Detailed View of Shock Absorbers in your Vehicle

What is Shock Absorber ?

A shock absorber is a component of a suspension system that not only absorbs shocks provided by the road conditions but also maintains the road and wheel contact throughout the ride which in turn provides comfort, safety and also the dynamic ride control to the vehicle.

It is the assembly of spring and fluid filled damper that is placed in between wheels and the frame of a vehicle in such a way that it absorbs the shock provided by the road surface before further sending it to the frame of the vehicle and also the stiffness of the spring used, helped the vehicle in maintaining the surface contact with the road.

Types of Shock Absorber :

On the basis of construction and working there are 2 types of shock absorbers available that are-

1. Twin-Tube or Dual Tube Shock Absorber

It is the type of shock absorber in which 2 hollow tubes named primary tube and secondary tube or shell are used which are merged together in telescope type fashion i.e. primary tube inside secondary tube or shell.

- The primary tube contains the moving piston, compression valve along with other assembly components and is filled with high viscosity index oil.

- The secondary tube or shell contains the primary tube along with low pressure gas (mostly nitrogen gas).

- This whole assembly of twin tube is surrounded by a coil spring that provides the stiffness and also helps this assembly to regain its initial position after actuation.

2. Mono-Tube Shock Absorber

It is the type of shock absorber in which instead of double tube, a single tube is used inside which the moving piston is placed.

- High viscosity index oil along with the low pressure gas (nitrogen in most cases) is filled inside a single tube in a particular proportion.

- The oil and gas filled inside this single tube is separated by a floating piston which is placed airtight inside the tube.

- This whole assembly is surrounded by a coil spring same as twin tube shock absorber.

Working :

Twin Tube Shock Absorber

When the vehicle hits the bump the road shock from the wheel is transferred to the suspension which in turn transfer this shock to the shock absorber which shows the following movements-

- Due to this shock the piston inside the primary coil moves and start compressing the high viscosity oil filled inside the primary tube.

- After completion of this compression inside primary tube the compression valve opens up and this compressed oil start moving from primary tube to the space in secondary tube which is already filled with low pressure gas.

- This compression and movement of the oil from primary tube to the secondary tube absorbs the shock by converting the compression force into heat energy.

- This heat produced by the oil compression is absorbed by the low pressure gas filled in surrounded secondary chamber.

Mono Tube Shock Absorber

When the vehicle hits the bump the wheel moves and transmits the force to the suspension then to the shock absorber same as the twin tube but mono tube shock absorber follows following steps

-Due to the compression of the high viscosity oil the absorption along with conversion of into heat of the road shock takes places.

- During this compression of oil the floating piston placed inside the tube also starts to move.

- After the completion of the compression the heat energy released is absorbed by the low pressure gas placed behind the floating chamber. During this action of shock absorbing the coil spring attached to the surrounding of this mono tube shock absorber also compresses.

- After the completion of the bump the coil spring rebounds and the releasing of shock absorber takes place i.e. the piston starts moving back to its initial position due to which expansion of oil takes place.

- Due to this releasing the floating piston also start moving towards its initial state and expansion of low pressure gas also takes place.