arXiv:2208.06343v1 [physics.

flu-dyn] 12 Aug 2022

A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic

behaviour of shock absorbers
Lukas Schickhofer1,2*
1* KTM TECHNOLOGIES, Salzburg, AT-5081, Austria.
2* KTM Research & Development, Mattighofen, AT-5230, Austria.

Corresponding author(s). E-mail(s): [email protected];

[email protected]

Abstract
Modern hydraulic shock absorbers display a wealth of nonlinear effects
such as hysteresis and instabilities at high flow rates. Despite their wide
application in practically all vehicles, both on- and off-road, a universal
analytical model that captures the essential shock absorber dynamics and
compressibility effects for various common damper architectures is lack-
ing. This paper presents such a model and derives its system of equations
from first principles for dampers of monotube- and piggyback-type. By
applying the model to a typical suspension configuration, all relevant
system variables, such as pressure drop, shim stack deflection, and damp-
ing force, are computed. Nonlinear oscillations and hysteresis loops,
which might prove dangerous during operation, can be predicted effort-
lessly. The results achieved with the mathematical model are validated
and agree well with test bench measurements. Furthermore, the pre-
sented approach is shown to be easily modifiable to describe the physical
processes within other hydraulic shock absorber geometries in use today.

Keywords: Suspension; Hydraulic automotive damper; Analytical modelling;

Nonlinear coupled system

1
2 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

Nomenclature
Latin Letters
a Shim radius m
A Chamber cross-sectional area m2
Ab Bleed area m2
Ap Area of acting pressure m2
Av Section of valve opening m2
b Leakage gap width m
ac Clamp radius m
c Damping coefficient Ns/m
Cd Discharge coefficient −
Cf Moment coefficient −
D Flexural rigidity Nm2
E Young’s modulus Pa
F0 Pretension force N
Fi Impact force N
Fm Momentum force N
Fp Pressure force N
k Stiffness N/m
L Chamber length m
l Leakage gap length m
m Mass kg
p Pressure Pa
q Load per unit area Pa
Qb Bleed flow rate m3 /s
Ql Leakage flow rate m3 /s
Qv Valve flow rate m3 /s
t Shim thickness m
w Unit line load N/m
x Displacement m
Greek Letters
α Flow area proportionality factor −
αT Thermal expansion coefficient −
β Compressibility m2 /N
δ Shim deflection m
µ Dynamic viscosity kg/(ms)
ν Poisson’s ratio −
ρ Density kg/m3
Superscripts
∼ Check valve piston quantity
Subscripts
0 Reference value
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 3

c Compression quantity
d Damper compartment quantity
g Gas reservoir quantity
r Rebound quantity

1 Introduction
In order to protect drivers and passengers from the impact of road irregulari-
ties, an effective suspension is a vital part of practically all vehicles. Thereby,
it does not only guarantee comfort during driving across uneven ground, but
also ensures safety in potentially dangerous situations, where wheel grip and
road contact might be compromised. Thus, suspension design and modelling
has become increasingly relevant for a wide range of applications, from race
cars, motorcycles, and bikes, to trains [1–3]. The core components of mod-
ern suspension systems are hydraulic shock absorbers, also known as dampers,
which provide a variable damping force due to displacement of fluid through
orifices of changing cross sections. These are further supported by simple elas-
tic springs of constant stiffness that offer linear forces against the displacement
of moving parts and axles. While springs are easy to model, they fail to adjust
to different stroking amplitudes and frequencies, and would not adapt to a
variation in driving scenarios. This problem is crucially solved by the hydraulic
shock absorber, which allows for several ways to control the damping char-
acteristics by controlled and variable pressure losses across its compartments.
However, this freedom in designing an ideal configuration comes at the cost of
increased complexity and nonlinearity in its function. Therefore, efforts have
been made to derive mathematical models that reliably predict the behaviour
of a shock absorber under realistic conditions. This is particularly important
for high-performance applications, such as in motorsports, where quick adjust-
ments need to be made under time constraints and without extensive testing,
but also highly relevant for the first phase of development of general-purpose
vehicles for serial production. However, as stated by various authors, research
into the dependencies of crucial shock absorber characteristics, such as damp-
ing forces, pressure drops, or shim stack stiffness, on the large set of modifiable
parameters of the system is limited [1, 4, 5].
Lang [6] was the first to derive a set of suitable equations for the modelling
of the unsteady valve flow within an automotive shock absorber. He found a
way to connect the volumetric flow rates and pressure differences across the
damper volumes and used empirically established values for the associated
discharge coefficients. These models were capable of predicting the forces act-
ing on the shock absorber piston and subsequently the damping performance,
even at higher stroking frequencies. Later on, Reybrouck [7] formulated a non-
linear model of a shock absorber with pressure drops depending on the fixed
4 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

and variable constrictions of the piston valves. The specific system parameters
were defined based on test bench measurements and experiments were used
to validate the mathematical model. The model was based on semi-empirical
coefficients and thus did not allow investigation of the effects of internal modifi-
cations on shock absorber performance. Similarly, Lee [8] modelled a monotube
damper by a low-order computational model, which considered spring-loaded
disk valves, but did not include the effect of shim stacks. Another approach
was taken by Talbott and Starkey [9], who devised a nonlinear algebraic sys-
tem of equations from physical principles and reached good agreement with
measurements. Using this model, they were able to perform parametric studies
and came to conclusions about the inner functional dependencies of a mono-
tube damper, for instance that its variation in rebound pressure dominates the
overall pressure drop.
The underlying issue of the models mentioned above was their common
assumption of the incompressibility of the mineral oil in the shock absorber
chambers. This assumption allows to enforce the conservation of volume of the
fluid and further leads to the formulation of a system of algebraic equations.
Such a system can then be solved with suitable methods, such as the Newton-
Raphson method (as demonstrated e.g. by Rhoades [10] for the improved model
of Talbott and Starkey [9]), to find the system’s variables during each pis-
ton displacement in time. However, important compressibility effects, such as
hysteresis, where the damping force varies between compression and rebound
stage, are neglected. This problem was consequently taken up by Duym et al.
[11, 12], who evaluated previous algebraic approaches and suggested to model
hysteresis by including two dominant effects: The oil compressibility and the
compressibility of a variable gas phase present as bubbles from the adjacent
nitrogen reservoir chamber. The latter is a particular issue of dual-tube shock
absorbers and has been accounted for by using Henry’s law for the gas solubility
and subsequent isothermal expansion and compression.
Another crucial extension to previous modelling approaches was the cor-
rect calculation of the stiffness of the shim stack or valves that are used for the
dynamic flow restriction. Recently, several validated physical models made use
of linearization and treated the shim stack as a system exposed to static loads
computed by the force method [5, 13]. In these works, singular loads are super-
imposed to give the total shim stack deflection, but a rigorous methodology for
its numerical implementation is lacking. Czop et al. [14] evaluated simplified,
reduced-order models of shim stacks and compared linear with more advanced
nonlinear approaches. They analysed the relative strengths and deviations of
each method at high pressures, but did not provide a validation or comparison
to experimental data. Farjoud et al. [4] on the other hand used the Rayleigh-
Ritz approximation for the minimization of the total potential energy of a shim
stack in order to find its state of deflection at given time-dependent boundary
conditions. However, the large number of unknown coefficients of the method,
which need to be calculated by a nonlinear optimization algorithm, makes it
impractical for quick computations.
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 5

Additionally, simulations using the finite-element method (FEM), as well

as coupled numerical solvers for fluid-structure interaction (FSI) opened up
new possibilities for the computation of shim stack and valve deflection in real-
istic three-dimensional geometries [13, 15–17]. Such studies could predict the
exact flow losses and areas of acting pressure within the shock absorber piston
and shim stack – parameters that are typically not captured in reduced-order
models. Nevertheless, despite the large increase of computing power in recent
years, high-order simulation methods are often impractical for the quick and
reliable adjustment of shock absorbers in pre-testing or race track applica-
tions, especially due to the vast amount of possible parameter combinations.
Thus, there is still a large demand for mathematical models based on funda-
mental physical principles that are suitable for fast numerical integration and
that allow for important conclusions regarding the functional dependencies
and sensitivities to parameter changes of a shock absorber.

