On the non-linear characteristics of automotive shock absorbers

Abstract

The objectives of this paper are essentially twofold. In the first case an experimental study of a number of shock absorbers is presented; the restoring force surface method of non-linear system identification is applied in order to determine the non-linear characteristics of the absorbers in an easily visualizable manner. In the second part, a new physical model for the absorber is presented which incorporates effects due to compressibility of the fluid in the absorber; this provides a more realistic representation of the stiffness characteristics than previous simple models. The new model is compared with the experimental data.