Effect of distributive mass of spring on power flow in engineering test

Abstract Mass of spring is always neglected in theoretical and simulative analysis, while it may be a significance in practical engineering. This paper is concerned with the distributive mass of a steel spring which is used as an isolator to simulate isolation performance of a water pipe in a heating system. Theoretical derivation of distributive mass effect of steel spring on vibration is presented, and multiple eigenfrequencies are obtained, which manifest that distributive mass results in extra modes and complex impedance properties. Furthermore, numerical simulation visually shows several anti-resonances of the steel spring corresponding to impedance and power flow curves. When anti-resonances emerge, the spring collects large energy which may cause damage and unexpected consequences in practical engineering and needs to be avoided. Finally, experimental tests are conducted and results show consistency with that of the simulation of the spring with distributive mass.