Six degrees of freedom vibration isolation with Euler springs

A novel design allows column springs in Euler buckling mode to be laterally stable and thus provides vibration isolation in six degrees of freedom. Analytical models of the stiffness were used to develop a design with a vertical resonance of 1.13 Hz, a horizontal resonance of 1.68 Hz, and a roll resonance of 2.58 Hz. A prototype vibration isolator reduces vertical vibration by a factor of 2 at 2 Hz. Vertical, horizontal, and roll vibrations are reduced by a factor of 100 at frequencies above 20 Hz.

Automated summary

The novel design allows column springs in Euler buckling mode to be laterally stable, providing vibration isolation in six degrees of freedom. The stiffness was analytically modeled to achieve resonant frequencies of 1.13 Hz vertically, 1.68 Hz horizontally, and 2.58 Hz in roll. A prototype vibration isolator demonstrated a 2x reduction in vertical vibration at 2 Hz, and a 100x reduction in vertical, horizontal, and roll vibrations above 20 Hz.