European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

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European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejmsol

Design and experiment of micro-vibration isolation system for optical

satellite✩
Haitao Luo a,b , Chaohui Fan a,b,d ,∗, Yuxin Li c , Guangming Liu a,b , Changshuai Yu a,b
a
State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
b
Institutes for Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110169, China
c
School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
d
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: In this paper, a kind of ring laminated damping structure, called the vibration isolation ring, is proposed
Micro-vibration based on the geometrical nonlinear characteristics of a ring structure and the viscoelastic damping of rubber
Ring isolator material to suppress the micro-vibrations caused by the chiller on an optical module. The nonlinear dynamic
Nonlinear vibration isolation
modeling of the device with vibration isolation rings was carried out using the related theories of composite
Modal test
structures and beams; furthermore, the influences of different design parameters on the vibration isolation
Dynamic test
system were studied. Static stiffness tests were carried out to verify the nonlinear stiffness of the vibration
isolation ring and deduce the system’s vibration transmissivity. The influences of different design parameters
on the vibration isolation system were studied. It was found that the larger radius and smaller width could
obtain a larger frequency range of vibration isolation and a smaller resonance peak while satisfying the bearing
capacity requirement and space constraints. To obtain an accurate simulation model and provide a reference
for subsequent structural optimization, a modal test and corresponding simulation analysis of the vibration
isolation system were carried out. Finally, tests on the whole device’s sinusoidal frequency sweep vibrations
were carried out. Simulation results in the time and frequency domains showed that the designed structure
could effectively attenuate the micro-vibrations transmitted to the optical load. At the working frequency, the
vibration isolation rate was more than 95%; thus, the vibration isolation ring exhibited good performances.

1. Introduction Many vibration isolation methods are designed to protect high-

precision payloads from micro-vibrations in spacecraft. Liu et al. made
The mechanical devices on a spacecraft, such as cryocoolers and a detailed review of vibration isolators used to suppress the micro-
thrusters, produce micro-vibrations. Micro-vibrations are typically vibrations of spacecraft (Liu et al., 2015). The Hubble telescope
characterized by low amplitudes and wide bands. They may contain launched in 1990 uses a passive isolation system, which uses a metal
a very large number of different frequency components, including spring and a viscous fluid damper in parallel (Davis et al., 1986). Davis
harmonic, random, narrowband, and wideband components (Yang et al. (1994) designed a passive viscous damping strut (D-strut) with
et al., 2015; Qin et al., 2020; Shimizu et al., 2008; Bronowicki, very low fundamental frequency (1.5 Hz) to isolate disturbances from
2006). Due to the very small environmental damping in aerospace a Honeywell HM-1800 reaction wheel assembly. The GOES-R satellite
environments, micro-vibrations can persist for a long time, which can launched in 2016 uses a passive vibration isolator based on a viscoelas-
degrade the operating environment of onboard instruments and reduce tic material, which has an attenuating effect on flywheel disturbances
the accuracy of sensitive optical telescopes or the position accuracy above 50 Hz (Freesland et al., 2015). Kamesh et al. (2012) designed
of space cameras. With the development of the lightweight, flexible, a low-frequency flexible space platform consisting of a folded contin-
long-span, high-precision spacecraft, micro-vibration suppression has
uous beam made of metal. The metallic structure has the advantage
been a critical technology in the development of high-resolution optical
of excellent linearity and is easy to machine. Vaillon et al. (1999)
satellites (Chen et al., 2020; Li et al., 2017).

✩ This study was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51975567), Liao Ning Revitalization Talents Program, China
(XLYC1907152), State Key Laboratory of Robotics, China (2022-Z01), Chinese Academy of Science Youth Innovation Promotion Association (No. 2018237), and
Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province, China (2020-MS-029 and 2021-MS-029).
∗ Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
E-mail address: [email protected] (C. Fan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euromechsol.2022.104833
Received 25 May 2022; Received in revised form 16 September 2022; Accepted 12 October 2022
Available online 17 October 2022
0997-7538/© 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

