A quasi-zero-stiffness isolator with a shear-thinning viscous damper

Quasi-zero-stiffness(QZS)vibration isolators have been widely studied,because they show excellent high static and low dynamic stiffnesses and can effectively solve low-frequency and ultralow-frequency vibration.However,traditional QZS(T-QZS)vibration isolators usually adopt linear damping,owing to which achieving good isolation performance at both low and high frequencies is difficult.T-QZS isolators exhibit hardening stiffness characteristics,and their vibration isolation performance is even worse than that of linear vibration isolators under a large excitation amplitude.Therefore,this study proposes a QZS isolator with a shear-thinning viscous damper(SVD)to improve the vibration isolation performance of the T-QZS isolators.The force-velocity relation of the SVD is obtained,and a dynamic model is established for the isolator.The dynamic responses of the system are solved using the harmonic balance method(HBM)and the Runge-Kutta method.The vibration isolation performance of the system is evaluated using force transmissibility,and the isolator parameters are analyzed.The results show that compared with the T-QZS isolators,the proposed QZS-SVD isolator achieves the lower initial vibration isolation frequency and peak value,and exhibits better vibration isolation performance at medium and high frequencies.Moreover,the proposed isolator can withstand a large excitation amplitude in the effective vibration isolation range.

Design of quasi-zero-stiffness elastic diodes for low-frequency nonreciprocity through machine learning

Elastic diodes with nonreciprocity have the potential to enable unidirectional modulation of elastic waves.However,it is a challenge to achieve nonreciprocity at low frequencies(<100 Hz)using existing elastic diodes.This paper proposes a quasizero-stiffness(QZS)elastic diode to resolve such a tough issue and fulfill high-quality low-frequency nonreciprocity.The proposed elastic diode is invented by combining a QZS locally resonant metamaterial with a linear one,where the beneficial nonlinearity of the QZS metamaterial facilitates opening an amplitude-dependent band gap at very low frequencies.Firstly,the dispersion relation of the QZS metamaterial is derived theoretically based on the harmonic balance method(HBM).Then,the transmissibility of the QZS elastic diode in both the forward and backward directions is calculated through theoretical analyses and numerical simulations.Additionally,the influences of system parameters on the low-frequency nonreciprocal effect are discussed.The results indicate that considerable nonreciprocity is observed at a quite low frequency(e.g.,9 Hz),which is achieved by amplitude-dependent local resonance combined with interface reflection.Finally,a machine learning-based design optimization is introduced to evaluate and enhance the nonreciprocal effect of the QZS elastic diode.With the aid of machine learning(ML),the computational cost of predicting nonreciprocal effects during design optimization can be significantly reduced.Through design optimization,the nonreciprocal frequency bandwidth can be broadened while maintaining considerable isolation quality at low frequencies.

A state-of-the-art review on low-frequency nonlinear vibration isolation with electromagnetic mechanisms

Vibration isolation is one of the most efficient approaches to protecting host structures from harmful vibrations,especially in aerospace,mechanical,and architectural engineering,etc.Traditional linear vibration isolation is hard to meet the requirements of the loading capacity and isolation band simultaneously,which limits further engineering application,especially in the low-frequency range.In recent twenty years,the nonlinear vibration isolation technology has been widely investigated to broaden the vibration isolation band by exploiting beneficial nonlinearities.One of the most widely studied objects is the"three-spring"configured quasi-zero-stiffness(QZS)vibration isolator,which can realize the negative stiffness and high-static-low-dynamic stiffness(HSLDS)characteristics.The nonlinear vibration isolation with QZS can overcome the drawbacks of the linear one to achieve a better broadband vibration isolation performance.Due to the characteristics of fast response,strong stroke,nonlinearities,easy control,and low-cost,the nonlinear vibration with electromagnetic mechanisms has attracted attention.In this review,we focus on the basic theory,design methodology,nonlinear damping mechanism,and active control of electromagnetic QZS vibration isolators.Furthermore,we provide perspectives for further studies with electromagnetic devices to realize high-efficiency vibration isolation.

Design and experimental study of a compact quasi-zero-stiffness isolator using wave springs

The quasi-zero-stiffness(QZS)vibration isolation has been proven to be an effective way to isolate low-frequency vibration.However,most of the existing QZS isolators are space-consuming,which could not be employed in the space-limited circumstances.In this paper,a quite compact QZS isolator is engineered by connecting a pair of mutually repulsive magnet rings and a space-saving wave spring in parallel,called WQZS isolator.The restoring force of the magnet ring is derived by the equivalent magnetic charge method,and an empirical formula for the restoring force of the wave spring is derived by the least squares method based on experimental data.The dynamic model of the WQZS vibration isolation system is built,and the vibration isolation performance is evaluated through transmissibility.Finally,an experimental prototype is fabricated,and the experimental tests on frequency sweep are carried out.The results show that compared with the linear counterpart,the vibration isolation frequency of the WQZS isolator is reduced by 48.89%,and the peak transmissibility is decreased by 59.33%.Most importantly,the space occupancy of the WQZS isolator designed in this paper is much lower than that of the traditional QZS isolators,and thus it should be a potential solution for low-frequency vibration isolation in the space-limited environment.

Vibration response analysis of floating slab track supported by nonlinear quasi-zero-stiffness vibration isolators

To improve the low-frequency vibration reduction effect of a steel spring floating slab track(FST),nonlinear quasizero-stiffness(QZS)vibration isolators composed of positive stiffness elements(PSEs)and negative stiffness elements(NSEs)were used to support the FST.First,considering the mechanical characteristics of the nonlinear QZS vibration isolators and the dynamic displacement limit(3 mm)of the FST,the feasible parameter groups were studied with the nonlinear stiffness variation range and bearing capacity as evaluation indices.A vertical vehicle quasi-zero-stiffness floating slab track(QZS-FST)coupled dynamic model was then established.To obtain a reasonable nonlinear stiffness within a few millimeters,the original length of the NSEs must be analyzed first,because it chiefly determines the stiffness nonlinearity level.The compression length of the NSEs at the equilibrium position must be determined to obtain the low stiffness of the floating slab without vehicle load.Meanwhile,to meet the dynamic displacement limit of the FST,the PSE stiffness must be increased to obtain a higher stiffness at the critical dynamic displacement.Various stiffness groups for the PSEs and NSEs can provide the same dynamic bearing capacity and yet have a significantly different vibration reduction effect.Excessive stiffness nonlinearity levels cannot effectively improve the vibration reduction effect at the natural frequency.Furthermore,they also significantly amplify the vibrations above the natural frequency.In this paper,the vertical vibration acceleration level(VAL)of the floating slab and the supporting force of the FST can be decreased by 6.9 dB and 55%,respectively,at the resonance frequency.