Shock Absorbers: The Behind-the-Scenes Heroes Guarding Stability and Comfort

Shock absorbers play a vital role in modern transportation and mechanical equipment. They are not only key components to improve ride comfort, but also important barriers to ensure stable operation of equipment and extend service life.

Shock absorbers, also known as shock absorbers or buffers, have the core function of absorbing and dissipating the impact and vibration energy generated in mechanical systems. In the automotive field, when a vehicle is driving on an uneven road, the wheels will continue to be impacted by the road surface. If these impact energies are not effectively absorbed, they will be directly transmitted to the body, causing passengers to feel severe bumps. The shock absorber converts this part of energy into heat energy and dissipates it through the design of its internal structure, thereby greatly reducing the shaking amplitude of the body.

Shock absorbers are usually installed in parallel with elastic elements (such as springs) in the vehicle's suspension system. When the frame (or body) vibrates on the suspension, the oil in the shock absorber will flow from one chamber to another through the damping hole under the action of the piston. In this process, the friction between the oil and the pore wall and the internal friction between the liquid molecules form a damping force on the vibration, which effectively attenuates the vibration of the car body.

According to the damping material and structural design, Shock Absorbers are mainly divided into hydraulic and pneumatic types.

Hydraulic shock absorber: This is the most widely used shock absorber in the automotive field. It uses the flow of liquid in a closed pipe to convert kinetic energy into thermal energy, thereby achieving a shock absorption effect. Hydraulic shock absorbers have the advantages of simple structure, stable performance, easy manufacturing and maintenance.
Pneumatic shock absorber: This shock absorber absorbs and dissipates vibration energy through the compression and expansion of gas (such as nitrogen). Compared with hydraulic shock absorbers, pneumatic shock absorbers have more advantages in response speed and adaptability, especially suitable for scenes with high requirements for shock absorption performance.
According to the structural characteristics, shock absorbers can also be divided into single-tube, double-tube and other types. Among them, double-tube hydraulic shock absorbers have been widely used in automobile suspension systems due to their good heat dissipation performance and stable damping characteristics.

The application areas of Shock Absorbers are far more than just automobiles. Shock absorbers also play an important role in industrial production, railways, construction, aviation and other fields.

Industrial production: In various mechanical equipment, such as machine tools, punching machines, etc., shock absorbers can effectively reduce the impact force and vibration during the operation of the equipment, protect mechanical parts from damage, and extend the service life of the equipment.
Railway industry: Shock absorbers are also required to be installed on the suspension system and carriage connections of the train to reduce the shaking and vibration during the train and improve the comfort of passengers.
Construction industry: Shock absorbers also play an important role in the shock absorption design of buildings such as building structures and bridges. They can reduce the degree of damage to buildings caused by external influences such as earthquakes and wind.
Aerospace field: Shock absorbers are also required for aircraft landing gear, airborne equipment and other components to ensure flight safety and ride comfort.