Shock absorber testing is very important to the racing industry. They have known for years that a well tuned shock can make the difference at the finish line. The better the performance you get out of the shock, the better the driver will be able to handle the vehicle. Other industries that require shock absorbers are also learning how to design better products and how to use advances in technology to their advantage.
Modern shock absorbers typically create a linear curve as the velocity of the shaft increases. This means that as the velocity increases on the shaft, the force required to move the shaft, or the damping, also increases. In many cases it is desirable to have a specific slope or linearity to this curve. In other cases, the designer of the shock may wish to have the damping decrease as the velocity increases. The process of collecting data for these curves is what is known as shock absorber characterization. A designer may have a goal in mind that is either determined by race track data, past performance, or customer specifications.
In order to collect this data, a shock dynamometer is employed. This is a machine that is capable of moving the shaft of the shock absorber at varying velocities and recording the resultant forces. It is important that the velocity be controlled precisely so that an accurate characterization can be made. The designer can then make changes to the shock as needed to find how that will affect the performance.
MGA Shock Absorber Dynamometer
At MGA, we utilize an MTS servo-hydraulic actuator on our shock dyno. This machine is capable of moving 90 inches per second. This velocity is an advantage when collecting data for highly advanced shock absorbers requiring high speed articulation. Located in the Metro Detroit laboratory and soon in our South Carolina location, it is easily accessible to all industries including military, automotive, and racing.
In addition to shock absorber characterization, this machine can be used for all types of high speed impact, compression or tensile tests.