presented a prototype of an active strut to isolate micro-vibrations dynamic stiffness. They evaluated the vibration isolation efficiency
along propagation paths of the disturbances in truss structures. Since of the system with high static and low dynamic stiffnesses by the
then, the use of active struts to build vibration isolation platforms has force and displacement transfer rate. A typical high-static-stiffness and
been studied by more and more researchers (Neat et al., 1998; Rahman low-dynamic-stiffness isolator consists of three springs, where a verti-
and Spanos, 1994; Vaillon et al., 2003; Spanos et al., 1995; O’Brien and cal spring provides a positive stiffness and two horizontal preloaded
Neat, 1995; Preumont et al., 2007). springs provide a negative stiffness. The static stiffness of the system
The most typical is the six-axis hexapod isolation system. Each strut is satisfied, and the dynamic stiffness of the structure is low or even
has an active control strategy. Vibration isolation with six degrees of close to 0 in the small amplitude range near the equilibrium position,
freedom can be realized not only in the high-frequency range but also which is also called the quasi-zero stiffness isolator. To achieve the
in the low-frequency region. A variety of active control algorithms nonlinear characteristics of high static and low dynamic stiffnesses of
have been applied to the hexapod vibration isolation platforms, such as vibration isolation systems using the positive and negative stiffness
adaptive-control, classical, multivariable, robust, and other control al- method often requires the coordination of multiple components, which
gorithms. Cobb et al. (1999) designed an isolation system that consisted increases the space and complexity of vibration isolators. Some elastic
of six active/passive hybrid struts in a hexapod configuration. The elements with special structures, such as elastic curved beams, elastic
new hybrid strut provided an active control force and passive damp- rings, axial moving beams, and elastic curved plates, have nonlinear
ing to protect high-precision payloads from on-board disturbances. force–deformation relationships. These kinds of elastic elements are
Erwin et al. (2003) also designed SUITE, a low-cost active/passive hy- simple and lightweight. Their nonlinear stiffnesses and application
brid isolation system, which used active control to attenuate vibration in vibration isolators have been studied more and more widely. The
propagation within a specific frequency range. vibration isolation ring designed in this paper belongs to this kind of
Semi-activity of electrorheological (ER) fluids, magnetorheological vibration isolator.
(MR) fluids, and some smart materials have also attracted researchers’ The ring structure is a particular type of curved beam structure that
attention. An MR-fluid can have superior and stable properties over is widely used in many engineering fields. The problem of ring bending
a wide temperature range (−40 ◦ C to 150 ◦ C), and the control of an was first proposed by (Love, 1944) in 1944, who studied the equilib-
MR-fluid is easy to implement in practice without too much external rium and elastic stability of rings. Carrier (1947) studied the stability
power (Oh and Onoda, 2002; Zapateiro et al., 2011). Therefore, MR- of thin elastic rings with large deflection under prestress. The large
fluids have been extensively studied and used in various semi-active deformation of rings has aroused researchers’ attention. Many attempts
vibration control systems. Zhu et al. designed an MR-fluid damper to solve this problem have been made, for example, by Naschie, Nashai,
that allowed independent adjustment of the stiffness and damping Babcock, and Eslami (El Naschie and El Nashai, 1976; Sills and Budi-
by means of semi-active control strategies, which consisted of an ad- ansky, 1978; Kyriakides and Babcock, 1981; Eslami et al., 2018). Tse
justable nonlinear pneumatic spring and an MR damper. Through the et al. (1994) applied the equivalent flexural stiffness method of large
passive regulation of the pneumatic spring and the semi-active control deflection analysis to a plane-symmetric laminated ring in orthotropic
of the MR damper, good vibration isolation performances could be uniaxial compression. The exact expression of the bending moment–
achieved. The semi-active isolator could be flexibly switched between curvature relation for symmetric laminated beams was adopted in this
different vibration control modes (Zhu et al., 2012). analytical method. The characteristics of the nonlinear spring were
In general, the micro-vibration isolation techniques used in airborne obtained and verified by experiments. Kim and Chaudhuri (2006) used
spacecraft can be divided into four types: passive, active, active–passive completely nonlinear theory to analyze the post-buckling responses
hybrid, and semi-active techniques. The implementation of an active of medium-thickness rings. Wu et al. (2007) combined Newton’s
isolation system inevitably requires many auxiliary devices, such as method and the harmonic balance method to establish an approximate
sensors, actuators, feedback systems, and power systems. Compared analytical solution for large ring deformation, which showed excellent
with passive vibration isolation systems, active vibration isolation sys- consistency with the exact solution. Batista (2014) derived the exact
tems are more complex, which may lead to serious stability problems. solution of the equilibrium configuration of a cantilever under the
Furthermore, these can significantly increase the weight of the payload. action of an oblique force and a bending moment at the free end,
The semi-active isolation method can solve part of the problem, but the which was expressed in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions. Based on the
most desirable method is to use a new passive isolation system with principle of equivalent energy. Chen and Cai (2017) proposed a unified
favorable isolation performances. stress–strain relationship model for pipe ring compression. The results
Traditional passive isolators can be simplified as linear spring damp-√ showed that the load–deflection relationship predicted in the forward
ing elements. Only when the excitation frequency is greater than 2 direction and the stress–strain relationship predicted in the reverse
times the natural frequency of the system does the isolator begin to direction of the model were in good agreement with the finite element
act. Therefore, the traditional passive vibration isolators need smaller analysis results. Lu et al. (2020a,b) studied the buckling deformation of
stiffnesses to achieve better a vibration isolation effect. On the one metal rings subjected to compression by a radial force and obtained the
hand, it is difficult for the linear vibration isolator to reduce its natural nonlinear relationship between the radial deformation of the ring and
frequency sufficiently. On the other hand, the low stiffness will lead to the load at different deformation stages. They also designed nonlinear
a decrease in the static bearing capacity of the system. Linear vibration isolators based on the characteristics of the ring structure and verified
isolation technology has had difficulty meeting the requirements of the effect of vibration isolation through experiments (Tan et al., 2021;
high-precision equipment working environments. Therefore, nonlin- Lu et al., 2021a; Han et al., 2022). Abhilash et al. (2018) proposed
ear vibration isolators have received more and more attention and a passive flexural-ring micro-vibration isolator that was effective at re-
study. Ibrahim (2008) performed a detailed analysis of the character- ducing the amplitudes of the critical frequencies from being transmitted
istics of high static and low dynamic stiffnesses, and they comprehen- to the spacecraft body. The vibration characteristics of the ring could
sively compared the advantages and disadvantages of various nonlinear be adjusted by adjusting the radial precompression amount (Lu et al.,
structures as well as the future developments. They suggested that 2020a).
the study of negative stiffness structures is the key to achieving high- The thickness of the ring greatly influences the stiffness and vibra-
static-stiffness and low-dynamic-stiffness system vibration isolation. tion isolation effect of the ring. Therefore, a smaller thickness is usually
Later, Carrella et al. (2007, 2009, 2012) studied the nonlinear char- used. However, if a radial displacement constraint is not added, non-
acteristics of high-static-stiffness and low-dynamic-stiffness systems in radial deformation will easily occur when the load is not uniform (Kim
detail, and they used two pre-compressed horizontal spring elements and Chaudhuri, 2006; Wu et al., 2007). Li et al. (2021) and coau-
and one vertical spring element to provide the high static and low thors developed a novel analytical model of fiber-reinforced polymer

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of optical module device structure.

