Spring vs. Damper - How the Gas Pressure in a Shock Absorber affects ride and grip

Описание: #Spring #Damper #Shocks #RideHarmony #FCMElite #Struts #Gas
"The spring effect of a shock is there and is very real and as long as we run single rod dampers charged with nitrogen this will be the case. An ideal damper will exhibit a force output that varies strictly with velocity, which is what I think you desperately want to believe you have. However, the single rod charged dampers we use are actually an ideal damper and small gas spring in parallel. The spring effect is a by-product of the damper and doesn't effect the velocity dependent characteristics of that damper, it's just a necessary component of the system. If your charge is high enough you better factor it into your suspension setup and possible choice of springs. What matters in the end is the total spring rate acting at the wheel and if you add a bunch via your damper you may want to remove some via your spring to maintain your operating point.

There is a real reason base valves and the like were invented. There's a real reason guys prefer to minimize damper charge pressure as much as possible. If the gas spring effect in the damper never made a difference we'd never need base valves and we'd never worry about keeping charge pressures low. We'd just charge dampers with 500 psi with no ill effects and no worry of cavitation. But this isn't the case. 500 psi is going to manifest itself as a huge gas spring that will likely be unwanted in our setup. Therefore we spend time with basevalves, anti-cavitation devices, and achieving low charge pressures. It keeps our damper as close to the ideal damper as possible."

-RideRate on F1technical.net, https://tinyurl.com/3xpujyna

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Greetings, class! This is Professor Shaikh with a demonstration video to illustrate how a spring and damper (also know as strut or shock absorber) are different, and how some extra 'gas spring' inside the shock behaves VERY differently (and is far worse for grip, comfort, and stability) than a little bit of spring preload. You need to choose the correct spring for your application and not use gas pressure as a bandaid which is actually hurting your vehicle's ability to keep the tires connected to the ground.

I made a video prior to this which was covering the 3 Crucial Elements of Sublime Suspension Design although I'm releasing this 'hands-on' video first. I trust you'll find it useful to help understand why the nitrogen gas pressure inside a damper is such a key factor in ride quality and ultimate grip, while also being easily overlooked.