Design and experimental investigation of ultra-low frequency vibration isolation during neonatal transport

To resolve the tough issue of ultra-low frequency vibration isolation during neonatal transport, a new incubator with quasi-zero-stiffness (QZS) isolators is proposed. In the new incubator, the infant housing unit is supported by the QZS isolators to mitigate mechanical vibration being transmitted from the ambulance floor to the infant. Each of the QZS isolators is devised by combining a pair of permanent magnet rings and a coil spring, and the design parameters are realized by the equivalent magnetic charge method. Both the prototypes of the QZS isolator and incubator are manufactured, and their vibration isolation performances are tested. The results show that the QZS isolator can fulfil vibration isolation from 2 Hz, and the incubator with four such QZS isolators is effective from 3.2 Hz under the designated payload. Most importantly, the acceleration response of the infant model in the housing unit is much lower than the base excitation, when the incubator is driven by a random base excitation with frequency bandwidth from 2 Hz to 15 Hz. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.