composite cylindrical shells (FRPCCSs) accounting for material and the vibration isolation performances of the vibration isolation ring. The
geometric nonlinearities as well as thermal effects, which provided new results showed that the isolation ring could effectively attenuate the
insight into the nonlinear effects of the excitation amplitude and envi- micro-vibrations transmitted to the optical load of the telescope.
ronmental temperature on the natural frequencies, damping ratio, and
resonant responses of FRPCCSs. The circular ring exhibited a nonlinear 2. Design and analysis of vibration isolation system
geometric stiffness due to changes in the tensile force and curvature
when compressed in the radial direction. The above research showed 2.1. Working condition
that ring vibration isolators exhibit good vibration isolation perfor-
mances and can effectively isolate low-frequency vibrations. Although The vibrations studied in this paper are the micro-vibrations gener-
the nonlinear characteristics of ring structures have been studied in ated during the operation of the chiller in an optical cabin. The whole
depth, the engineering applications of these structures are still rare, and device is shown in Fig. 1. The objective is to design a first-stage damp-
most of them remain as theoretical research. Moreover, the damping ing element to attenuate the transmission of micro-vibrations generated
of the metal ring itself is very small, so it is necessary to introduce by the chiller on the optical cabin. Generally, the lower the natural
damping materials appropriately to reduce the resonance amplification frequency of the whole system is, the better its vibration isolation
of the system in practical applications. performance is, and the wider the excitation band that can achieve the
It is difficult to obtain exact analytical solutions for nonlinear desired vibration isolation rate is. However, lower natural frequencies
vibration systems, and there may not even be an exact solution at correspond to a lower stiffness, and a weaker static carrying capacity
all. For these systems, many approximation methods have been pro- of the system means that it cannot withstand the harsh conditions
posed to predict their approximate responses (Huang et al., 2014; Liu during the launch process. Because the load is relatively large, it is
et al., 2013; Lu et al., 2017; Zhou et al., 2017; Hu and Zheng, 2016; necessary to ensure that the whole device has a sufficient stiffness and
Nayfeh and Mook, 2008), such as the perturbation methods (includ- exhibits good vibration isolation performances. In the normal operation
ing the Lindstedt–Poincar method, multiple scales method, averag- stage, the vibrations generated by the chiller will be transmitted to the
ing method, and Krylov–Bogoliubov–Mitropolskii method), the Runge– whole device when it operates, leading to the interference of the micro-
Kutta method, and the incremental harmonic balance method (IHBM). vibrations to the optical equipment and other precision instruments,
The IHBM is an effective method for solving weakly and strongly resulting in image distortion and blur.
nonlinear problems under periodic excitations. Thus, the IHBM has The frequency-domain response curve of the chiller during stable
been successfully applied to solve various strongly nonlinear vibra- operation is shown in Fig. 2, where it can be seen that there was a
tion problems since Lau and Chenung proposed its basic principle significant vibration amplification at 61 Hz and its multiples. It is neces-
in 1981 (Lau and Cheung, 1981; Zheng et al., 2022; Wong et al., sary to design vibration isolation elements for the optical cabin device.
1991; Lau and Zhang, 1992; Shen et al., 2006; Kim et al., 2005; The vibration isolation element needs to ensure sufficient stiffness and
Wang and Zhu, 2015; Cheung et al., 1990; Lau, 1982; Xiong et al., a good vibration isolation performance of the whole device. The main
2017). The IHBM consists of two processes: increment and harmonic technical indicators of the vibration isolation device were as follows.
balance. Ferri (1985) has shown that the order of the incremental (1) The transmission rate of the vibration displacement was less
and harmonic equilibrium processes in the IHBM is interchangeable. than 0.05. That is, the isolation rate was greater than 95
Wang et al. (2018, 2019) used the IHBM to determine the nonlinear (2) Under the excitation of the chiller, the vibration amplitude of the
dynamics of a presented quarter-car truck model. The accuracy of this whole device was less than or equal to 1 mm (over-amplitude vibration
method was verified by comparing the nonlinear responses, including was not allowed).
the sub-harmonic resonance, with the Runge–Kutta method results. (3) Weight of a single vibration isolation component ≤1 kg.
The nonlinear stiffness property of a ring enables good vibration
isolation performances, and rubber damping material has good energy 2.2. Design of vibration isolation ring
dissipation characteristics. In this study, a metal ring and rubber were
combined to design a circular laminated constrained damping vibration The ring structure has nonlinear characteristics of a high static
isolation system for suppressing the micro-vibrations caused by optical stiffness and a low dynamic stiffness. A high static stiffness can ensure
micro-chillers. The problem of the unstable deformation of the single- that the stiffness is sufficient, that is, it has a sufficient bearing capacity,
layer metal ring was solved, and introducing the viscoelastic layer while a low dynamic stiffness allows the whole system to exhibit
accelerated the energy dissipation. The dynamics model of this ring- good vibration isolation performances under the periodic excitation
constrained damping structure under a radial load was established by of the foundation. Rubber material has good energy dissipation char-
composite structure theory and beam theory, and the vibration isolation acteristics, which makes the system quickly decay to steady state. In
efficiency of the structure under substrate excitation was determined this study, a metal ring and rubber were combined to design a ring
by the IHBM. Simulations and experiments were conducted to verify laminated damping vibration isolation element (vibration isolation ring

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Table 1
Mass distribution of the whole device.
Part Chiller 1 Chiller 2 Cylindrical load Load platform Vibration isolation Other parts
Total mass
Number 3 1 4 1 4 /
Mass (kg) 6.2 8.5 1.33 15 1 13.03 61.55