2 Motivation
The motivation for this work is two-fold:
(i) The formulation of a system of nonlinear coupled differential equations
to capture all important dynamic effects during shock absorber operation
and to allow for a quick computation of all system variables.
(ii) The definition of a mathematical modelling approach that can be applied
for a wide range of shock absorber types.
The first point comes from the fact that crucial nonlinear effects, such as
hysteresis, or the occurrence of instabilities are not captured with an algebraic
model. However, the majority of shock absorber models, as outlined in Sec.
1 are algebraic in nature, or are not given in the form of a closed, first-order
system, which can be used for future studies of its dynamics. The second point
derives from the variety of shock absorber architectures currently in use. It
is therefore a dedicated goal of this work to establish a modelling approach,
which can be easily adapted to the analysed system.

3 Methodology
In the following, the basic setup of shock absorbers is explained in more detail
(cf. Sec. 3.1), alongside the essential definitions of its physical quantities with
the applied strategy for its modelling (cf. Sec. 3.2). Finally, the complete sys-
tems of equations for the considered shock absorber types are presented in Sec.
3.3-3.4.

3.1 General setup of shock absorbers

Shock absorbers, or automotive hydraulic dampers, come in various forms and
shapes. However, the most common type used today is the monotube damper,
as shown in Fig. 1(a). In its most general setup, it consists of a metal cylinder
(typically of stainless steel) that contains an axially moving piston surrounded
6 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

by damping fluid such as mineral oil. The piston is connected to a rod that
takes up displacements (e.g. due to road irregularities or impact) and also
separates the inside of the cylinder into a compression and rebound chamber.
Since the compressibility of the oil is small, an additional gas reservoir filled
with gas of inert-like characteristics (e.g. nitrogen) is necessary in order to
accommodate the rapid change in volume during operation. Additionally, the
piston is equipped on both sides with a stack of metal shims, which are typically
made of a steel alloy of high yield strength. The damping fluid flows through
valve ports of different cross-sectional areas and acts against the resistance of
the shim stacks. Depending on the number of shims, as well as on the size of
a small constant bleed orifice, the pressure drop across the piston during the
compression and rebound stage can be adjusted.

(a) (b)
k4,c4,m4 k3,c3,m3

rd td 2 3
Lg
pg
Ag p3
p2
mg
2 p2

L2 pg
x x
k2,c2,m2
A2
x2
l
x1
A1 b
k1,c1,m1
L1 dpiston
drod p1
p1
1 1

Fig. 1 Sketch of a monotube version (a) and a piggyback version (b) of a hydraulic shock
absorber. The relevant quantities for the model formulation are indicated together with the
compression chamber 1 , the rebound chamber 2 , the second compression chamber 3 in
case of the piggyback geometry, and the gas reservoir. The shims or valves engaged during
compression are coloured blue, while the ones engaged during rebound are coloured red.

Another widely applied shock absorber type, particularly for rear-

suspension applications of motorcycles, is the piggyback damper (cf. Fig. 1(b)).
The name derives from the additional compartment for the nitrogen chamber,
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 7

which is separated from the main cylinder by a much smaller check valve pis-
ton that controls the flow direction. It is typically equipped with a shim stack
in compression direction and a simple check valve loaded by a spring of small
stiffness, which ensures quick response to changes in the flow direction and
little delay during loading of the compression stacks.

Check valve
piston

Compression chamber Sliding gas

piston

Main piston

Rebound chamber
Gas reservoir

Damper rod

Fig. 2 Cross section of a piggyback damper as applied within an off-road motorcycle back
suspension system. The components as introduced in Fig. 1 are indicated. (Photos courtesy
of WP Suspension and KTM.)

The piggyback damper has several crucial advantages and differences in

the functional dependencies of its parameters when compared to the classic
monotube damper, which are discussed in Sec. 5-6. It is therefore applied in
various vehicles exposed to high-impact scenarios. An example is the back
suspension system of modern motorcycles, as pictured in Fig. 2. Despite their
apparent differences, both the monotube and the piggyback architecture of
shock absorbers can be analytically described with the proposed model, which
is presented in its specific formulations below.

(a) (b)
Qb
p2 Qv,1 xj = x u
pv,2 2
kj cj

Ql F0,j .
xj

Fm,j Fp,j Fi,j

pv,1 xj
1 p1 xj = x d
Qv,2
Ap,j

Fig. 3 Diagram of volumetric flow rates across the main piston (a). The actual flow direction
changes due to the pressure difference across the piston, which is defined in Sec. 3.2.1. During
opening, various forces are acting on the valves or shims, which are characterised by a certain
stiffness kj and damping coefficient cj (b). The discontinuities at the lower bound of the
domain at xj = xd and at the upper bound at xj = xu are indicated. At these positions the
motion of the driven oscillator is counteracted by the applied impact force of Eq. (19).
8 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

3.2 Governing equations

In order to obtain a system of equations that describes all relevant quantities of
the shock absorber dynamics for both the monotube and the piggyback type,
several basic variables and their connection to each other need to be defined.
This is presented in the following sections.

3.2.1 Conservation laws

First, all volumetric flows in and out of the considered domain need to be
defined to obtain a conservation equation for each control volume. These are
essentially the chambers 1 , 2 , 3 , and the gas reservoir in Fig. 1. Starting
from the general form of the Bernoulli equation

