Dynamic characterization of wire rope isolators for transportation of aerospace electronic systems

Due to the vibrations and shocks generated during transportation, aerospace electronic equipment must be designed and protected considering the typical frequency spectra in the vehicles. Thus, to avoid potential damages, designers must properly choose and design discrete systems to isolate the devices from vibrations and shocks during transportation. The aim of the present research is to investigate and discuss the dynamic behaviour of two kinds of wire rope isolators in compliance with the American standard “MIL-STD-810G” and “MIL-STD-810E” that establish the laboratory test methodologies to emulate the complete product lifecycle. The dynamic behaviour of wire rope isolators is a topic of great significance to improve the actual limited knowledge of their response to vibrations due to transportation. The results provide information about the response to shocks and random vibrations, in comparison with theoretical ones obtained by linearization of reference equivalent systems, to predict the isolation performance and facilitate design and selection of proper isolators.