Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

SYNOPSIS

In the present scenario of automobile industry manufacturers are trying to

produce comfortable and safe vehicles which the consumers are looking for. A
shock absorber is a damping element of the vehicle suspension, and its
performance directly affects the comfortability, dynamic load of the wheel and
dynamic stroke of the suspension. The conventional type of shock absorbers has
got the main drawback that it causes foaming of the fluid at high speeds of
operation. This results in a decrease of the damping forces and a loss of spring
control. The gas filled shock absorbers are designed to reduce foaming of the oil
and provide a smooth ride for a long period.

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

NEED FOR SHOCK ABSORBERS 2

SHOCK ABSORBER ACTION 5

GAS FILED SHOCK ABSORBERS 9

TYPES 10

WORKING 11

ADVANTAGES 14

CONCLUSION 15

REFERENCES 16

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

INTRODUCTION

For a smooth and comfortable ride the disturbing forces should be eliminated or
reduced considerably by using some devices. Shock absorbers are such devices
which isolate the vibrations by absorbing some disturbing energy themselves. Of
the many types telescopic shocks are widely used which has got the draw back
that the flow of oil in the cylinder can cause foam of oil and air to form. These
limit the optimum throughout of the flow in the valves. Gas shocks represent an
advance over traditional shocks. Nitrogen filled gas shock absorbers are the
results of years of extensive research and development with top flight shock
design engineers. They are designed for both lowered and stock vehicles to
provide shock absorbers that would out perform anything on the market today.
Nitro shock absorbers are high quality, nitrogen filled shocks designed and gas
charged specifically for each vehicle application. The addition of nitrogen under
pressure limits the foaming effect and increases efficiency.

NEED FOR SHOCK ABSORBERS

Springs alone cannot provide a satisfactorily smooth ride. Therefore an

additional device called a “shock absorber” is used with each spring. Consider
the action of a coil spring. The spring is under an initial load provided by the
weight of the vehicle. This gives the spring an original amount of compression.
When the wheel passes over a bump, the spring becomes further compressed.
After the bump is passed the spring attempts to return to its original position.
However it over rides its original position and expands too much. This behaviour
causes the vehicle frame to be thrown upward. Having expanded too much, the
spring attempts to compress that it will return to its original position; but in
compressing it again overrides. In doing this the wheel may be raised clear of

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

the road and the frame consequently drops. The result is an oscillating motion of
the spring that causes the wheel to rebound or bounce up and down several
times, after a bump is encountered. If, in the mean time, another bump is
encountered, a second series of rebounding will be started. On a bumpy road,
and particularly in rounding a curve, the oscillations might be so serious as to
cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
A shock absorber is basically a hydraulic damping mechanism for controlling
spring vibrations. It controls spring movements in both directions: when the
spring is compressed and when it is extended, the amount of resistance needed
in each direction is determined by the type of vehicle, the type of suspension, the
location of the shock absorber in the suspension system and the position in
which it is mounted. Shock absorbers are a critical product that determines an
automobile’s character not only by improving ride quality but also by functioning
to control the attitude and stability of the automobile body.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

The damping mechanism of a shock absorber is viscous damping. Viscosity is

the property of a fluid by virtue of which it offers resistance to the motion of one
layer over the adjacent on. The main components of a viscous damper are
cylinder, piston and viscous fluid. There is a clearance between the cylinder
walls and the piston. More the clearance more will be the velocity of the piston in
the viscous fluid and it will offer less value of viscous damping coefficient. The
basic system is shown below. The damping force is opposite to the direction of
velocity.

I-CLEARNCE, II-PISTON, III-VISCOUS FLUID

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

The damping resistance depends on the pressure difference on the both sides of
the piston in the viscous medium. The figure shown below shows the example of
free vibrations with viscous damping.

The equation of motion for the system can be written as mx + cx +kx = 0

Energy dissipation in viscous damping :

For a vibratory body some amount of energy is dissipated because of damping.
This energy dissipation can be per cycle. Rate of change of work W is called
energy. For a viscously damped system the force F is expressed as
F= cx = cdx/dt, where x = dx/dt
Work done W = Fx = (cdx/dt) x
The rate of change of work per cycle
i.e. Energy dissipated

Let us assume the simple harmonic motion of the type x = Asinωt

(dx/dt) ² = ω²A²cos²ωt
The equation for

This shows that the energy dissipation per cycle is proportional to the square of
the amplitude of motion.
The total energy of a vibrating system can be either maximum of its potential or
kinetic energy. The maximum kinetic energy of the system can be written as E =
(KE) max = 1/2mx²max
= 1/2mω²A²

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

SHOK ABSORBER ACTION

Shock absorbers develop control or resistance by forcing fluid through restricted

passages. A cross-sectional view of a typical shock absorber is shown below. Its
main components and working is also given below.

