Description Precision testing of satellites and very precise mechanical systems usually requires the complete environmental isolation of the unit under test so that a prescribed mechanical disturbance can be injected without the effects of external and environmental noise intruding on the test. One very good way to achieve this is to design the isolator so that the transmissibility between it and its surroundings is minimised. A general design philosophy to achieve this would be to use a weak supporting spring with low inherent damping properties. The goal of this project is to analyse this problem for a generalisable lumped mass capable of motion in up to six degrees of freedom and to do this so that a highly adaptable design emerges for the isolator; one that can be tuned for optimal performance for a range of operating frequencies and masses.  Key Objectives

1. To analyse a set of vibration problems involving one lumped mass with different constraints on its motion, and to understand the transmissibiity problem for each problem.
2. Then to investigate if a generic design can be synthesised for an isolator that can be used, perhaps in modular form, with the problem with different kinematic constraints.
3. Finally, to investigate the design numerically to propose a set of design values for the isolator that would work with as wide a range of problem as possible.