Work

Dynamic characteristics of a piecewise damping passive vibration isolator based on translating cam mechanism

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This study proposes a passive vibration isolator with a piecewise damping characteristic based on a translating cam mechanism to address the trade-off between resonance suppression and high-frequency isolation in conventional linear systems. The proposed design enables zero damping at small displacements and activates damping beyond a prescribed threshold through the geometric segmentation of the cam profile. A nonlinear dynamic model of the system is established, and an equivalent damping formulation is derived based on cam kinematics. The dimensionless governing equations are obtained, and the amplitude–frequency response is analyzed using the method of averaging. Numerical simulations based on the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method are conducted for validation. The results show that the proposed isolator effectively reduces the resonance peak while maintaining low transmissibility in the high-frequency region. Compared to conventional linear damping systems, the optimized design achieves a reduction of 37.8% in resonance amplitude and a decrease of 15.3% in average high-frequency transmissibility. The analytical predictions are in good agreement with numerical results. These findings demonstrate that the proposed cam-based piecewise damping mechanism provides an effective purely mechanical solution for improving vibration isolation performance.

Source: AIP Advances

DOI: 10.1063/5.0333206

Authors: Xiaoting Zhang, Haijun Xing, Xiaosong Sun

Institutions: Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang Tiedao University

Language: English

Topic: Vibration Control and Rheological Fluids

Subfield: Civil and Structural Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,350