The inside parts of a shock absorber

The upper mounting is attached to a piston rod. The piston rod is attached to a
piston and rebound valve assembly. A rebound chamber is located above the
piston and a compression chamber below the piston. These chambers are full of
hydraulic fluid. A compression intake valve is positioned in the bottom of the
cylinder and connected hydraulically to a reserve chamber also full of hydraulic
fluid. The lower mounting is attached to the cylinder tube in which the piston
operates.

During compression, the movement of the shock absorber causes the piston to
move downward with respect to the cylinder tube, transferring fluid from the
compression chamber to the rebound chamber. This is accomplished by fluid
moving through the outer piston hole and unseating the piston intake valve.
During rebound, the pressure in the compression chamber falls below that of the
reserve chamber. As a result, the compression valve will unseat and allow fluid
to flow from the reserve chamber into the compression chamber. At the same

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

time, fluid in the rebound chamber will be transferred into the compression
chamber through the inner piston holes and the rebound valve.

FORMS OF SUSPENSIONS AND TYPES OF SHOCK ABSORBERS

Various types of shock absorbers are available in the market. Out of that the
widely used types and their characteristics are given below.

Type
Product
Characteristics

Double-wishbone(Multilink)
Double-tube
The outer part of the double tube is used as a gas chamber, which is filled with
low- pressure nitrogen gas. This type can provide stable damping force.
Single-tube
Separation between oil and nitrogen gas by a free piston provides stable
damping force, as well as high performance.

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

Strut
Double-tube
This type consists of double tubes that comprise part of the support structure of
the suspension. Filled with low-pressure nitrogen gas, it provides stable damping
force.
Inverted type
Structurally, this is a single-tube type placed upside down. Its large-diameter
pipe provides sufficient rigidity to bear the heavy load from the car body,
characteristic of a strut.
With a steering arm
When connected to the power steering system at a point higher than normal, this
type allows the cabin space to be expanded and the maneuvering stability
improved.

Type with separately mounted spring (rigid axle, etc.)

Unit damper
Because the spring is mounted separately, this type features a simple structure
comprised of a damping mechanism

WHY GAS FILLED SHOCK ABSORBERS?

The rapid movement of the fluid between the chambers during the rebound and
compression strokes can cause foaming of the fluid. Foaming is the mixing of

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

free air and the shock fluid. When foaming occurs, the shock develops a lag
because the piston is moving through an air pocket that offers up resistance. The
foaming results in a decrease of the damping forces and a loss of spring control.
During the movement of the piston rod, the fluid id forced through the valuing of
the piston. When the piston rod is moving quickly, the shock absorbers oil cannot
get through the valuing fast enough, which causes pressure increases in front of
the piston and pressure decreases behind the piston. The result is foaming and
a loss of shock absorber control. The need for a gas filled shock absorber arises
here.
GAS FILLED SHOCK ABSORBER

The gas filed shock absorbers is designed to reduce the foaming of the oil. It
uses a piston and oil chamber similar to other shock absorbers. The difference is
that instead of a double tube with a reserve chamber, a dividing piston separates
the oil chamber from the gas chamber. The oil chamber contains a special
hydraulic oil and the gas chamber contains nitrogen at 25 times atmospheric
pressure. The schematic diagram showing the inside parts of a gas filled shock
absorber is shown below.

When the piston rod is moved into the shock absorber, oil is displaced as in
double tube principle. This oil displacement causes the dividing piston to press in
the gas chamber, thus reducing it in size. With the return of the piston rod the
gas pressure returns the dividing piston to its starting position.
Whenever the oil column is held at a static pressure of approximately 25 times
atmospheric pressure, the pressure decreases behind, the working piston cannot
be high enough for the gas to exit from the oil column. Consequently, the gas
filled shock absorber operates without foaming.

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

TYPES OF GAS FILLED SHOCK ABSORBERS

Twin– tube with low pressure gas.
Single- tube with high pressure gas.

LOW PRESSURE TWIN- TUBE SHOCKS

Twin- tube gas technology design retains the classical twin-tube while adding at
the top of the reserve tube nitrogen under relatively low pressure 2.5- 5 bars
instead of 25- 30 bars used in high pressure shock absorbers. This pressure is
sufficient to radically improve the efficiency of the shock absorbers.

