Studies on Low Resonant Frequency Rubber Isolator Design

Developing low resonance frequency rubber isolator for effective low-frequency vibration isolation while maintaining enough load carrying capability has always been a great challenge in vibration control engineering. In particular, the proper design method is lack. To tackle the problem, a much more general approach capable of effectively balancing these two effects simultaneously is proposed in this paper. More specifically, finite element simulations are firstly performed to assess the static stiffness and dynamic behavior of a rubber isolator. Parametric studies are then carried out with the thickness and the height of the inner metal ring as well as the height of the outer metal frame are identified as the key parameters affecting the rubber isolator isolation performance most. Finally, the optimization study based on the Multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) for global multi-objective optimization is carried out, in which the above identified key parameters are considered as the design variables, and the static stiffness as well as the resonant frequency are considered as the objective function. Analyses re-veal that optimizations based on the proposed technique allow one to balance the requirements on the static and dynamic behavior through proper parameter tuning to maximize the low-frequency vibration isolation performance of the rubber isolator. With the help of this optimization design method, the rubber isolator which can satisfy both the load carrying capability and dynamic behavior requirement is successfully designed. Studies provide guidance for future low resonant frequency rubber isolator design.