Vibration Isolation of a Horizontal Rigid Plate Supported by Pre-bent Struts

The purpose of this research is to analyze a new type of vibration isolator consisting of two pre-bent struts which are clamped at both ends and intermediately bonded with a viscoelastic filler. The proposed isolation device has the ability to support a relatively large static load with little deflection and offers a low axial resistance under dynamic excitation, making it ideal for isolating vertical vibrations. In this research, four of these vibration isolators are used to support a rigid, square plate. The symmetric case is analyzed first. Then the plate has a center of mass which is located at some distance from the geometric center of the plate. When the system is subjected to vertical harmonic base excitations, this eccentric weight introduces rotational as well as vertical motions of the plate. This research will investigate the effects of various eccentricities on the efficiency of the vibration isolators in the configuration described.

The displacement transmissibility will be the measure of the isolators' effectiveness at mitigating vibrations transmitted from the base to the rigid plate. For each case, the nonlinear equilibrium equations and the governing equations of motion for small vibrations about equilibrium are numerically solved, and the transmissibility is calculated and plotted over a wide range of frequencies. These plots are used to recognize ranges of frequencies for which isolation is achieved and frequencies at which resonance occurs in the system. At the resonant frequencies, the physical behavior of the system is analyzed to determine the types of vibration modes which occur in the system. A free vibration analysis is also performed to obtain a better understanding of resonances in the system.