Mechatronic design of a composite vibration isolation system

Composite materials have attracted researchers in vibration and noise control applications due to their significant dynamic characteristics such as high strength and high damping level. In this paper, a Glass Fiber Reinforced Composite material (GFRC) is presented as a vibration isolation system to control vibration levels in industry. In addition, the impact of integration of a mechatronic control system to improve the machining process and increase the control of vibration nature. A prototype of an industrial cam–follower machine is motorized, and the Frequency Response Function (FRF) is recorded using a B&K data acquisition analyzer at five rotational speeds. The transmitted vibrations to the machine foundation are estimated without any isolation system. Then, two optimized GFRC plates of optimum stacking sequences are used as an isolation system to reduce the transmitted vibration. The displacement transmissibility is calculated theoretically and experimentally. The results show that the use of GFRC plates as an isolator reduces the vibration level of the system by 98.46% and 98.5% for [90/90/90/0/0]s and [90/ ± 45/ ± 35/90/ ± 35]s GFRC configurations respectively. Article Highlights Composite materials play a significant role in the isolation and control of vibration levels of the industrial cam–follower machine for various rotational speeds. In the absence of an isolation system, high levels of vibration energy were transmitted to the foundation of the machine with a response of 22.7*10 3 [(m/s 2 )/v]. With integrating a mechatronic control system with the GFRC isolation system, the isolation of transmitted vibration increases by 65% and 62.5% when using composite isolators of configurations [90/90/90/0/0]s and [90/ ± 45/ ± 35/90/ ± 35]s respectively.