Table 2
Comparison of vibration isolation ring with several typical micro-vibration isolators.
Schemes Technology Advantages Disadvantage
Viscous damping Passive ∙ High reliability ∙ Low bearing
strut ∙ Low frequency capacity
vibration isolation ∙ Complex design
Hexapod active Active ∙ Controllable, ∙ Multiple and
isolation high precision complex devices
platform ∙ Excellent ∙ Heavier and
vibration isolation bulkier
performance ∙ Poor reliability
∙ Flexible
adjustment
∙ Six-axis
vibration isolation
Hexapod hybrid Hybrid ∙ Good vibration ∙ Same as active
isolation isolation effect in isolation
platform full frequency
domain
∙ Same as active
isolation
Fig. 2. Frequency domain response curve of refrigerator operation.
MR-fluid Semi-active ∙ Better vibration ∙ Low bearing
variable isolation capacity
damping isolator performances than ∙ Still needs
passive isolators external energy
∙ More reliable
than active
isolators
∙ Flexible
adjustment
Vibration Passive ∙ High static and ∙ Isolation does not
isolation ring low dynamic cover the full
stiffness frequency domain
characteristics ∙ Cannot precisely
∙ Simple design control the
∙ Lightweight, vibration isolation
Fig. 3. Dynamic model of vibration isolation system. small size effect of each
∙ High reliability degree of freedom

for short) for systematic vibration isolation of an optical cabin. Four

installation fixed points were selected, and the vibration isolation ring 2.3. Comparison of vibration isolation rings with several typical vibration
at each installation point can be equivalent to a group of variable- isolators
stiffness spring damping units. A dynamic model sketch of the whole
system is shown in Fig. 3. This section compares vibration isolation rings with several typical
micro-vibration isolation technologies mentioned in the introduction,
The design strategy of the vibration isolation ring is shown in
as summarized in Table 2. The vibration isolation ring is suitable for the
Fig. 4. The key to designing a vibration isolation ring is to model working conditions and requirements of the vibration isolator described
the ring laminated damping structure. Based on the current composite in Section 2.1. The vibration isolation ring has the advantages of a
structure theory and beam theory, the force–displacement curve of simple structure, low weight, and high stability without a complex
the vibration isolation ring under radial compression can be derived, control algorithm. In addition, the vibration isolation ring has a high
which can be verified by experiments. Then, the dynamics equation static and low dynamic stiffness due to its nonlinear stiffness caused
can be obtained. The harmonic balance method was used to solve by its annular structure, which can not only meet the load bearing
the steady-state dynamics equation of the vibration isolation system, requirements in the rocket launching process but also has a good
and the unique transmissibility was taken as the evaluation index. vibration isolation effect.
The vibration isolation performance could be adjusted by adjusting the
design parameters, such as the radius and width of the middle surface 3. Nonlinear dynamics of vibration isolation ring
of the vibration isolation ring.
Fig. 6(a) shows a schematic diagram of the vibration isolation ring
The entire optical module after the vibration isolation element was
structure. The viscoelastic rubber layer was sandwiched between two
installed is shown in Fig. 5. The whole device was composed mainly metal rings of equal thickness. The main structural parameters of the
of the following four parts: chillers, a cylindrical load, a load platform, vibration isolation ring are shown in the figure. 𝐻1 , 𝐻2 , and 𝐻3 are
and a vibration isolation element. The vibration isolation elements the thicknesses of the outer metal ring, rubber, and inner metal ring
were arranged symmetrically on both sides of the 45◦ line. The mass respectively. 𝑅1 , 𝑅2 , and 𝑅3 are the corresponding radii from the center
distribution of the whole device is shown in Table 1. of the structure, respectively. 𝑊 is the width of the ring structure.

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Fig. 4. Design strategy of vibration isolation ring.

the outer and inner metal rings had the same thickness, the radius of
the circular beam was equal to the radius of the middle surface of the
rubber layer, namely 𝑅 = 𝑅2 . The vibration isolation ring deformed
under a vertical load. With the increase in the vertical force 𝑓 , the
deformation 𝑥 of the vibration isolation ring gradually increased, which
could be divided into three stages.
Compression stage 1:

