Damping phenomena in a wire rope vibration isolation system

A study of the dynamic characteristics of a wire rope vibration isolation system constructed with helical isolators is presented. Emphasis is placed on the analytical modeling of damping mechanisms in the system. An experimental investigation is described in which the static stiffness curve, hysteresis curves, phase trajectories, and frequency response curves were obtained. A semi-empirical model having nonlinear stiffness, nth-power velocity damping, and variable Coulomb friction damping is developed and results are compared to experimental data. Conclusions about dynamic phenomena in the wire rope system are made based on the experimental and semi-empirical results.