ρu2
p+ + ρgh = const.
2
and by neglecting pressure differences induced by gravity, the volumetric flow
rate between two points of reference 1 and 2 is found as
s
2 |p1 − p2 |
Q (p1 , p2 ) = A · sign (p1 − p2 ) ,
ρ

where the cross-sectional area A is considered constant. Steady and incom-

pressible flow is assumed in the small flow domain between the adjacent
compression and rebound chambers of each piston, such that the application
of the Bernoulli equation is indeed valid in this context. Moreover, potential
transition to turbulent flow in the connecting piston orifices is modelled by the
adapted discharge coefficients defined by Eq. (7)-(8) further below.
Applied to the flow within a shock absorber, such as the monotube damper
in Fig. 1(a), one can identify flow rates through the valve openings
s
2 |p2 − pv,1 |
Qv,1 (x2 , p2 , pv,1 ) = απdmax,2 x2 Cd,v,1 · sign (p2 − pv,1 ) , (1)
| {z } ρ
Av,2 (x2 )
s
2 |pv,2 − p1 |
Qv,2 (x1 , pv,2 , p1 ) = απdmax,1 x1 Cd,v,2 · sign (pv,2 − p1 ) , (2)
| {z } ρ
Av,1 (x1 )

where the discharge coefficient Cd,v,j is due to the vena contracta effect, which
leads to the contraction of a flow from its initial diameter to a smaller one
when exiting or entering an orifice. It is important to note that the cross-
sectional area of the ejected flow Av,j (xj ) is now dependent on the axial
opening during compression or rebound due to deflection of the considered
shim stack or check valve j (j = 1, 2). Moreover, the proportionality factor α
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 9

takes into account that the actual flow area is only a fraction of the circum-
ferential surface πdmax,j xj , where dmax,j is the diameter of the first shim of
stack j adjacent to the piston. The factor α is essentially defined by the port
geometry of the piston, i.e. what fraction of the piston surface is taken up by
the ports. Since the fluid already undergoes a pressure drop when entering the
valve ports, this needs to be accounted for via a decreased valve pressure pv,j
as follows: When the oil enters the port for valve j, the related volumetric
flow rate is the same as the one exiting over the valve on the other side of the
piston. Thus, an alternative expression can be found as
s
2 |pj − pv,j |
Qv,j ' Qc,j (pj , pv,j ) = Ac,j Cd,c,j · sign (pj − pv,j ) , (3)
ρ

with the port channel cross-sectional area Ac,j and the port discharge coeffi-
cient Cd,c,j . Using Eq. (1)-(3), the valve port pressures pv,j can be calculated
as
2
Cd,c,1 A2c,1 p1 + Cd,v,1
2
A2v,1 p2
pv,1 = 2 , (4)
Cd,c,1 A2c,1 + Cd,v,1
2 A2v,1
2
Cd,c,2 A2c,2 p2 + Cd,v,2
2
A2v,2 p1
pv,2 = 2 . (5)
Cd,c,2 A2c,2 + Cd,v,2
2 A2v,2

In most applications the channel area is equal to the area of acting pressure
on the adjacent shim stack (e.g. Ac,1 = Ap,2 ). However, this is not always
the case and in several modern shock absorbers the seat area of the shim
stack is enlarged to allow for targeted modification of the high-speed damping
behaviour. The valve flow rates are also depicted in Fig. 3(a), with the flow
direction crucially defined by the sign of the pressure difference, as given by
Eq. (1)-(2).
Furthermore, there is a bleed flow rate through a small constant orifice in
the centre of the piston
s
2 |p2 − p1 |
Qb (p2 , p1 ) = Ab Cd,b · sign (p2 − p1 ) , (6)
ρ

where the bleed area Ab can be adjusted by a needle to control the damping
behaviour particularly at low damper excitation and small total flow rates.
The discharge coefficient varies depending on the flow being laminar or
turbulent and is usually determined by experiments. In order to be able to
apply Bernoulli’s equation to the unsteady flow within a shock absorber and
to take into account transition to turbulence, a continuously differentiable,
10 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Af
Af Ao Af Ao Ao

u⟂

Rounded edge Chamfered edge Sharp edge Sharp edge

with cross�low
Cd ≈ 0.95-1.00 Cd ≈ 0.90 Cd ≈ 0.60-0.80 Cd ≈ 0.10-0.80

Fig. 4 Discharge coefficients Cd as the ratio of actual flow section Af over orifice section Ao
for various edge geometries. There is a wide range of values from rounded (a) to chamfered
(b) and sharp edges (c), which are based on experimental measurements [1, 18]. In case of
an additional shear flow component u⊥ , the discharge coefficient can drop significantly (d).

analytic expression for the discharge coefficient is applied with

  s !
2 Re 2dv 2 |∆p|
Cd,v = Cd,v,max · tanh = Cd,v,max · tanh
Rec,v ν Rec,v ρ
s ! (7)
4x 2 |∆p|
= Cd,max,v · tanh .
ν Rec,v ρ

for the discharge coefficient related to variable valve opening x and

  s !
2 Re 2db 2 |∆p|
Cd,b = Cd,b,max · tanh = Cd,b,max · tanh , (8)
Rec,b ν Rec,b ρ

for the constant bleed orifice discharge coefficient [19]. The values Rec,b ≈
1000 and Rec,v ≈ 100 for the critical Reynolds number indicate the transition
from laminar to turbulent flow. For the small gap openings of the valve, the
transition occurs typically at much smaller Reynolds number (Rec,v  Rec,b ).
Typical empirically determined values for the maximum discharge coefficients
Cd,max of suspension flows are within the range of 0.6–0.7 [1]. Segel and Lang
[20] for instance proposed Cd,max = 0.7 for regular jets within a shock absorber.
However, the maximum discharge coefficients, as demonstrated in Fig. 4, are
crucially dependent on the piston geometry and might be considerably lower
(or higher) than the above values, especially for cases of chamfered edges at
the entry (or the geometric expansion of the discharge area at the exit of a
port channel) [1]. Furthermore, an extensive experimental study by Feseker et
al. [18] on discharge coefficients of circular orifices with additional shear flow
showed a sharp drop of fluid discharge with increasing inlet crossflow velocity.
Thus, a definition of the exact maximum discharge coefficients for a given
shock absorber geometry can often only be obtained empirically via validation
and comparison to test bench measurements, as demonstrated in Sec. 4.
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 11

In addition to the above flow rates, there is a small leakage flow through
the gap between the moving piston and the surrounding cylinder walls, which
can be modelled as a flow between two parallel plates, as suggested by Lang
[6] and the analytical solution by Munson, Young, and Okiishi [21]. In the
approximation applied here, the flow is considered laminar due to the small
clearance and a solution to the Navier-Stokes equations under these boundary
conditions is found as

(p2 − p1 ) b3
 
b
Ql (p2 , p1 ) = + ẋ πdpiston . (9)
12µl 2

Here, the width b and length l define the gap region between the piston and
the shock absorber cylinder. Modern variants of shock absorbers are equipped
with rubber o-rings that press the piston outer edge against the cylinder such
that the edge is close to zero (b ≈ 0).
Finally, the motion of the main piston within the shock absorber causes
a certain displacement of fluid, which can be accounted for by the flow rate
term Aj ẋ with the surface area Aj depending on compression or rebound side
and the rod velocity ẋ. For the rebound side this translates to the section
A1 = Apiston − Arod , to account for the diameter of the rod, while for the
compression side it is equal to the piston diameter A2 = Apiston .
The above definitions of the volumetric flow rates are now used for the
balance equation of the damping oil within the considered control volume. In
case of an incompressible fluid, conservation of fluid volume would be ensured
at all time. However, since the mineral oil used as damping fluid in the various
chambers is in general slightly compressible, this needs to be considered in the
model formulation due to crucial effects of compressibility on shock absorber
function, such as hysteresis. This stands in contrast to the initial notion above,
where fluid incompressibility is assumed to obtain a relationship between flow
rate and pressure drop from the Bernoulli equation. Nonetheless, this simpli-
fying assumption above is only taken in the short connective orifices, while the
oil in the chambers 1 , 2 , 3 is subjected to the bulk of the pressure forces.
Thus, and by accounting for compressibility within those control volumes, the
continuity equation in integral form
Z Z
∂ρ
dV + ρ~u · ~ndA = 0
∂t Vj Aj

is applied to the occurring chamber volumes j to give the general expression

!
∂ρ X
Vj (x) =ρ Qv,j + Qb + Ql − Aj ẋ . (10)
∂t j=1,2
12 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

