title: High performance rotational vibration isolator.
abstract: We present a new rotational vibration isolator with an extremely low resonant frequency of 0.055 ± 0.002 Hz. The isolator consists of two concentric spheres separated by a layer of water and joined by very soft silicone springs. The isolator reduces rotation noise at all frequencies above its resonance which is very important for airborne mineral detection. We show that more than 40 dB of isolation is achieved in a helicopter survey for rotations at frequencies between 2 Hz and 20 Hz. Issues affecting performance such as translation to rotation coupling and temperature are discussed. The isolator contains almost no metal, making it particularly suitable for electromagnetic sensors.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sunderland
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lockwood
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wolfgram