cultural heritage objects at the (^11) Leila Sauvage, William Wei, and Jenny Wölk, “Baseline limits for allowable vibrations for objects,” in Preprints of the ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Meeting Melbourne (The International Council of Museums, 2014), 2. (^12) Idem, 1,6.
state museum of Baden. This source provides important information with regards to actual museum practice and includes advice on the maximum duration and frequency of vibration. This source however does not include information on other materials, such as metals, paper or wood. Canadian Conservation Institute. “Agent of Deterioration: Physical Forces” Last modified May 17 2018. https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/agents- deterioration/physical-forces.html The Canadian Conservation institute published detailed information on the ten agents of deterioration. It divides the agent of physical force into the categories impact, shock, vibration, pressure and abrasion. Vibration is defined as oscillating motion in relation to a fixed point of reference.^13 It discusses the effects of vibration on people as well as buildings and objects, and explains additional terms such as natural frequency, resonant frequency, transmission, resonance and attenuation.^14 These terms apply to the movement of objects. The article also discusses the damage phenomenon fatigue in detail. It also discusses how vibration during transport may affect objects if improperly fastened.^15 It notes that the general vibrations present in buildings do not generally cause harm to its structure.^16 It further notes that low frequency vibrations cause the largest displacement of and strain in objects.^17 The article also provides information on prevention and procedures with relation to vibration. This includes proper packing for transit, documentation of damage so similar damage can be avoided in the future and displaying objects in a stable environment.^18 The article is written by Paul Marcon, a Senior Conservation Scientist and Engineer in the Preventive Conservation Division at the CCI. He specialises in art in transit research, protective packaging of cultural property, training workshops on protective packaging, active climate control systems for display cases and enclosures, mechanical engineering, preventive conservation vibration sources, effects and control of vibration sources, built heritage project planning and oversight services, stone and bronze monument disassembly, relocation (^13) “Agent of Deterioration: Physical Forces” Canadian Conservation Institute, last modified May 17 2018, at https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/agents-deterioration/physical-forces.html (^14) Ibid. (^15) Ibid. (^16) Ibid. (^17) Ibid. (^18) Ibid.
for canvas paintings and panel paintings. Marion F. Meckelenburg was active in the field of conservation as a paintings conservator and a structural engineer. Ross M. Merrill started work as a paintings conservator and later moved on to become the chief conservator at the National Gallery of Washington. Mervin Richard also worked as a paintings conservator at the National Gallery of Washington and became the chief conservator after Ross Merrill retired. This source is relevant to my research as it provides information on both vibration cause and proper packing techniques to mitigate the effects of vibration. This source is however quite old at this point and only provides information about paintings. Delissen N., N. Krumperman, and W. Wei. “Design of A vibration Damping system for sculpture pedestals: An integral object‑based approach.” In Preprints of the ICOM-CC 16th Triennial Meeting Lisbon. ICOM, 2011. This source reports on the process of creating vibration dampening pedestals for sculptures. The process includes determining the maximum frequency of vibration to cause as little damage as possible by determining the resonant frequency of the materials meant for display. The next step in the process is determining the material fatigue limit and finally determining at what point the objects show visual change. After this, began the process of designing the pedestals themselves. This was done taking Dutch building codes and testing of the pedestals. N. Delisse is active as a conservator, William Wei was a senior researcher at the RCE and N. Krumperman is active as a conservator at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. This source provided information on the process of making vibration dampening pedestals for sculptures. There is little information available on the general effects of vibration on different materials, so having this source as an example provides unique insight into what processes take place to determine what level of frequency is considered acceptable dose of vibration. In conclusion the video published by Raven is a limited exploration of the effects of vibration on cultural heritage objects. It does highlight what perceivable damage occurs as a result of vibration, but fails to go into examples which might cause vibration to occur. Furthermore it fails to consider the unusual causes of vibration, such as the frequent turning of one page in a book, or the footsteps of visitors. It does succeed in introducing the topic of vibration as an area of concern in conservation, as even in conservation practice many effects of vibration
are still unknown and unexplored. So while the video might not be a fully complete exploration of the damage phenomenon vibration, it succeeds in highlighting it as something to consider in conservation practice.
