<title>Negative-stiffness-mechanism vibration isolation systems</title>

A new type of vibration isolation system offers significant improvement in performance compared with current state-of-the-art systems. The system uses negative-stiffness mechanisms to cancel the stiffness of a spring suspension. Reduction in stiffness magnifies the damping inherent in the system creating a practical means for achieving high hysteretic damping. The result is a simple, compact 6-DOF passive isolation system capable of system resonant frequencies below 0.2 Hz and first isolator resonances above 100 Hz. Resonant transmissibilities below 1.4 can be achieved with transmissibilities at the higher frequencies close to that of the ideal undamped system. The negative-stiffness mechanisms can cancel the stiffness of power cables, hoses or other lines connected to payloads. This paper develops the theory, describes typical configurations and summarizes test data with prototype systems.