Experimental Evidence of Efficient Phononic-Based Vibration Isolators for Mechanical Applications

Even though the design of vibration isolators is well-established for many engineering applications, their efficiency in wide and multiple frequency ranges is still a challenge. In these cases, the use of Phononic-Based Vibration Isolators (PBVIs) may be advantageous as they present different Attenuation Regions (ARs) in which the elastic waves are strongly attenuated. Therefore, the present paper is devoted to the experimental evaluation, in terms of force transmissibility, of different types of supporting devices tested on a load mass and a motor of a Hermetic Compressor (HC). Those devices are the original Helical Coil Spring (HS) that equips the HC, the PBVI, and the Combined Structure (CS) which is composed of a PBVI combined in series with the HS. Results evidentiate the capability of the CSs to isolate vibrations, where the PBVI contributes with its ARs, thus operating as a “filter” in specific frequency ranges, while the HSs maintain the flexibility of the CSs, which is advantageous for impact-loads and/or transient-case scenarios. Hence, the capability, relevance and impact that these PBVIs present for force transmissibility reduction applications is highlighted here, which should capture the attention of and motivate the industry, e.g., producers of isolation systems, since it has wide-ranging engineering applications.