Design and Experimental Analysis of Origami-Inspired Vibration Isolator With Quasi-Zero-Stiffness Characteristic

We present a prototype vibration isolator whose design is inspired by origami-based foldable cylinders with torsional buckling patterns. The vibration isolator works as a nonlinear spring that has quasi-zero spring stiffness in a given frequency region, where it does not transmit vibration in theory. We evaluate the performance of the prototype vibration isolator through excitation experiments via the use of harmonic oscillations and seismic-wave simulations of the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean and Kobe earthquakes. The results indicate that the isolator with the current specification is able to suppress the transmission of vibrations with frequencies of over 6 Hz. The functionality and constraints of the isolator are also clarified. It has been known that origami-based foldable cylinders with torsional buckling patterns provide bistable folding motions under given conditions. In a previous study, we proposed a vibration isolator utilizing the bistability characteristics and numerically confirmed the device's validity as a vibration isolator. Here, we attempt prototyping the isolator with the use of versatile metallic components and experimentally evaluate the isolation performance.