Shake, Rattle, and Roll: The Effect of Shock Absorber Piston Orifice Area on Piston Travel Time (Damping Rate)

Overview

Objectives/Goals To learn about shock absorbers and evaluate how changing a shock absorber's piston orifice area affects piston travel time (damping rate). Methods/Materials A plant duster was used to simulate a shock absorber. A hole was drilled in the piston, the duster was filled with water, a weight was placed on the plunger, and the time it took the piston to travel four inches was measured. Piston orifice area was increased by drilling additional holes in the piston. Piston travel time was measured three times as the orifice area was increased to demonstrate the consistency of the results. Results With no holes in the piston (zero orifice area), the piston did not move (infinite damping). As orifice area initially increased, piston travel time decreased quickly. After a quick decrease, orifice area did not appear to affect piston travel time as much. Piston travel time appeared to level off as orifice area continued to increase. Conclusions/Discussion As piston orifice area increased, the piston travel time (damping rate) decreased, but never reached zero.

Competition history

• CSEF 2007 Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0126

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