Performance study of wire rope isolators for vibration isolation equipment and structures

Abstract

The wire rope isolator (WRI) can effectively provide vibration isolation of equipment and structures. The main advantage of WRI is the effective isolation in all three planes and in all directions. The WRI provides the damping of the external disturbance through its friction between the wire strands. The present work is the study on the performance of WRI in the isolation of equipment supported on structures. This study is performed in four different cases namely, Fixed Structure and Fixed Equipment, Isolated Structure and Fixed Equipment, Fixed Structure and Isolated Equipment, Isolated Structure and Isolated Equipment. The present work compares the performance of WRI in all the four cases. The study also extended on the parametric study for the effects of frequency of external excitation, weight of the equipment and excitation direction. It is found that the WRI were effective in providing the isolation for the frequency studied and increased weight of the equipment enhances the performance of WRI. The present study can be used to identify the different ways to provide the isolation of the equipment supported on the structures through WRI.