HIGH PRESSURE SINGLE- TUBE SHOCKS

Gas shock absorbers operate in the same principle of movement of the piston in
an oil filled tube but they contain at one end a small quantity of nitrogen under
high pressure (25 bars). The gas is prevented from mixing with the oil by a
floating piston. When the piston rod passes into the body and displaces oil, the
oil compresses the nitrogen even further. The volume of gas changes playing the
role as an equalization tube. The permanent pressure exerted on the oil by the
gas guarantees an instantaneous response and the quieter piston valve
operation. At the same time this constant pressure eliminates cavitations and
foaming which could momentarily degrade the effectiveness of the shock
absorber.

WORKING

TWIN– TUBE SHOCK ABSORBERS :

The main components are:
Outer tube, also called reservoir tube

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

Inner tube, also called cylinder

Piston connected to a piston rod
Bottom valve, also called foot valve
Upper and lower attachment

How does it work?

Bump Stroke:
When the piston rod is pushed in oil flows without resistance from below the
piston through the orifices and the non-return valve to the enlarged volume
above the piston. Simultaneously, a quantity of oil is displaced by the volume of
the rod entering the cylinder. This volume of oil is forced to flow through the
bottom valve into the reservoir tube (filled with air (1 bar) or nitrogen gas (4-8
bar)). The resistance, encountered by the oil passing through the footvalve,
generates the bump damping.

Rebound Stroke:
When the piston rod is pulled out, the oil above the piston is pressurized and
forced to flow through the piston. The resistance, encountered by the oil on
passing through the piston, generates the rebound damping. Simultaneously,
some oil flows back, without resistance, from the reservoir tube through the
footvalve to the lower part of the cylinder to compensate for the volume of the
piston rod emerging from the cylinder.

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

MONO- TUBE SHOCK ABSORBERS :

The main components are:
1. Pressure cylinder, also called housing
2. Piston rod connected to a piston rod
3. Floating piston, also called separating piston
4. Piston rod guide
5. Upper and lower attachment

How does it work?

Bump Stroke:
Unlike the bi-tube damper, the mono-tube has no reservoir tube. Still, a
possibility is needed to store the oil that is displaced by the rod when entering
the cylinder. This is achieved by making the oil capacity of the cylinder
adaptable. Therefore the cylinder is not completely filled with oil; the lower part
contains (nitrogen) gas under 20-30 bar. Gas and oil are separated by the
floating piston. When the piston rod is pushed in, the floating piston is also
forced down the displacement of the piston rod, thus slightly increasing pressure
in both gas and oil section. Also, the oil below the piston is forced to flow through
the piston. The resistance encountered in this manner generates the bump
damping.

Rebound Stroke:
When the piston rod is pulled out, the oil between piston and guide is forced to
flow through the piston. The resistance encountered in this manner generates
the rebound damping. At the same time, part of the piston rod will emerge from
the cylinder and the free (floating) piston will move upwards.

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

ADVANTAGES OF NITRO SHOCKS

Instantaneous response :
Because the high pressure eliminates aeration (foaming), action is always is
immediate.
The low mass of gas and the single tube further improves response time.

Better fade resistance :

Since there is no outer tube, cooling is much better which gives a drastic
reduction in fade. Thus more consistent handling and control.

Better durability :
Single-tube construction also allows for a larger internal working area, reducing
stress and fatigue for better durability.
De Carbon’s monodisc valving system features a single moving part that
drastically reduces inertia and friction, to improve durability and performance.
Better cooling of the mono tube design results in lower operating temperatures
and thus longer life.

No need for re-adjustment:

The viscosity of hydraulic fluid changes as temperature changes. This may
because of climate, season (summer/winter) or heavy duty (motorway cruising).
The high pressure gas compensates immediately and automatically for changes
in viscosity.

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

CONCLUSION

In the current scenario of automobile industry the need for vehicles which
provides smooth and comfort ride is growing. Nitro shock absorbers are
designed to be ultimate in performance and comfort. In a country like ours whose
roads are not up to world standards the need for automotive components like
nitro shocks are necessary. It goes without saying that if the right choice is made
the improvements in vehicles ride and handling can be shocking.

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Seminar Report Nitro Shock Absorbers

REFERENCES

“In For A Shock”, S.B.L Beohar; Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing.
Automotive Encyclopedia; Tobolt, Johnson.
Auto Mechanical Fundamentals; Stockel.

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