Since we assume isothermal conditions, the fluid compressibility can be

introduced as  
1 1 dρ
β= = , (11)
K ρ dp T =T0
which is the inverse bulk modulus K. This allows to rewrite Eq. (10) as a
differential equation in terms of the pressure changes within the control volume
Vj . For the rebound chamber 1 and the compression chamber 2 of the
monotube damper in Fig. 1(a), one gets

1
ṗ1 = (Qv,1 + Qv,2 + Qb + Ql − A1 ẋ) , (12)
β [A1 (L1 + x)]
1
ṗ2 = (−Qv,1 − Qv,2 − Qb − Ql + A2 ẋ − Ag ẋg ) , (13)
β [A2 (L2 − x) + Ag xg ]

with the definitions for the volumetric flow rates Qv,1 , Qv,2 , Qb , and Ql as
introduced above.
In Eq. (13) the displacement of the floating gas piston xg is taken into
account. The gas compartment, also shown in Fig. 1 serves the purpose of
absorbing the volume displaced by the main piston. Since the oil is only slightly
compressible, the displacement leads mainly to a compression of the contained
gas. For an adiabatic process involving ideal gas, where the transfer of heat
with surroundings is negligible, the associated pressure change follows directly
from the first law of thermodynamics with only pressure-volume work:

V dp = −pdV,
dV dp dp dV
dp + V = − dV − p ,
dt dt dt dt
dp dV
(V + dV ) = − (p + dp),
dt | {z } dt | {z }
Vg −Ag xg γpg
|{z} |{z}
ṗg −Ag ẋg

pg (−Ag ẋg )
ṗg = −γ . (14)
Ag (Lg − xg )

Here, Ag is the cross-sectional area in the gas reservoir, Lg its initial length,
and γ the adiabatic constant, which is equal to 7/5 = 1.4 for diatomic gases
such as nitrogen or oxygen. With Eq. (12)-(14) the pressure changes within
the shock absorber system are sufficiently defined.

3.2.2 Forces
The shim stacks and valves within the shock absorber, which are engaged dur-
ing the compression and rebound stage, control the flow through the ports and
thus the pressure drop across the piston. They are objected to various forces
that need to be accounted for and balanced accordingly to find an equation of
motion (cf. Fig. 3(b)).
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 13

First, there is a pressure force by the damper fluid

Fp,1 (pv,2 , p1 ) = Ap,1 (pv,2 − p1 ) , (15)

Fp,2 (pv,1 , p2 ) = Ap,2 (pv,1 − p2 ) , (16)

which acts on the first shim over a surface Ap,j .

Furthermore, there is a momentum force, which follows from the impact
of the fluid at the shims and the subsequent redirecting of the jet flow exiting
the valve ports. It is found by conservation of momentum as

Q2v,2 (x1 , pv,2 , p1 )

Fm,1 (x1 , pv,2 , p1 ) = Cf ρ
Ap,1
s !2
Cf ρ 2 |pv,2 − p1 |
= sign (pv,2 − p1 ) απdmax,1 x1 Cd · ,
Ap,1 ρ
(17)
Q2v,1 (x2 , pv,1 , p2 )
Fm,2 (x2 , pv,1 , p2 ) = Cf ρ
Ap,2
s !2
Cf ρ 2 |pv,1 − p2 |
= sign (pv,1 − p2 ) απdmax,2 x2 Cd · ,
Ap,2 ρ
(18)

where Cf is a weighting coefficient for the momentum term, since the exact
flow conditions within the valve ports are unknown. Experiments by Lang [6]
on shock absorbers with exceptionally high excitation frequencies suggested
that a value of Cf ≈ 0.3 is sufficient for most suspension applications.
During complete opening and closing of the shim stack or valve, an impact
force 
−ki (xj − xd ) ,
 xj ≤ xd ,
Fi,j (xj ) = 0, xd < xj < xu , (19)

−ki (xj − xu ) , x j ≥ xu ,


acts on the plates that prohibits a further motion against its resistance. It
resembles an elastic recoil force of a stiffness ki , much larger than any system-
inherent stiffness (i.e. ki  kj , j = 1, 2). Here, the values xd ≈ 0 and xu ∼
O(10−3 ) are lower and upper bounds to the shim motion given by geometric
limitations.
Finally, a pretension force F0 is sometimes applied to the valve that allows
for targeted delay of its opening. Together with an inertial term mj ẍ, which
accounts for the additional acceleration ẍ by the damper rod, a summation of
the above forces following Newton’s second law gives an equation of motion
for each shim stack and valve j in the shock absorber system. It is of the form

mj ẍj = −cj ẋj − kj xj + Fp,j + Fm,j + Fi,j − F0,j + mj ẍ. (20)

14 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

3.2.3 Treatment of shim stack stiffness

Since the deflection of a shim stack δ occurring in the shock absorber is typi-
cally of the same order as the shim thickness tk , O (δ) ≈ O (tk ), a linearisation
of the mechanical deformation can be performed. Therefore, the total stiffness
of each shim stack is calculated through the method of superposition. It uses
a linear summation of deflections due to single loads on each shim in order to
include all boundary conditions. By taking into account both uniform pressure
loads from the fluid, as well as the initially unknown reaction forces between
the shims, an expression for the deflection of each shim can be obtained. A
regular shim stack, as shown in Fig. 5(a), is composed of annular shims of
increasing radii ak from top to bottom that are arranged in pyramid form. For
the computation of the total stiffness ktot of a shim stack to be used for the
equation of motion of driven-harmonic-oscillator type as given by Eq. (20), the
following assumptions are applied:
• The pressure load is assumed to act uniformly from a radius r0,p to the
outer radius an of the last shim of a stack of n shims. In reality the pressure
distribution follows a sharp parabolic profile, but the gradient at the bounds
of the area of acting pressure Ap is very steep and within those bounds
mostly homogeneous, such that uniformity is a reasonable approximation.
• The last shim then acts on the previous one via a line load across its radius.
Indeed, the majority of forces between the deflected successive shims is trans-
ferred across their outer bounds. An equal reaction force is assumed to work
in the opposite direction on the lower shim, as depicted in Fig. 5(a).
• By summing up the displacements due to each force acting on a single shim,
its deflection δk is computed according to the method of superposition. Fur-
thermore, the total deflection δ, which is the resulting opening xj of the shim
stack j, is then equivalent to the deflection of the last shim δn , as indicated
in Fig. 5(b).
The above assumptions are applied to a shim stack of n shims as follows:

δ1 = (δ1 )w2,1 , (21)

δ2 = (δ2 )w1,2 + (δ2 )w3,2 , (22)
..
.
δn−1 = (δn−1 )wn−2,n−1 + (δn−1 )wn,n−1 , (23)
δn = (δn )wn−1,n + (δn )q . (24)

