This paper presents a novel quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) isolator designed by combining a disk spring with a vertical linear spring. The static characteristics of the disk spring and the QZS isolator are investigated. The optimal combination of the configurative parameters is derived to achieve a wide displacement range around the equilibrium position in which the stiffness has a low value and changes slightly. By considering the overloaded or underloaded conditions, the dynamic equations are established for both force and displacement excitations. The frequency response curves (FRCs) are obtained by using the harmonic balance method (HBM) and confirmed by the numerical simulation. The stability of the steady-state solution is analyzed by applying Floquet theory. The force, absolute displacement, and acceleration transmissibility are defined to evaluate the isolation performance. Effects of the offset displacement, excitation amplitude, and damping ratio on the QZS isolator and the equivalent system (ELS) are studied. The results demonstrate that the QZS isolator for overloaded or underloaded can exhibit different stiffness characteristics with changing excitation amplitude. If loaded with an appropriate mass, excited by not too large amplitude, and owned a larger damper, the QZS isolator can possess better isolation performance than its ELS in low frequency range.

The characteristics of a passive nonlinear isolator are developed by combining a curved-mount-spring-roller mechanism as a negative stiffness corrector in parallel with a vertical linear spring. The static characteristics of the isolator are presented, and the configurative parameters are optimized to achieve a wider displacement range at the equilibrium position where the isolator has a low stiffness and the stiffness changes slightly. The restoring force of the isolator is approximated using a Taylor expansion to a cubic stiffness. Considering the overload and underload conditions, a dynamic equation is established as a Helmholtz-Duffing equation, and the resonance response of the nonlinear system is determined by employing the harmonic balance method (HBM). The frequency response curves (FRCs) are obtained for displacement excitations. The absolute displacement and acceleration transmissibility are defined and investigated to evaluate the performance of the nonlinear isolator, and they are compared with an equivalent linear isolator that can support the same mass with the same static deflection as the proposed isolator. The effects of the amplitude of the excitation, the offset displacement, and the damping ratio on the dynamic characteristics and the transmissibility performance are considered, and experiments are carried out to verify the above analysis. The results show that the overload and underload system can outperform the counterparts with the linear stiffness, softening stiffness, softening-hardening stiffness, and hardening stiffness with the magnitude of the excitation amplitude, and that its isolation performance is generally better than that of a linear system. The transmissibility, response, and resonance frequency of the system are affected by the excitation amplitude, offset displacement, cubic stiffness, and damping ratio. To obtain a better isolation performance, an appropriate mass, not-too-large amplitude, and larger damper are necessary for the proposed isolator.

The designed load of most quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) isolators is constant. The isolation performance will drop sharply once the load changes. A novel QZS isolator that can adapt to variable loads is proposed in this paper to improve the range of application of the isolator. The isolator is designed by paralleling the electromagnetic spring (ES), which provides negative stiffness, and the pneumatic spring (PS), which provides positive stiffness. The positive and negative stiffness can be adjusted by changing the pressure and coil current, which provides the possibility for the isolator to adapt to variable loads. This paper derived the conditions for the isolation system to obtain QZS characteristics, proposed the dynamic model of the isolation system, derived and verified the analytical expressions of the amplitude-frequency response and force transmissibility (FT), and discussed the change of FT and displacement transmissibility(DT) under different loads. Theoretical analysis shows that changing the pressure and coil current in the same proportion can maintain the superior low-frequency isolation performance when the load changes, thanks to the preservation of the QZS characteristics of the system after adjusting the pressure and coil current. Finally, the simulation results fg and isolation frequency band over the linear isolation system and PS isolation system. Furthermore, the proposed isolator can be adjusted online.

A fuzzy PID control strategy for quasi-zero stiffness (QZS) isolator which connects the pneumatic spring (PS) and the electromagnetic negative stiffness mechanism (ENSM) in parallel to suppress low-frequency vibration is proposed in this paper. First, the restoring force of PS and the electromagnetic force of the ENSM are derived. Secondly, the static analysis of the isolation system is carried out, and the analytical expressions of stiffness and restoring force of the vibration isolation system is obtained. The possibility of the vibration isolator reaching the QZS state is explained. Then, to obtain a better isolation effect, the optimal current of the coil is found according to the designed fuzzy PID control strategy. Finally, the simulation result shows that the isolation frequency band of the isolation system under fuzzy PID control and PID control is widened, and the vibration isolation performance under fuzzy PID control reaches more than 85% under different excitation frequencies. Control effect and vibration isolation performance under fuzzy PID control are better.