Title: Analysis of a passive scissor-like structure isolator with quasi-zero stiffness for a seating system vibration-isolation application

Authors: Linchuan Guo; Axconny Khiu; Rang-Lin Fan; Xu Wang

Addresses: School of Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia ' School of Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia ' School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China ' School of Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia

Abstract: It is widely known that vibration is a mechanical motion phenomenon where a mass point oscillates around an equilibrium point. Vibrations are a source of discomfort and are extremely harmful to vehicle drivers and passengers. The motivations of this research are to develop an innovative vehicle seating suspension system to isolate vibrations transmitted to vehicle drivers and passengers and to improve ride comfort to ensure that their health is not negatively impacted and to improve the working efficiency of the driver. An innovative design of a passive multi-degree-of-freedom vibration isolator is presented in a truck seat suspension system where a Stewart platform configuration with a six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) isolation system is used rather than the traditional Stewart platform. A scissor-like structure (SLS) is used as one of the supporting legs to provide a nonlinear system with quasi-zero stiffness (QZS). Vibration is effectively attenuated without a loss of the system's load capacity. The effects of structural parameters in the proposed system are studied to determine how to adjust the parameters to achieve better vibration-isolation performance. The results reveal that a SLS supporting leg with a small assembly angle, more layers, a shorter link length and less spring stiffness has led to better vibration isolation and higher system stability than the conventional baseline supporting structure.

Keywords: passive; six degrees of freedom; vibration isolation; truck seats; seating suspension system; nonlinear stiffness; SLS; scissor-like structure; QZS; quasi-zero stiffness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2020.113920

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2020 Vol.82 No.1/2/3/4, pp.224 - 240

Received: 31 Oct 2019
Accepted: 19 Jun 2020

Published online: 01 Apr 2021 *

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