Here, the deflection (δk )w is solely due to the line load w, while for the contact
forces between the shims the equivalence wl := wk,l = wl,k applies due to
Newton’s third law. Furthermore, the pressure load per unit area q exerted by
the fluid is only acting on the last shim of Eq. (24) in the example above.
The stress-strain relationship depends on the specific geometry, which in
this case are annular plates fixed at a clamping radius ac and objected to either
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 15

uniform pressure or line loads. Therefore, the maximum edge displacement of

the last shim due to the acting pressure can be written as

a2n a3 a4
(δn )q = Mrc C2 + Qc n C3 − q n L11 , (25)
D D D

with the load per unit area q := ∆p = Fp /Ap , the shim radius an , and

a2n
 
C9 2 2


Mrc = −q a − r0,p − L17 , (26)
C8 2an ac n
1
a2n − r0,p
2


Qc = q , (27)
2ac
Et3n
D= , (28)
12 (1 − ν 2 )

where Mrc and Qc are reaction moment and load at the clamping point, while
D is the flexural rigidity of the plate. The appropriate values for the integration
coefficients are documented in the collection of formulas by Roark and Young
[22] and are listed in Appendix B.
As a result of the fluid pressure, the last shim deforms and subjects the
adjacent shim to a force across its radius, which initiates a chain reaction
for all subsequent shims. The displacement of shim k due to a unit line load
wl := Fl /r0 at radius r0 is
   
wl ak C2 r0 C9 r0 C3
(δk )wl =− − L9 − + L3 , (29)
D C8 ac ac

with
Et3k
D= . (30)
12 (1 − ν 2 )
Using the above expressions and simplifying the notation, one arrives at a
system of equations, which connects the displacements of adjacent shims:

δ1 (w1 ) = 2 (w1 ) + 2 (w2 ) , (31)

δ2 (w1 ) + δ2 (w2 ) = 3 (w2 ) + 3 (w3 ) , (32)
..
.
δn−2 (wn−3 ) + δn−2 (wn−2 ) = n−1 (wn−2 ) + n−1 (wn−1 ) , (33)
δn−1 (wn−2 ) + δn−1 (wn−1 ) = n (wn−1 ) + n (q) . (34)

Here, the deflection at the outer radius δ is set equal to the deflection of the
next shim  at the same radius. Moreover, the deflection due to opposing forces
has to be accounted for by opposite signs depending on the reference direction.
The shim stack under these conditions is considered as a statically indetermi-
nate system, where the contact forces are unknown. By rearranging the system
16 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

(31)-(34), the contact forces w

~ = [wl ] between the shims are computed based
on the solution of a linearized algebraic system of the form

~ = ~b
 · w → ~ = Â−1 · ~b,
w (35)

with
 
cδ1 w1 − c2 w1 −c2 w2 0 0
 cδ2 w1 cδ2 w2 − c3 w2 −c3 w3 0 
 =  , (36)
 
. . . .
 0 . . −cn−1 wn−1 
0 0 cδn−1 wn−2 cδn−1 wn−1 − cn wn−1
 
w1
 w2 
w
~ =  . , (37)
 
 .. 
wn−1
 
0
 .. 
~b = 
 . .

(38)
 0 
n (q)

The coefficients cδk wl give the linear displacement δk due to the line load wl
as in δk = cδk wl · wl . They follow directly from Eq. (29) as
   
ak C2 r0 C9 r0 C3
cδk wl = − − L9 − + L3 . (39)
D C8 ac ac

Finally, the resulting loads w

~ can be used to compute the final displacement
of each shim via
~ = ~δ,
K̂ · w (40)
where the stiffness matrix is defined as
 
cδ1 w1 0 0 0
 cδ2 w1 cδ2 w2 0 0 
K̂ =  . (41)
 
.. ..
 0 . . 0 
0 0 cδn−1 wn−2 cδn−1 wn−1

In order to get a reasonable estimate for the inner boundary r0,p of the
pressure exerted on the last shim, the resulting area is set equal to
the total
area of acting pressure at the considered shim stack, Ap = a2n − r0,p
2
π, which
gives r
Ap
r0,p = a2n − . (42)
π
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 17

The radius r0 for the contact line forces crucially depends on the form of the
shim stack, i.e. if the radius of the acting shim al is smaller or larger than the
radius of the reacting one ak , such that
(
ak , al > ak ,
r0 = (43)
al , al < ak .

The second case might occur with shim stacks involving crossover shims, such
as the one pictured in Fig. 5(b)-(c). Crossovers are used in suspension applica-
tions to introduce a discontinuity to the total stack stiffness, where the lower
part of the stack easily deforms with small stiffness until contact with the upper
part of the stack is reached and the stiffness suddenly increases. Then the
total stiffness of the stack is influenced in a discontinuous way by the contact
between lower and upper shims, which happens during opening. Such a case
can also be considered in the model by checking the shim displacements and
accounting for additional contact forces in the flexibility and stiffness matri-
ces. The modelling approach for crossover shim stacks is described in detail
in Appendix C. Fig. 6 shows a comparison between a regular shim stack and
one with crossover. It can be clearly recognised that the crossover shim intro-
duces an offset in displacement between its neighbouring shims of exactly its
thickness, such that δ15 − δ13 = t14 .

(a) (b) wa

ac
a1 δn-1
a2 δn
a3
a4 (c) wb
w1,2 wa
t1 w2,3
w3,4
t4

r0,p p δn-1 δn

Fig. 5 Diagram of the characteristic scales of a shim stack of four shims (n = 4) with
indication of the shim radii ak , as well as uniform pressure p and line loads wl,k (a). The shim
stack stiffness is computed by considering the force balance across each annular shim and by
computing all resulting deformations, as outlined in Sec. 3.2.3. The specific case of crossover
shims leads to additional stiffness when shims are touching, while the total deflection δ of a
shim stack results from the final shim deflection δn (b). Additional nonlinearities of the shim
stack stiffness can be introduced by using intermediate crossover shims (c). The numerical
treatment of crossovers is outlined in Appendix C.

By using the computed partial displacements δk of all n shims, which are

themselves the sum of displacements due to each force acting on a single shim
k according to the method of superposition, the effective total stiffness of the
18 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

(a) (b)

Fig. 6 Shim displacements for the compression stack of the baseline setup given in
Appendix A at a fluid pressure of 1 MPa. The case with a regular shim stack in pyramid
form and a14 = a13 (a) is compared to the original case with shim no. 14 as crossover shim
and a14 < a13 (b).

shim stack j can be determined as

∧ Ftot
kj = ktot = , (44)
δ
where Ftot is the total force acting on the shim stack, which is essentially the
sum of the pressure force Fp,j and possible opposing pretension force F0,j , and
δ is the resulting displacement of the shim stack equivalent to the displacement
δn of the last shim.

3.2.4 Calculation of damping characteristics

In practice, the performance of shock absorbers is frequently tuned by observ-
ing the damping force as a function of rod displacement or velocity. The rod
takes up the excitation due to road irregularities and is pushed inside the
damper compartment. The excitation is often modelled as a sinusoidal function
of the form  π
x (t) = x0 sin 2πf t − , (45)
2
which is also applied in test bench measurements.
Thus, also rod velocity ẋ and acceleration ẍ are obtained directly as ana-
lytic functions of the excitation frequency f and the amplitude x0 and can be
accounted for in the above equations for valve motion and pressure changes.
Here, a typical amplitude of x0 = 0.02 m and a frequency of f ≈ 8 Hz are
applied as a starting point, but higher frequencies are commonly used to test
for hysteretic behaviour or instabilities.
Eventually, the damping force can be computed from the variables of the
dampers in Fig. 1 as

Fd = −p1 A1 + p2 A2 + sign (p1 − p2 ) Ff + mtot ẍ, (46)

A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 19

with the seal friction of the main piston Ff , and the total mass of the moving
piston and rod mtot = mpiston + mrod .

