An integrated load-bearing and vibration-isolation supporter with decorated metamaterial absorbers

Abstract

Vibration sources such as power units transmit vibration and load to equipment via supporters, aggravating equipment vibration and radiating noise to the environment. Therefore, a supporter is a necessary path for vibration transmission, and reducing its vibration transmission capability is essential for attenuating equipment vibration and noise. To overcome the challenges presented by the inability of traditional supporters to conciliate contradictions between high-bearing capacity and vibration-isolation performance, this paper proposes an integrated load-bearing, vibration-isolation design by embedding metamaterial absorbers in the supporter. Arranging absorbers on the vibration transmission path suppresses vibration transmission in a wide frequency band without affecting the bearing capacity and realizes the function of replacing isolation with absorption. The gradient parallel, multi-layered design of the absorbers effectively extends the vibration attenuation bandwidth, further improving its vibration attenuation capacity. The metamaterial units could reduce additional weight for structural vibration suppression due to their sub-wavelength dimensions and lightweight characteristics. The vibration-absorbing units can be embedded in the cavities of hollow support structures or arranged as an additional component in the external spaces of non-hollow support structures, making them broadly applicable. The design of integrated load-bearing, vibration-isolation supporters with decorated metamaterial absorbers helps attenuate and reduce equipment noise, providing vital engineering application value.