A hybrid vibration isolator: Design, control, and experiments

A hybrid vibration isolator (HVI) is presented with its structure, dynamic model, control strategy and preliminary experiments. The HVI is composed of the active piezostack actuator and the passive rubber isolator, which has compact structure and high reliability. Based on the dynamic model and the formula derivation of the transmissibility, the control algorithm is established using the linear quadratic regulator method. The simulations indicate that the vibrations acting on the load platform are vastly reduced, where the active piezostack-based actuator can eliminate the resonance peak significantly. Moreover, the passive rubber-based isolator is effective to isolate a part of vibration once active control fails. Finally, an experimental system is built up to implement integrated passive and active vibration control using the HVI prototype. The experimental results verify the theoretical analysis work.