Development of Vibration Isolator With Controllable Stiffness Using Permanent Magnets and Coils

Abstract In this study, a novel vibration isolator is presented. The presented isolator possesses the controllable stiffness and can be employed in vibration isolation at a low-resonance frequency. The controllable stiffness of the isolator is obtained by manipulating the negative stiffness-based current in a system with a positive and a negative stiffness in parallel. By using an electromagnetic device consisting of permanent magnetic rings and coils, the designed isolator shows that the stiffness can be manipulated as needed and the operational stiffness range is large in vibration isolation. We experimentally demonstrate that the modeling of controllable stiffness and the approximation of the negative stiffness expressions are effective for controlling the resonance frequency and the transmissibility of the vibration isolation system, enhancing applications such as warship stealth technology, vehicles suspension system, and active vibration isolator.