Design of elastomeric shock absorbers with a “soft” stiffness characteristics of type “force-settlement”

In the design of vibration isolator it is often required to ensure a reduction or increase of the value of frequency ηr, which is associated with the ability to calculate the stiffness characteristics of elastomeric vibration isolator in the final low- and medium-level deformations. A similar problem arises in the design of equi-frequent rubber-metal compensating devices, which find application in various fields of engineering and construction industries, effectively replacing the hydro/pneumo-spring compensating devices, working under axial stress-strain. In this case, the stiffness characteristic of “force-settlement” P = P(∆), even for small final deformations, will be non-linear (or piecewise linear). In this paper we propose a method for determination of rigidity dependence of “force-settlement” for shock-absorbing elements with absolutely rigid moving (parallel to the vertical axis z) vertical side stops being under pressure, which allows to take into account low compressibility of material of rubber layers. Obtained solutions can be used for establishing the dependence “force-settlement” for cylindrical shock absorbers during their design stage. Thereby it is possible to design a shock absorber with a given non-linear (“hard” or “soft”) stiffness characteristics.