A Low-Frequency Vibration Isolator with Cross-Ring Structure

Low-frequency vibration isolation is essential for ultra-precision manufacturing and measurement equipment. Low stiffness is beneficial for low-frequency isolation, while leading to a degradation of the load capacity of the isolator. To tackle the problem, a nonlinear isolator is proposed with a cross-ring structure, composed of a circular ring and a semi-circular ring. Experimental studies validate that the isolator is applicable to different payload mass, and a cut-off frequency of 1.1[Formula: see text]Hz is achieved for an effective isolation. The isolator is theoretically investigated to reveal the mechanism leading to the low-frequency isolation performance. An elliptic integral method is adopted to characterize the stiffness characteristics of the ring structures under compression. The whole compression process of a semi-circular ring is divided into five stages according to the deformed shapes, exhibiting quasi-linear stiffness, stiffness-softening, negative stiffness, and stiffness-hardening characteristics in sequence. Together with the stiffness-softening circular ring, the cross-ring structure demonstrates a growing high-static-low-dynamic-stiffness (HSLDS) characteristic in a wide load range, and the result is verified by a restoring force measurement test. A harmonic balance analysis is performed to predict the frequency responses of the proposed isolator. It is shown that a low-frequency isolation can be achieved with the structure compressed to the HSLDS region by the payload, and an ultra-low-frequency isolation is achieved with the dynamic-to-static stiffness ratio below 0.1. A numerical investigation is performed to further reveal the frequency responses of the isolator with lightweight/overweight payloads and excessive excitation amplitudes. Jump phenomena are presented. This work provides a prototype and the theoretical basis for low-frequency vibration isolation via a cross-ring structure.