A six degree of freedom passive vibration isolator with quasi-zero-stiffness-based supporting

Abstract

A six degree of freedom nonlinear passive vibration isolator is proposed based on Stewart platform configuration with the quasi-zero-stiffness structure as its legs. Due to the high static stiffness and low dynamic stiffness of each leg, the proposed six degree of freedom system can realize very good vibration isolation performance in all six directions while keeping high static load-bearing capacity in a pure passive manner. The mechanic model of the proposed six degree of freedom isolator and the dynamic equation of the isolator are established successively. Theoretical analysis on cross coupling stiffness reveals that the system can demonstrate quasi-zero-stiffness property in all six degree of freedom. Moreover, an analysis on stability shows that the condition of structural parameters for the isolator to realize quasi-zero-stiffness is also the stability boundary of the system. A series of numerical simulations on displacement transmissibilities in coupled degree of freedoms, the coupling effects of transmissibility, and a dynamic response in random excitation are carried out to show the effectiveness of the proposed six degree of freedom isolator, as well as the influence of structural parameters on vibration attenuation performance. Considering its high performance in a simple passive manner, it can be foreseen that the proposed six degree of freedom isolator will be applied in various engineering practices with multi-degree of freedom vibration isolation.