3.2.5 Material properties

The shock absorber system and in particular the mineral oil have temperature-
dependent properties, which affect damper characteristics.
The dynamic viscosity of the oil can be represented by the Guzmann-
Carrancio equation
Ea Ea,0
∧
µ (T ) = µ0 e RT = µ0 e R(T −T0 ) , (47)
with the characteristic activation energy of oil molecules Ea , the universal
gas constant R, and the constant viscosity of oil µ0 at reference temperature
T = T0 [23]. This can be expressed as
 
1
C − T1
µ (T ) ≈ µ0 e T 0 . (48)

Dixon [1] states that a reasonable estimate for the temperature sensitivity
coefficient C of regular unimproved mineral oils for dampers is

C = 5693 − 304 log10 (µ15 ) − 646 log210 (µ15 ) ,

where µ15 is the measured viscosity at 15 °C, applicable for a range of 0.003 <
µ15 < 0.300 Pa s. By using representative values for light damper oil such as
µ15 = µ (T = 288 K) = 10 mPa s with log10 µ15 = −2, this leads to a temper-
ature sensitivity of C = 3717 K. In case of improvements by additives such as
silicon, the oil’s sensitivity might be decreased by up to a half.
Furthermore, the temperature-dependent density of the damper oil can be
written as
1
ρ (T ) = ρ0 , (49)
1 + αT (T − T0 )
with the coefficient of volumetric thermal expansion αT and the density ρ0 at
reference temperature T = T0 . This expression gives a good accuracy for com-
pressible oils over a wide range of temperatures with a cubic thermal expansion
of αT ≈ 0.001 K−1 and a reference density of ρ0 = ρ (T = 288 K) = 830 kg m−3 .
Finally, the compressibility of the oil is assumed constant, but an additional
offset is induced by the small elasticity of the shock absorber compartment [6].
Therefore, the resulting effective compressibility is given by

2rd
β = β0 + , (50)
Ed td

with the radius rd and the wall thickness td of the damper cylinder, as well as
the Young’s modulus Ed = 200 × 109 Pa of the stainless steel of the compart-
ment. The baseline oil compressibility is taken as β0 = 6.6 × 10−10 Pa−1 .
20 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

3.3 Monotube system

By writing Eq. (12)-(14) for the pressure gradients within the chambers and
Eq. (20) for the motion of each valve of the monotube shock absorber as shown
in Fig. 1(a), one obtains a system of first-order, nonlinear, coupled equations:

ẏ1 = y4 , (51)
ẏ2 = y5 , (52)
ẏ3 = y6 , (53)
1
ẏ4 = (−c1 y5 − k1 y1 + Fp,1 + Fm,1 + Fi,1 − F0,1 + m1 ẍ) , (54)
m1
1
ẏ5 = (−c2 y6 − k2 y2 + Fp,2 + Fm,2 + Fi,2 − F0,2 − m2 ẍ) , (55)
m2
1
ẏ6 = [Ag (y7 − y9 ) − Ff,g ] , (56)
mg
1
ẏ7 = (−Qv,1 − Qv,2 − Qb − Ql + A2 ẋ − Ag y6 ) , (57)
β [A2 (L2 − x) + Ag y3 ]
1
ẏ8 = (Qv,1 + Qv,2 + Qb + Ql − A1 ẋ) , (58)
β [A1 (L1 + x)]
y9 (−Ag y6 )
ẏ9 = −γ . (59)
Ag (Lg − y3 )

The system is coupled in the sense that its variables, which are defined as
     
y1 x1 xc
y2  x2  xr 
     
y3  xg  xg 
     
y4  ẋ1  ẋc 
      ∧

y5  = ẋ2  = ẋr  ,

~y =  (60)
    
y6  ẋg  ẋg 
     
y7   p2   pc 
     
y8   p1   pr 
y9 pg pg

crucially depend on each other, since the valve and gas piston displacements
x1 , x2 , xg are impacted by the pressures p1 , p2 , pg , and vice versa. Here, the
quantities refer to the notation as used in Fig. 1(a), which further equate to
the deflection of the shim valve during compression xc , and of the one during
rebound xr .
The system of Eq. (51)-(59) can be written in compact form as

~y˙ = f~ (~y ) ,

and subsequently solved with common numerical schemes as described in Sec.

3.5.
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 21

3.4 Piggyback system

It can be seen in Fig. 1 that the only crucial difference between the two consid-
ered types of shock absorbers is the additional fixed check valve piston of the
piggyback damper. As a result, their analytical models are similar, except for
the equations of motion for the two additional valves and the balance equation
for the pressure in the second compression chamber 3 . Consequently, the full
equation system of the piggyback geometry reads as

ẏ1 = y6 , (61)
ẏ2 = y7 , (62)
ẏ3 = y8 , (63)
ẏ4 = y9 , (64)
ẏ5 = y10 , (65)
1
ẏ6 = (−c1 y6 − k1 y1 + Fp,1 + Fm,1 + Fi,1 − F0,1 + m1 ẍ) , (66)
m1
1
ẏ7 = (−c2 y7 − k2 y2 + Fp,2 + Fm,2 + Fi,2 − F0,2 − m2 ẍ) , (67)
m2
1
ẏ8 = (−c1 y8 − k3 y3 + Fp,3 + Fm,3 + Fi,3 − F0,3 ) , (68)
m3
1
ẏ9 = (−c2 y9 − k4 y4 + Fp,4 + Fm,4 + Fi,4 − F0,4 ) , (69)
m4
1
ẏ10 = [Ag (y13 − y14 ) − Ff,g ] , (70)
mg
1
ẏ11 = (−Qv,1 − Qv,2 − Qb − Ql + A2 ẋ) , (71)
β [A2 (L2 − x)]
1
ẏ12 = (Qv,1 + Qv,2 + Qb + Ql − A1 ẋ) , (72)
β [A1 (L1 + x)]
1  
ẏ13 = Qv,3 + Qv,4 + Q̃b − Ag y10 , (73)
β [A3 (L3 − x) + Ag y5 ]
y14 (−Ag y10 )
ẏ14 = −γ , (74)
Ag (Lg − y5 )
22 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

with the solution vector

     
y1 x1 xc
 y2   x2   xr 
     
 y3  x3  x̃c 
     
 y4  x4  x̃r 
     
 y5  xg  xg 
     
 y6  ẋ1  ẋc 
     
 y7  ẋ2  ẋr 
∧
~y = 
 y8  = ẋ3  = x̃˙ c  ,
     (75)
     
 y9  ẋ4  x̃˙ r 
     
y10  ẋg  ẋg 
     
y11   p2   pc 
     
y12   p1   pr 
     
y13   p3   p̃c 
y14 pg pg

where the notation follows the sketch of Fig. 1(b), and the displacements of the
valves on the additional piston x̃c , x̃r and the additional compression chamber
pressure p̃c are marked with a tilde.