√ ( 2𝑝
𝜋
+ 2
𝑝
− 𝑝)𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜃) − 2𝐸(𝑝, 𝜃)
𝑥 = 2 2𝐸𝐼 √ , (4)
𝑓
8𝐸𝐼 ⋅ 𝑝2 𝐹 2 (𝑝, 𝜃)
𝑓= . (5)
𝑅2 𝜋 2
For the first stage, 𝜃 = 𝜋∕4, and 𝑝 = (0, 1]. 𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜃) and 𝐸(𝑝, 𝜃)
represent incomplete elliptic integrals of the first and second kind,
respectively, defined as follows:
Fig. 5. Three-dimensional model of vibration isolation system.
𝜃 1
⎧𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜃) = ∫0 √( ) 𝑑𝜑
⎪ 1−𝑝2 sin2 𝜑
⎨ . (6)
√( )
Fig. 6(b) shows the dynamic model of a single vibration isolation ring, ⎪ 𝜃 2
⎩𝐸(𝑝, 𝜃) = ∫0 2
1 − 𝑝 sin 𝜑 𝑑𝜑
which was simplified as a stiffness nonlinear spring damping structure.
The isolation ring was assumed to have linear viscous damping c. When 𝜃 = 𝜋∕2. the two equations are called complete elliptic integrals
The vibration isolation ring had a nonlinear stiffness k due to its of the first and second kind and are expressed as 𝐹 (𝑝) and 𝐸(𝑝),
geometric structural characteristics. The mass of the mass block above respectively.
the vibration isolation ring was one-fourth of the mass of the whole Compression stage 2:
device of the optical module. The system vibrated under displacement
√ ( 2 + 1)𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜙) − 2𝐸(𝑝, 𝜙)
excitation 𝑥𝑒 (𝑡) = 𝑋𝑒 cos(𝜔𝑡) of the base. 𝑥 = 2 2𝐸𝐼 𝜋 √ , (7)
The vibration isolation ring is a kind of laminated damping struc- 𝑓
ture, and its stiffness coefficients were derived by using the composite 8𝐸𝐼 ⋅ 𝐹 2 (𝑝, 𝜙)
structure theory equations: 𝑓= . (8)
𝑅2 2 𝜋 2
(
𝐸1 𝐻13 𝐸2 𝐻23 𝐸3 𝐻33 𝐸2 𝐻23 𝐻31 − 𝐷 sin(𝜋∕4)
𝐸𝐼 =𝑊 ⋅ + + − For the second stage, 𝜙 ∈ ( 𝜋4 , 𝜋2 ], 𝑝 = sin(𝜙)
.
12 12 12 12 1 + 𝑔2 Compression stage 3:
2
( )2
+ 𝐸1 𝐻1 𝐷 + 𝐸2 𝐻2 𝐻21 − 𝐷 √ ( 4 + 2)𝐹 (𝑝) − ( 𝜋2 + 1)𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜙) − 4𝐸(𝑝) + 2𝐸(𝑝, 𝜙)
( ) 𝑥 = 2 2𝐸𝐼 𝜋 √ , (9)
( )2 𝐸 2 𝐻2 ( ) ( ) (1)
+ 𝐸3 𝐻3 𝐻31 − 𝐷 − 𝐻21 − 𝐷 + 𝐸3 𝐻3 𝐻31 − 𝐷 𝑓
12
) 𝑓=
8𝐸𝐼 [2𝐹 (𝑝) − 𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜙)]
. (10)
𝐻31 − 𝐷 𝑅2 2 𝜋 2
× ,
1 + 𝑔2
The force–displacement relations of the vibration isolation rings in
𝐻31
𝐸2 𝐻2 (𝐻21 − ) + 𝑔2 (𝐸2 𝐻2 𝐻21 + 𝐸3 𝐻3 𝐻31 ) the three deformation stages can be uniformly expressed as follows:
2
𝐷= , (2)
𝐸 1 𝐻1 +
𝐸2 𝐻2
+ 𝑔2 (𝐸1 𝐻1 + 𝐸2 𝐻2 + 𝐸3 𝐻3 ) 𝐴𝑖
2 𝑓𝑖 (𝑥) = 𝑚𝑔 − (𝑖 = 1, 2, 3), (11)
𝐻 + 𝐻3 𝐻 + 𝐻2 𝐺2 (𝑥 + 𝑥0 )2
𝐻31 = 1 + 𝐻2 , 𝐻21 = 1 , 𝑔2 = , (3)
2 2 𝐸3 𝐻3 𝐻2 𝑃 2 where 𝑖 = 1, 2, 3 represent the three stages of compression. The coeffi-
cients 𝐴𝑖 are defined as follows:
where 𝑃 is the wave number of the elastic wave in plate, 𝐸 is the elastic
[( ) ]2
modulus, and 𝐺 is the shear modulus. Subscripts 1, 2, and 3 correspond 2𝑝 2
𝐴1 = 8𝐸𝐼 + − 𝑝 𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜃) − 2𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜃) , (12)
to the outer metal ring, rubber layer, and inner metal ring, respectively. 𝜋 𝑝
After the section properties of the vibration isolation ring were [( ) ]2
2
obtained, it was equivalent to a circular beam with radius 𝑅. When 𝐴2 = 8𝐸𝐼 + 1 𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜙) − 2𝐸(𝑝, 𝜙) , (13)
𝜋

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Fig. 6. Vibration isolation ring: (a) structure diagram and (b) dynamical model.

the incremental equation with the two increments of 𝛥𝑥 and 𝛥𝜔 as

[( ) ( ) ]2 unknown quantities is obtained:
4 2
𝐴3 = 8𝐸𝐼 + 2 𝐹 (𝑝) − + 1 𝐹 (𝑝, 𝜙) − 4𝐸(𝑝) + 2𝐸(𝑝, 𝜙) . (14)
𝜋 𝜋 ( ) ( )
𝑚𝜔20 𝛥𝑥′′ + 𝑐𝜔0 𝛥𝑥′ + 𝑘1 − 2𝑘2 𝑥0 + 3𝑘3 𝑥20 𝛥𝑥 = 𝑄̄ − 𝑐𝑥′0 + 2 𝑚𝜔0 𝑥′′ 𝛥𝜔,
The dynamic model of the vibration isolation system is shown as 0
follows: (21)

𝑚𝑥′′ + 𝑐(𝑥′ − 𝑥𝑒 ′ ) + 𝑓𝑖 (𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 ) = 0. (15) ( )

