Bio-Inspired Vibration Isolation: Methodology and Design

Abstract

Various bio-inspired vibration isolators have been emerged in recent decades and applied successfully in the protection of sensitive components, improvement of operating comfort, enhancement of control accuracy, etc. They are generally developed by exploiting favorable nonlinearities in biological structures. The main contribution of this work is to provide a comprehensive review of recent studies on the bio-inspired isolators. The methodology of bio-inspired vibration isolation is proposed from the perspective of mechanics based on the elemental theory and design principles. The key isolation mechanisms are classified into three categories according to different dominant forces: stiffness adjustment mechanism, auxiliary mass mechanism, and damping mechanism, respectively. Some representative designs, performance analyses, and practical applications of each type of bio-inspired isolators are also provided. In bio-inspired isolators with variable stiffness, the inherent structural performances can be adjusted to deal with variation in external load. The auxiliary mass mechanism utilizes nonlinear inertial effects to achieve ultralow frequency vibration isolation. Unique damping mechanism of bio-inspired structures is often studied to protect devices and equipment from impact loads. Bio-inspired vibration methods can also be applied in active/semi-active control systems with advantages of low energy consumption and high robustness. Finally, the review ends with conclusions, which highlight resolved and unresolved issues and provide a brief outlook on future perspectives. This review aims to give a comprehensive understanding of bio-inspired isolation mechanism. It also provides guidance on designing new bio-inspired isolators for improving their vibration isolation performance.