3.5 Numerical method

Both systems outlined in Sec. 3.3-3.4 are comprised of stiff equations, where
some variables might show vanishingly small gradients, while others change
drastically. Here, an example would be during the compression stage, where
the rebound valves would be closed, while the compression valves open dur-
ing rapid variation of the rebound and compression pressures that are several
orders of magnitude larger. Although general explicit integration schemes such
as 4th -order Runge-Kutta with a local truncation error of O(∆t4 ) might work
under certain conditions, the time step would have to be forced to very small
values to meet the assigned tolerances, which would lead to long overall com-
putation times. Therefore, implicit schemes of the boundary differentiation
formulation (BDF) are applied, which have superior performance and numer-
ical stability with regards to stiff equation systems, such as the one in this
study. Overall, BDF has been shown to need considerably less computation
time at similar tolerances than Runge-Kutta methods [24]. Another powerful
option are hybrid integration schemes such as LSODE that essentially combine
regular explicit Runge-Kutta with implicit BDF schemes [25, 26].
Suitable LSODE/LSODA/BDF libraries for the numerical solution of the
systems presented here can be applied through the free scientific program-
ming languages GNU Octave or Python. Additionally, implicit solvers for such
stiff equations within MATLAB are for instance ODE15s or ODE23s. As an
example, ODE15s at a maximum order of 5, with adaptive timestepping and
relative and absolute error tolerances of O(10−4 ) leads to computation times
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 23

of consistently below 30 s for both systems of Sec. 3.3-3.4, often even as low as
5 s.

4 Validation
The model presented in Sec. 3 is validated for the case of a piggyback damper
based on the system properties given in Appendix A. Test bench data is
obtained for the cases of 0, 15, and 29 Clicks, where Clicks refers to a com-
mon configuration unit for the adjustment of the bleed flow cross-sectional
area of the shock absorber. Here, this relates to bleed orifice areas of main and
check valve piston of Ab = 0 mm2 , Ãb = 0 mm2 at 0 Clicks, Ab = 3.9 mm2 ,
Ãb = 1.4 mm2 at 15 Clicks, and Ab = 7.54 mm2 , Ãb = 2.7 mm2 at 29 Clicks.
An overall very good agreement is reached and the relative deviation of the
analytical prediction to the measurement data is consistently below 5 % for
the damping characteristics in Fig. 7(a) and below 4 % for the main piston
pressure drop in Fig. 7(b).

(a) (b)

Fig. 7 Comparison of damping curves (a) and pressure drop across the main piston
(b) obtained from the analytical model and from test bench measurements of a piggy-
back damper for bleed flow openings of 0 Clicks (Ab = 0 mm2 , Ãb = 0 mm2 ), 15 Clicks
(Ab = 3.9 mm2 , Ãb = 1.4 mm2 ) and 29 Clicks (Ab = 7.54 mm2 , Ãb = 2.7 mm2 ).

5 Results
Using the baseline properties of Appendix A, the models of the monotube
system of Sec. 3.3 and of the piggyback system of Sec. 3.4 are applied to
calculate the system variables presented below. There are important differences
in the function and inherent co-dependencies of model parameters between the
two considered types of shock absorbers, which are further discussed in the
following.
24 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

5.1 Monotube shock absorber variables

The monotube damper consists of a piston, which separates two chamber
volumes filled with oil. The pressures within the compression and rebound
chamber pc and pr , as well as those within the piston valve ports pv,j are plot-
ted with respect to time and piston rod velocity ẋ in Fig. 8(a)-(b). Due to the
effect of the gas reservoir and its almost frictionless gas piston, which is adja-
cent to the compression chamber, any volumetric changes are well absorbed.
This leads to an almost equal pressure in the compression chamber and adja-
cent gas volume throughout the entire cycle, while the pressure gradient across
the piston is dominated by pressure changes within the rebound chamber (cf.
Fig. 8(b)). This large variation of the rebound chamber pressure within the
monotube damper makes is also fairly vulnerable to cavitation, if the pressure
during the rebound stroke drops too low and the reference pressure adjusted
by the gas reservoir is not chosen accordingly. Furthermore, depending on shim
stack stiffness on each side of the piston, the flow rate is distributed differently
accross bleed and valve orifices during the initial compression and subsequent
rebound of the shock absorber.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 8 Pressure (a)-(b) and volumetric flow rate (c)-(d) with respect to time t and rod
velocity ẋ for the monotube system presented in Sec. 3.3. The system variables are shown for
one entire cycle consisting of compression and rebound stroke as introduced by the boundary
condition of Eq. (45).
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 25

(a) (b)

Fig. 9 Pressure drop across the piston (a) and motion diagram of the compression and
rebound shim stack (b), showing shim displacement xj and velocity ẋj of stack j.

Fig. 9(a) shows the pressure drop across the piston during the compres-
sion and rebound phase. Discontinuities in the curves are introduced by the
crossover shims of the compression and rebound stacks. However, this effect is
particularly visible for the rebound stroke at a volume flow of approximately
55 L/ min due to the double crossover of the rebound stack, which leads to a
sudden increase in stiffness at that point (cf. Appendix A). The discontinuous
shim stack stiffness can also be seen in the rebound damping curves of Fig.
10. The opening and closing motion of the shim stacks can be tracked by the
time series in Fig. 9(b). The velocities ẋj thereby give an indication of sudden
impact forces that are unwanted for improved durability of the valve.

(a) (b)

Fig. 10 Damping characteristics of the monotube system throughout the entire cycle as a
function of rod displacement x and velocity ẋ.

5.2 Piggyback shock absorber variables

By addition of a check valve piston controlling the flow direction between
main compartment and gas reservoir, the piggyback system (cf. Sec. 3.4) is
26 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

obtained. The piggyback damper crucially produces pressure losses by shim

deformation during the engagement of the second piston, as demonstrated
in Fig. 13. This adds complexity to the system by nonlinear distribution of
pressures between the three oil-filled chambers. In particular, it prohibits the
rebound pressure from decreasing considerably below the reference pressure of
the system, which can be seen by comparison of Fig. 11(a)-(b) with Fig. 8(a)-
(b) for the monotube damper. Keeping the pressure from dropping too low has
the additional advantage of avoiding excessive cavitation in the shock absorber,
particularly at the high-speed valve exits. Furthermore, the dynamic behaviour
of the valves can be controlled by added pretension and spring stiffness, as it
is the case for the compression shim stack on the check valve piston of the
analysed case (cf. Appendix A). The delay in shim opening visible in Fig.
13(b) is due to the pretension and has direct implication on the associated
flow rates Q̃v,c and Q̃ in Fig. 11(c)-(d). It is a generally unwanted effect of the
studied setup that the inertia of the check valve causes it to stay open during
the end phase of the rebound (cf. Fig. 13). This can be alleviated by adjusting
the values of the spring preload and stiffness, which are given in Appendix A.
Thus, also the response time, which indicates the time lag of the valve towards
rapid changes in flow direction, such as with a sudden compression stroke, can
be crucially reduced.
It is evident from comparison of Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 with Fig. 12 and Fig.
14 that although the pressure drop across the main piston is the same due
to identical shim stacks, the resulting damping properties of the two analysed
shock absorber types are different. The piggyback damper has crucial advan-
tages towards the more common monotube damper - such as smaller axial
dimensions, less sensitivity to temperature changes due to a quasi-isolated
compartment, reduced risk of cavitation, and an additional valve for compres-
sion. In particular the latter feature allows for more control of the suspension
system and a targeted increase of the damping force to above 2200 N during
the compression stroke, which is demonstrated in Fig. 14.

