How Shocks and Shock Valving Works?

How Shocks and Shock Valving Works

Everyone has driven a car in their life but do you know what goes in a car that helps in a smooth driving experience on bumpy roads? How do dampers work and how does it convert one form of energy to another??

?So, here is the root key to what actually causes damping in the pneumatic dampers. Most high-performance shocks are similar in design and features. A piston is attached to a shock shaft that moves to and fro inside the shock cylinder filled with oil. Shims are basically thin metal discs that come in a wide variety of diameters and thicknesses and are placed on either side of the piston, controlling the movement of oil through the ports depending on their arrangement Generally, two shims’ stacks are placed on the opposite side of the piston from the direction of travel for compression and rebound. The most common shock valve configuration is the Progressive Shim Stack of 5-10 shims of the same thickness and varying diameters stacked from largest to smallest.

?How does a shim stack provide damping?

The damping effect generates when it takes more force for the oil to flow through the piston from the opening (variable orifice) created by the bending of shims against each other in the stack. If these shims are thin and less, oil can easily flow through resulting in a softer response, and as shims get thicker, stiffer the response is.

However, the stiffness of the damper is actually independent of these shims’ arrangements and sizes. It basically means how fast/slow your damper compresses/rebounds back from a static position. This is the principle that does the magic inside the vehicle to deliver the smooth experience you pay every penny for.