A review of the inerter and inerter-based vibration isolation: Theory, devices, and applications

The inerter has garnered much attention in the past two decades owing to its unique mechanical characteristics. As a substitution of the capacitance element based on the electrical-mechanical analogy, the inerter has outstanding advantages. Extensive investigations have been conducted for the development of inerter-based vibration isolation system. This paper provides a retrospective perspective and an update on the inerter's progress for vibration isolation in different fields. The advantages of inerter compared with mass element are analyzed and revealed. Some existing reviews and highly-cited papers are summarized to outline the inerter development progress. Thereafter, the inerter is reviewed in detail from the perspective of network analogy and synthesis, mechanical domain, and power flow transmission. The devices improvement and control approach are summarized. Finally, the significance of inerter research, the challenge in current studies, and promising inerter application fields are presented and discussed. This paper is closed by conclusions, which highlight the necessity of inerter research, current challenges, and future research directions.