SHOCK ABSOR BER S
Springs have a natural frequency and will tend to bounce until all the energy is dissipated. This would not be very usable in a car and would probably induce car sickness. Shock absorbers slow down and reduce it by turning the kinetic energy of suspension movement into heat energy that can be dissipated through hydraulic fluid.
A shock absorber is basically an oil filled pump where the upper mount is connected to a piston rod connected to a piston, which sits in a tube filled with hydraulic fluid. The inner tube is known as the pressure tube, and the outer tube is known as the reserve tube. The reserve tube stores excess hydraulic fluid.
Orifices in the piston allow fluid to leak through as the piston moves up and down in the pressure tube. Because the orifices are tiny, only a small amount of fluid passes through and this slows down the piston which in turn slows down the spring.
All modern shock absorbers are velocity-sensitive which means the faster the suspension moves, the more resistance the shock absorber provides. This enables shocks to adjust to road conditions and to control all of the unwanted motions that it encounters. However, even the addition of dampers will not allow your car to handle properly. You will also need to corner your vehicle without running out of road and for this you need anti-roll bars. bility in corners. It is basically a metal rod that spans the entire axle and effectively joins each side of the suspension together. How the anti-roll bar works is by transferring the movement of one wheel to the opposite side. This reduces the roll of a car on its suspension as it negotiates a turn.
Of course, in actual fact suspension is actually much more complicated than this. There are many factors that affect suspension such as the ratio of sprung to unsprung weight, tyre types and choices and even the ride height of the car. Off-road, street and racing cars have different suspension designs according to their different needs. We’ll explore these different designs in the next article.