F1 Arcade, Boston, USA

Fast-track problematic floor vibration solution for gaming experience centre

The project 

F1 Arcade provides a hugely popular and very dynamic social gaming experience with simulators that replicate the thrills of a race through use of an actuated driving seat. 

FI Arcade in Boston, USA, is set on the second floor of a tall building; a structure comprising a lightweight concrete slab on top of steel beams with a number ofhigh-end retail units below.

Excessive vibration generated while the 62 F1 driver simulators were in use was being transmitted to adjacent units in the building. With restrictions being imposed on the use of the simulators during peak hours by its landlord, F1 Arcade needed a transformative mitigation solution that would resolve its vibration problem – urgently.

The challenge

The challenge was to bring F1 Arcade’s excessive vibration to within levels deemed acceptable by the building’s owner – without structural intervention, downtime or disruption to F1 Arcade operations. Crucially, the solution had to be tested, proven and commissioned within an exceptionally short timeframe.

Within one week, our UK Technical team flew to the US for an urgent site visit to measure, demonstrate and test the effectiveness of CALM®FLOOR active mass damper (AMD) technology. 

Close collaboration with F1 Arcade’s vibration consultant and the building owner’s structural engineering team (McNamara Salvia) and their acoustic engineers (Acentech) was critical. All elements of the test phase had to be meticulously monitored and validated. We were also required to work alongside other third-party contractors to ensure the proposed installation of CALM®FLOOR AMDs would be concluded seamlessly.

For the test, we placed a single CALM®FLOOR unit on the structural slab, but not rigidly connected to the structure itself. In initial tests, reductions of over 50% were achieved over a broad frequency range, illustrated by the 1/3 octave plot (top, figure 1). The more detailed spectrogram plot analysis shows energy at multiple frequencies within this region (bottom, figure 1). 

Our tests demonstrated that CALM®FLOOR AMDs would be effective at reducing vibration across this frequency range and, by distributing multiple units to each hotspot and connecting each AMD rigidly to the structure, peak performance would certainly be achieved. 

The simulation

A Finite Element (FE) model of a section of the building was created using F1 Arcade’s structural drawings. Key structural members, and some non-structural partitions, were included in the model and capture the floor’s dynamic behaviour (figure 3).

A modal analysis of this model in conjunction with our site measurements was used to identify the best locations for the requisite number of CALM®FLOORunits to achieve maximum impact on the structural vibration. The distinction between the dynamic behaviour in different parts of the floor showed how the mode shapes are localised and the likelihood that vibration levels would be exacerbated when the simulators were in use. 

This demonstrated that CALM®FLOOR AMDs should be spatially distributed to ensure control would be effective and consistent.

The solution

Following our site tests and simulation, we recommended 11 AMDs should be strategically installed at key locations (figures 4 & 5). 

The emphasis was placed on areas where multiple simulators had caused excessive, multiple modes of vibration and which had given neighbouring occupants cause for concern. Since the combined force output of multiple simulators running simultaneously had the potential to exceed CALM®FLOOR force capacity, clusters of AMD units were recommended.

The result

Thanks to a rapid response and the calibre of our site testing and simulations, we deployed a solution that reduced our customer’s vibration levels by 76%. This was implemented without any structural intervention or downtime – within just six weeks from date of order.

With a validated data set, F1 Arcade had the evidence and confidence to implement our recommended CALM®FLOOR solution. Within hours of installation, our client experienced the high-performance, low-vibration and complaint-free environment we had proved would be achieved.

Having incorporated CALM®CONNECT smart portal for real-time monitoring and a CALM®CARE comprehensive SLA, F1 Arcade is satisfied that active vibration control is the perfect solution for further locations around the world.