𝑄̄ = 𝑚𝑎 cos(𝜏) − 𝑚𝜔20 𝑥′′
0
+ 𝑐𝜔0 𝑥′0 + 𝑘1𝑥0 − 𝑘2𝑥20 + 𝑘3𝑥30 . (22)
The relative displacement 𝑥𝑟 = 𝑥−𝑥𝑒 is substituted into the equation
𝑄̄ is called the correction term, or the unbalanced force. If 𝑥0 and 𝜔0
above, yielding
are the exact solutions of the dynamics Eq. (19), then 𝑄̄ = 0.
𝑚𝑥𝑟 ′′ + 𝑐𝑥𝑟 ′ + 𝑓𝑖 (𝑥𝑟 ) = 𝑚𝜔2 𝑋𝑒 cos(𝜔𝑡). (16) When the excitation frequency is determined, 𝜔0 = 0, and Eq. (21)
can be written as
The Taylor expansion of the expression 𝑓𝑖 (𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 ) taking only the ( )
𝑚𝜔20 𝛥𝑥′′ + 𝑐𝜔0 𝛥𝑥′ + 𝑘1 − 2𝑘2 𝑥0 + 3𝑘3 𝑥20 𝛥𝑥 = 𝑄.
̄ (23)
first three orders is as follows:
( ) 𝐴𝑖 The second step is the harmonic balance method. The Fourier series for
𝑓𝑖 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 = 𝑚𝑔 − ( )2 𝑥0 and 𝛥𝑥0 are as follows:
𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 + 𝑥0 { ∑ ( )
( 𝑥 0 = 𝑎0 + 𝑁𝑖=1 𝑎𝑖 cos(𝑖𝜏) + 𝑏𝑖 sin(𝑖𝜏)
𝐴𝑖 2𝐴𝑖 ( ) 3𝐴𝑖 ( )2 4𝐴𝑖 ( )3 ∑ ( ). (24)
= 𝑚𝑔 − − 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 + 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 − 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 𝛥𝑥0 = 𝛥𝑎0 + 𝑁 𝑖=1 𝛥𝑎𝑖 cos(𝑖𝜏) + 𝛥𝑏𝑖 sin(𝑖𝜏)
𝑥20 𝑥30 𝑥40 𝑥50
) In practical calculations, the more harmonic terms there are, the
(( )4 )
+ O 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 easier the iteration convergence is. However, the more equations there
are, the longer each solution will take. If the harmonic term is too
2𝐴𝑖 ( ) 3𝐴𝑖 ( )2 4𝐴𝑖 ( )3 small, sometimes it does not converge. In this paper, the harmonic term
≈ 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 − 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒 + 𝑥 − 𝑥𝑒
3
𝑥0 4
𝑥0 5
𝑥0 is taken to the third order, that is, 𝑁 = 3. Eq. (24) is inserted into
the incremental equation. By applying the principle of the harmonic
= 𝑘1 𝑥𝑟 − 𝑘2 𝑥2𝑟 + 𝑘3 𝑥3𝑟 ,
balance, the harmonic coefficients on both sides of the equation are
(17) equal. Then, a linear algebraic equation set is obtained as follows, with
2𝐴𝑖 3𝐴𝑖 4𝐴𝑖 seven equations and seven unknowns:
where 𝑘1 = , 𝑘2 = , and 𝑘3 = .
𝑥30 𝑥40 𝑥50
Then, the dynamic equation can be expressed as follows: ⎧𝑘11 𝛥𝑎0 + 𝑘12 𝛥𝑎1 + 𝑘13 𝛥𝑏1 + 𝑘14 𝛥𝑎2 + 𝑘15 𝛥𝑏2 + 𝑘16 𝛥𝑎3 + 𝑘17 𝛥𝑏3 = 𝑄1
⎪
𝑚𝑥′′ + 𝑐𝑥′𝑟 + 𝑘1 𝑥𝑟 − 𝑘2 𝑥2𝑟 + 𝑘3 𝑥3𝑟 2
= 𝑚𝜔 𝑋𝑒 cos(𝜔𝑡). (18) ⎪𝑘21 𝛥𝑎0 + 𝑘22 𝛥𝑎1 + 𝑘23 𝛥𝑏1 + 𝑘24 𝛥𝑎2 + 𝑘25 𝛥𝑏2 + 𝑘26 𝛥𝑎3 + 𝑘27 𝛥𝑏3 = 𝑄2
𝑟 ⎪
⎪𝑘31 𝛥𝑎0 + 𝑘32 𝛥𝑎1 + 𝑘33 𝛥𝑏1 + 𝑘34 𝛥𝑎2 + 𝑘35 𝛥𝑏2 + 𝑘36 𝛥𝑎3 + 𝑘37 𝛥𝑏3 = 𝑄3
When the amplitude 𝜔2 𝑋𝑒 of the vibration acceleration of the base ⎪
is constant, the vibration isolation system is a nonlinear time-invariant ⎨𝑘41 𝛥𝑎0 + 𝑘42 𝛥𝑎1 + 𝑘43 𝛥𝑏1 + 𝑘44 𝛥𝑎2 + 𝑘45 𝛥𝑏2 + 𝑘46 𝛥𝑎3 + 𝑘47 𝛥𝑏3 = 𝑄4 .
⎪
system. The substitution method is adopted to replace 𝜔𝑡 with 𝜏, then ⎪𝑘51 𝛥𝑎0 + 𝑘52 𝛥𝑎1 + 𝑘53 𝛥𝑏1 + 𝑘54 𝛥𝑎2 + 𝑘55 𝛥𝑏2 + 𝑘56 𝛥𝑎3 + 𝑘57 𝛥𝑏3 = 𝑄5
formula (18) is transformed into ⎪𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑏 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑏 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑏 = 𝑄6
⎪ 61 0 62 1 63 1 64 2 65 2 66 3 67 3
⎪𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑏 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑏 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑎 + 𝑘 𝛥𝑏 = 𝑄7
𝑚𝜔2 𝑥′′ ′ 2 3 2
𝑟 + 𝑐𝜔𝑥𝑟 + 𝑘1 𝑥𝑟 − 𝑘2 𝑥𝑟 + 𝑘3 𝑥𝑟 = 𝑚𝜔 𝑋𝑒 cos(𝜏). (19) ⎩ 71 0 72 1 73 1 74 2 75 2 76 3 77 3

(25)
The incremental harmonic balance method was used to solve the
nonlinear system. The first step was to adopt the Newton–Raphson This can be written in matrix form, as follows:
method, i.e., the incremental process. Let 𝑥0 and 𝜔0 be some known
𝐾𝛥𝐴 = 𝑄, (26)
state in the vibration process, that is, assume them to be the solution
of the equation, then the neighboring state can be expressed as follows: where

𝑥 = 𝑥0 + 𝛥𝑥, 𝜔 = 𝜔0 + 𝛥𝜔. (20) ⎛𝑘11 … 𝑘17 ⎞

𝐾=⎜ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⎟, (27)
⎜ ⎟
Eq. (20) is substituted into the substituted dynamic Eq. (19), the ⎝𝑘71 ⋯ 𝑘77 ⎠
( )𝑇
higher-order small quantities of 𝛥𝑥 and 𝛥𝜔 are removed, and finally, 𝛥𝐴 = 𝛥𝑎0 𝛥𝑎1 𝛥𝑏1 𝛥𝑎2 𝛥𝑏2 𝛥𝑎3 𝛥𝑏3 , (28)

