Analysis of Buckled and Pre-bent Columns Used as Vibration Isolators

Vibrations resulting from earthquakes, machinery, or unanticipated shocks may be very damaging and costly to structures. To avoid such damage, designers need a structural system that can dissipate the energy caused by these vibrations. Using elastically buckled struts may be a viable means to reduce the harmful effects of unexpected vibrations. Post-buckled struts can support high axial loads and also act as springs in a passive vibration isolation system by absorbing or dissipating the energy caused by external excitation. When a base excitation is applied, the buckled strut may act to reduce the dynamic force transmitted to the system, thus reducing the structural damage to the system.

Several models of buckled and pre-bent struts are examined with different combinations of parameters and end conditions. The models include pinned or fixed columns supporting loads above their buckling load, and columns with an initial curvature supporting various loads. The varying parameters include external damping, internal damping, and stiffness. The columns will be subjected to simple harmonic motion applied at the base or to a multi-frequency base excitation. The response of each model is measured by the deflection transmissibility of the supported load over a large range of frequencies. Effective models reduce the motion of the supported load over a large range of frequencies.