Theoretical design and experimental verification of a tunable floating vibration isolation system

A fluid-type floating vibration isolation system was developed based on anti-resonance mechanism. The mathematical model was derived for theoretical analysis. The system enables completely isolate vibration at any specific frequency, when the frequency of anti-resonance of the floating vibration isolation system is adjusted to the vibration frequency by tuning the added mass of flowing fluid. Since the approach only alters the inertial force of added mass rather than changing the entire system stiffness, the robustness of the system’s static stability remains during a tuning process, and the system can perform vibration isolation superbly at very low frequencies. A prototype of fluid-type floating vibration isolation system was designed, built and tested to validate the mathematical model. The experimental results illustrated a good agreement with the theoretical analysis.

► A novel fluid-type vibration isolation system based on anti-resonance is presented.
► The most effective isolation frequency is adjusted without changing system stiffness.
► The robustness of the system’s static stability remains during a tuning process.
► The system can perform vibration isolation superbly at very low frequencies.