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

( )𝑇 Table 3
𝑄 = 𝑄1 𝑄2 𝑄3 𝑄4 𝑄5 𝑄6 𝑄7 . (29) Structural parameters of vibration isolation ring.
( )𝑇 Parameter R1 R2 R3 H1 H2 H3 W
Let 𝐴 = 𝑎0 𝑎1 𝑏1 𝑎2 𝑏2 𝑎3 𝑏3 . The frequency incre- Value (mm) 70.7 65 59.3 1.4 10 1.4 24
ment/decrement method is adopted to solve matrix equation (26)
iteratively, and the process is as follows. 𝛥𝐴 is obtained by specify-
ing the initial values of 𝜔0 and 𝐴. The original 𝐴 is replaced with
𝐴 + 𝛥𝐴, the process is iterated until the imbalance 𝑅 is sufficiently 4.2. Stiffness test results
small. The corresponding amplitude 𝐴 can be obtained for the given
𝜔0 . Then, given a new 𝜔0 , 𝐴 is the result of the previous iteration, Fig. 10 shows the comparison of the experimental results and the
and the iteration continues. These steps are repeated to obtain all the theoretical values of the loading force and the displacement of the
amplitude–frequency response curves in the desired frequency domain. vibration isolation ring in the whole loading process. The experimental
The IHBM was used to find the numerical solution of the relative results agreed with the theory. Under regular operation, the total load
displacement 𝑥𝑟 between the mass block and the base at each excitation weight was 61.55 kg, and the vertical load of each vibration isolation
frequency 𝜔 The numerical solution of the mass block displacement ring was 15.39 kg, which caused the vibration isolation ring to be in
was 𝑥 = 𝑥𝑟 + 𝑥𝑒 . The vibration response was transient initially, and the second stage of compression deformation.
it gradually transitioned to steady state as time increased. The vibra-
tion amplitude of the mass block is denoted as 𝑋, and the vibration 4.3. Displacement transmissibility
amplitude of the base in the steady-state stage is denoted as 𝑋𝑒 . The
displacement transmissibility at the current frequency is defined as According to the theoretical results of the nonlinear stiffness of
follows: the vibration isolation ring, the pre-compression force 𝑓0 = 150.82 N
𝑇 (𝜔) = 𝑋(𝜔)∕𝑋𝑒 (𝜔). (30) and pre-compression deformation 𝑥0 = 8.69 mm of a single vibration
isolation ring were obtained under the condition that the total load
The amplitude–frequency response of the nonlinear vibrations ex-
weight was 61.55 kg. The parameters 𝑘1 , 𝑘2 , 𝑘3 in the dynamic equation
hibited a jumping phenomenon and an unstable region, which was
of the vibration isolation system were derived. The dynamic parameters
caused not only by the excitation frequency but also by the initial
of vibration isolation system are shown in Table 4.
state of motion. A forward frequency sweep occurred when the given 𝜔
The displacement transmission–frequency curve of the vibration
gradually increased, and a reverse frequency sweep occurred otherwise.
isolation system is shown in Fig. 11. The natural frequency of the
Finally, the transmittance vs. frequency response curve was obtained by
the forward and reverse frequency sweep. vibration isolation system was not a fixed value. The natural fre-
Then, the influences of different parameters on the vibration iso- quencies of linear systems do not depend on the initial conditions of
lation performance were considered. In engineering design, the radius motion but only on the natural parameters of the system (mass and
and width can be modified more easily. Under the condition that the stiffness). The vibration isolation system designed in this paper was a
mass is a constant, we can modify the radius or width to change the pre- nonlinear vibration system because the system’s stiffness changed with
compression amount. Fig. 7 shows the influence of the radius R change the deformation, so the natural frequency of the system also changed
on the isolation system. Fig. 7(a) shows that the working stiffness of with the amplitude of the motion. Transitivity jumps occurred in both
the ring near the static equilibrium point decreased significantly with the forward and reverse frequency sweeps, as shown by the gray ar-
the increase in the radius. The three displacement transmissibilities rows, which is a characteristic of nonlinear systems. When the external
for R = 20, 30, and 40 mm are compared in Fig. 7(b). With the excitation frequency was in the unstable frequency band, the system
increase in the radius, the resonance frequency and the peak response reached one of several steady-state solutions. Therefore, ensuring that
decreased, and the frequency range of the vibration isolation became the system excitation frequency exceeded the unstable frequency band
wider. Fig. 8 shows the influence of the width W change on the is necessary to ensure a stable vibration isolation effect. It is known that
isolation system. Fig. 8(a) shows that the working stiffness increased the fundamental frequency of the external excitation frequency was
approximately linearly with the increase in the width. Similarly, the 61 Hz in the working state of the whole device, exceeding the unstable
three displacement transmissibilities for W = 20, 30, and 40 mm are frequency band. The displacement transmissibility corresponding to the
compared in Fig. 8(b). With the decrease in the width, the resonance 61-Hz excitation frequency was 0.023, and the vibration isolation rate
frequency and the peak response all decreased, and frequency range was 97.7%, which meets the requirement of the vibration isolation rate
of the vibration isolation became wider. Although there will be other being greater than 95%.
boundary conditions in the design process, through the study of the in-
fluences of different parameters on the vibration isolation performance, 5. Modal analysis
a reasonable selection of the structure size can be more effectively
designed to meet the needs of the vibration isolation ring. 5.1. Modal simulation
4. Stiffness test and displacement transmissibility of vibration
The finite element simulation model of the vibration isolation sys-
isolation ring
tem is shown in Fig. 12. A simplified model replaced the chiller
components to ensure that the mass, center of mass, and inertia of
4.1. Stiffness test apparatus
the simplified model were similar to the actual model. The vibration
To verify the nonlinear stiffness of the vibration isolation ring, isolation system comprised three parts: a vibration isolation plate, a
obtain the dynamic parameters of the nonlinear vibration system, and vibration isolation ring, and a counterweight steel plate. To simplify
further study the influence of the excitation frequency on the vibration the geometric model of the system, the eight counterweight steel plates
isolation performance, stiffness tests of the vibration isolation ring were made equivalent to a single steel plate with the same total mass
were carried out. The test device for the stiffness test is shown in as the eight steel plates. The above three-dimensional geometric model
Fig. 9. The parameters of the vibration isolation ring are shown in was imported into Hypermesh for preprocessing, meshing, and analysis.
Table 3. The vibration isolation ring was gradually loaded by increasing The entire finite element model included 145,000 nodes and 148,000
the counterweight. When the vibration isolation ring was loaded, the elements. The vibration isolation plate structure was discretized into
displacement of the vibration isolation platform was collected by a laser shell elements, and the model was mainly composed of hexahedral
sensor. The laser sensor was connected with the transformer to display elements. Tetrahedral elements were used in areas where meshing
the displacement of the vibration isolation ring. was difficult to improve computational accuracy, and rigid element

