Dynamic Analysis of an Autonomous Underwater Glider with Single- and Two-Stage Vibration Isolators

Vibrations from the power system can significantly affect the working performances (ocean observation) of autonomous underwater gliders (AUGs). In order to reduce the vibration transmission from vibration sources to the precision instruments in AUGs, single- and two-stage vibration isolator rings are designed in this paper. The dynamic models of the single- and two-stage vibration isolation of the AUG are presented. The force transmission ratio of the AUG is calculated in MATLAB code. The influences of the isolator and the structure stiffness are analyzed. The dynamic stiffness of the designed isolators, as an important design parameter, is calculated using the finite element method. The influence of the designed parameter on the dynamic stiffness of the rubber ring isolator is discussed. The coupled vibro-acoustic finite element method is used to analyze the vibration and acoustic response of an AUG with the single- and two-stage vibration isolators. The insertion loss is calculated in order to assess the vibration isolation performance of the single- and two-stage vibration isolators. The results from the dynamic models and the finite element models both show that the vibration isolation performance of the two-stage vibration isolator ring performs better than that of the single-stage vibration isolator ring.