This article describes a demonstrator to show the effects of negative stiffness on the free vibration of a simple oscillator. The test rig consists of a horizontal beam that is hinged at one end and is supported by two coil springs to form a single-degree-of-freedom system. Additional correction springs, which provide negative stiffness, can be attached to lower the natural frequency of the system. The effect of the change in natural frequency can be easily seen visually, and it is shown that for one of the configurations of correction springs, the natural frequency can be reduced by a factor of about 4.
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