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Fig. 7. Influence of radius change on vibration isolation system: (a) stiffness characteristics with radius change and (b) displacement transmissibilities for three different radii.

Fig. 8. Influence of width change on vibration isolation system: (a) stiffness characteristics with width change and (b) displacement transmissibilities for three different widths.

Fig. 9. Vibration isolation ring stiffness test.

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Table 4
Dynamic parameters of vibration isolation system.
Parameter Mass Damping Stiffness Stiffness Stiffness Acceleration amplitude
𝑚 (kg) 𝑐 (N s/m) 𝑘1 (N∕m) 𝑘2 (N∕m) 𝑘3 (N∕m) 𝑎 = 𝜔2 𝑋𝑒 (m∕s2 )
Value 15.39 100 3.47e4 5.99e6 9.19e8 49

Table 5
Experimental and simulation modal analysis result comparison.
Order Experiment Simulation Damping Mode Error (%)
(Hz) (Hz) ratio
1 7.162 8.1 0.76 X translation 13.1
2 7.734 8.53 1.21 Y translation 10.29
3 9.382 8.71 0.96 Z translation 7.16
4 19.059 17.01 2.37 X rotation 10.75
5 19.885 17.6 0.69 Y rotation 11.49
6 25.67 23.09 1.68 Z rotation 10.05
7 83.54 85.48 1.48 Coupling 2.32
8 101.819 101.5 1.08 Coupling 0.31

5.3. Analysis of results

Table 5 shows the first eight natural frequencies obtained by the

modal analysis and the comparison between the results of the simu-
lations and experiments. Fig. 14 shows the mode shape comparison
between the modal analysis experiment and simulation results. The
Fig. 10. Force–displacement relationship of vibration isolation ring.
natural frequencies and mode shapes of each order of the test and the
simulation results were consistent. Thus, the accuracy of the simulation
model was verified. Moreover, none of the first eight natural frequen-
cies coincided with the excitation frequency, and the seventh-order
natural frequency and the excitation frequency were still separated
by a certain frequency band, avoiding the resonance phenomenon. In
addition, the modal analysis results can provide parameters for tuning
the parameters of the vibration source. The accurate model obtained by
the modal simulation can also be used for the subsequent optimization
design of technical indicators.

6. Vibration test

6.1. Laboratory apparatus

To verify the vibration isolation effect of the vibration isolation ring,

shaking table tests were carried out in the laboratory. The vibration
isolation ring and laboratory shaking table used in the experiment are
shown in Fig. 15.
The installation status of the vibration isolation system on the
vibration test table is shown in Fig. 16. As with the modal test, a
simplified model replaced the actual device. It was ensured that the
Fig. 11. Displacement transmissibility curve. mass and centroid of the simplified model were consistent with those
of the actual device. A low-frequency suspension system suspended
the isolation platform to a horizontal state. The shaking table applied
(RBE2) connections simulated the connections between structures. The a sinusoidal excitation with an acceleration amplitude of 5 g to the
obtained finite element model is shown in Fig. 2. Finally, the Patran whole device. The excitation response was tested in three directions by
and Nastran software was used to calculate the modes of the vibration the three installation methods shown in the figure. The sensors were
isolation system. arranged on a shaking table and a vibration isolation platform. The
acceleration responses of both were collected.

5.2. Modal test

6.2. Experimental results

The modal test was conducted to obtain the natural characteristics The experimental results are shown in Fig. 17. Although the accel-
of the vibration isolation system. The schematic diagram of the modal eration response of the vibration isolation platform had a peak value in
experiment test platform is shown in Fig. 13. The dimensions of the the process of frequency increase, it was not at the working frequency.
vibration isolation plate were 640 mm × 520 mm (length × width), The position of the peak acceleration was consistent with the modal
and the size of the counterweight was 250 mm × 250 mm (length × results, which proved the correctness of the finite element analysis
width). The modal test adopted the method of single-point excitation results. In the high-frequency part, the vibration isolation effect was
and multi-point vibration pickup. more evident. From the time-domain test results, it can be seen that

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Fig. 12. Finite element model.

Fig. 13. Modal test.

Fig. 14. Comparison between the experimental and simulation mode shapes.

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Fig. 15. (a) Vibration isolation ring. (b) Shaking table.

Fig. 16. Vibration test.

Fig. 17. Sine excitation and response.

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H. Luo et al. European Journal of Mechanics / A Solids 97 (2023) 104833

Table 6
Experimental results and transfer rate at operating frequency.
Frequency (Hz) X Y Z
Amplitude (g) Transfer rate (%) Amplitude (g) Transfer rate (%) Amplitude (g) Transfer rate (%)
61 0.0068 99.86 0.02 99.6 0.18 96.4
122 0.02 99.6 0.01 99.8 0.21 95.8
183 0.06 98.8 0.0058 98.8 0.08 98.4
244 0.04 99.2 0.06 98.8 0.24 95.2
305 0.0069 99.86 0.0058 99.8 0.01 99.8
366 0.03 99.4 0.0034 99.9 0.065 99.86

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