The shock absorber does not absorb shock. They suppress […]
The shock absorber does not absorb shock. They suppress the oscillation of the spring. After the spring is deflected, it will bounce back to its original position and continue to oscillate until its energy is dissipated by a natural phenomenon called hysteresis.
If this movement is not controlled, the heavy springs used in car suspensions will continue to swing for a long time. Therefore, a shock absorber is installed to suppress vibration. The shock absorber can be adjusted for high-speed and low-speed performance in terms of collision and rebound. For various reasons, adjusting the shock absorber is a black art, but it is a key skill for success in the racing world.
The springs there tend to be very hard, so adjusting the shock absorber settings is one of the few ways that engineers can significantly change the handling characteristics of a car. Shock absorber is an important part of automobile and motorcycle suspension and aircraft landing gear, and it is the support of many industrial machines. Large shock absorbers have also been used in structural engineering to reduce the susceptibility of structures to earthquake damage and resonance.
