Numerical Analysis of Vibration Isolator Using Negative Stiffness Mechanism for Vehicle Seats

Seats are the ultimate mechanisms that can isolate the operator from vehicle vibration. As a result, the vehicle seats should be effectively isolated from road disturbances to offer drivers comfort. This paper deals with the design of a negative stiffness structure (NSS) by using the two bellows-type air springs for a vehicle seat. The static characteristics of the negative stiffness elements as well as the nonlinear mathematical model are presented. Further, the dynamic characteristics are evaluated by adopting the harmonic balance method. In addition, the effect of the geometry parameter on the dynamic stiffness of the isolator at the static equilibrium position is also studied. Finally, the simulation results show that a significant improvement in vibration isolation of the proposed system with NSS, while the system performance without NSS is poor.