Experimental Characterization of Damping Force in Shock Absorbers with Constant Velocity Excitation

Abstract

SUMMARY For the characterization of shock absorbers, which are intrinsically non-linear, it was considered advisable to use the 3D representation of force vs velocity-displacement domain rather than traditional force vs velocity or force vs displacement. Experimental apparatus was therefore designed and constructed to measure the damping force produced by shock absorbers. Data were processed with software suitable for fitting the experimental data functions of several variables. Experiments showed that 3D representation of restoring force allows the non-linearity of shock-absorber damping to be examined more thoroughly.