6 Conclusions
Due to their intricate design and nonlinear coupling between various model
variables – such as pressure drop, constant and variable volumetric flow rates,
as well as shim stack stiffness – shock absorbers have long evaded analytical
treatment. Until recently their development was based on mostly empirical
methods by comparison of a multitude of setups on test tracks in a trial-and-
error fashion [1]. This approach led to a vast body of measurement data for
each damper model and each manufacturer, which allowed for optimization
after years of targeted research. However, due to the nature of the underly-
ing systems presented in Sec. 3.3-3.4, which consist of nonlinear, coupled, stiff
differential equations, a development of shock absorbers neglecting analyti-
cal methods is ill-advised. This is because of the drastic effect already small
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 27

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 11 Time series and diagram of all occurring pressures (a)-(b), as well as flow rates
(c)-(d) of the piggyback system of Sec. 3.4. The dashed lines and tilde mark the additional
check valve piston properties and associated chamber pressures as introduced in Eq. (75).

parameter changes can have on the damping performance, while other vari-
ations might prove without consequences. Due to the early work of Lang [6]
and later Reybrouck [7], the strength of reduced-order models was slowly rec-
ognized in the suspension community. However, although recent work showed
the strong potential of mathematical modelling based on physical principles, a
common validated approach was lacking that would allow for universal applica-
tion of the methods for various shock absorber types [4, 5]. This study provides
such a method and derives all relevant system variables for the common mono-
tube shock absorber and its derivative, the piggyback shock absorber, by using
typical baseline properties. Moreover, in contrast to previous semi-empirical,
algebraic models that often lacked parameters with physical relevance, the
model proposed here consists of a first-order system of nonlinear differential
equations, which captures the rich physics of shock absorbers. Validation of
the model is achieved by comparison with test bench measurements and the
analytical prediction lies consistently within 5 % (cf. Sec. 4). Crucial effects,
such as the rebound pressure dominance of the monotube damper, or the large
variation of damping force by the additional check valve compression stack of
the piggyback damper, are documented in Sec. 5. Due to the modular nature of
28 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

(a) (b)

Fig. 12 Pressure gradient (a) and shim stack motion variables of displacement and velocity
(b) of the main piston of the piggyback damper.

(a) (b)

Fig. 13 Pressure gradient (a), as well as shim stack displacement and velocity (b) of the
check valve piston of the piggyback damper.

(a) (b)

Fig. 14 Damping curves with respect to displacement (a) and velocity (b) of the piggyback
shock absorber rod.
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 29

the presented approach, as demonstrated in Sec. 3, the proposed model is also

of general relevance to shock absorbers of other types (e.g. dual-tube shock
absorbers), since the equation system can be extended to include multiple
valves and chambers in a straight-forward manner, giving it indeed universal
applicability. Finally, the underlying equations of the mathematical model are
of first-order type and well-suited for numerical integration and further studies
of the non-smooth dynamical systems through bifurcation diagrams, stability
maps, or possible chaotic indicators.

Appendix A Baseline system properties

The properties listed in Tab. A1-A3 for the shock absorber geometry and the
damper fluid, are used as baseline for the results presented in Sec. 4. Where
other values are used, this is explicitly stated in the text. For the shim stacks
the following setup of circular annular shims is used:
• The compression stack is built up of shims with radii [ak ] =
[12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 22, 22, 22, 16, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22.5] × 10−3 m
and thicknesses [tk ] = [0.20, 0.25, 0.25, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.25, 0.20,
0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.10, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20] × 10−3 m with a clamp radius
of ac = 11 × 10−3 m.
• The rebound stack consists of shims with radii [ak ] =
[13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 12, 14, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20] × 10−3 m and thicknesses [tk ] =
[0.30, 0.30, 0.30, 0.30, 0.25, 0.25, 0.10, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20]×10−3 m
with a clamp radius of ac = 11.5 × 10−3 m.
• The compression stack on the check valve piston is built up of shims with
radii [ak ] = [5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 11, 6, 11, 11, 11] × 10−3 m and thicknesses [tk ] =
[0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20, 0.10, 0.20, 0.20, 0.20] × 10−3 m with a clamp
radius of ac = 4 × 10−3 m. Moreover, an additional spring with a pretension
of F0 = 43.2 N and a stiffness of k = 16 000 N m−1 is applied.
• The check valve is one annular shim of an inner radius of 4 × 10−3 m, an
outer radius of 6.3 × 10−3 m, and a thickness of 0.30 × 10−3 m. The valve
is spring-loaded with a pretension of F0 = 0.35 N and a stiffness of k =
200 N m−1 .

Appendix B Integration coefficients for shim

stack stiffness
The following coefficients after Roark and Young [22] are used for the compu-
tation of linearized deflections at a radius r of a flat shim plate of outer radius
a as a result of pressure or contact force loads at radius r0 :
"  2 #
1 b
C8 = 1 + ν + (1 − ν) , (B1)
2 a
30 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

Table A1 Properties of the shock absorber pistons and compartment.

Parameter Symbol Value Unit

Reservoir pressure pg 106 Pa

Reservoir length Lg 70.11 × 10−3 m
Rebound chamber length L1 23.90 × 10−3 m
Compression chamber length L2 157.18 × 10−3 m
Second compression chamber length L3 23.04 × 10−3 m
Gas piston diameter dg 59.78 × 10−3 m
Main piston diameter dpiston 49.60 × 10−3 m
Rod diameter drod 17.97 × 10−3 m
Gas piston mass mg 0.1955 kg
Main piston and rod mass mtot 1.0980 kg
Cylinder radius rd 25 × 10−3 m
Wall thickness td 2.5 × 10−3 m
Stainless steel Young’s modulus Ed 200 × 109 Pa
Seal friction Ff 22.25 N
Rebound discharge coefficients [Cd,c , Cd,v ] [0.34, 0.5] −
Compression discharge coefficients [Cd,c , Cd,v ] [0.5, 0.7] −
Rebound check valve discharge coefficients [Cd,c , Cd,v ] [0.6, 0.6] −
Compression check valve discharge coefficients [Cd,c , Cd,v ] [0.4, 0.21] −
Bleed orifice discharge coefficient Cd,b 0.6 −

Table A2 Properties of the shim stacks and valves.

Parameter Symbol Value Unit

Shim steel Poisson’s ratio ν 0.305 −

Shim steel Young’s modulus E 210 × 109 Pa

Table A3 Properties of the damper mineral oil.

Parameter Symbol Value Unit

Reference density ρ0 830 kg m−3

Reference dynamic viscosity µ0 0.01 kg m−1 s−1
Reference compressibility β0 6.6 × 10−10 kg m−3
Reference temperature T0 288 K
Temperature sensitivity coefficient C 3717 K
Thermal expansion coefficient αT 0.001 K−1

( "  2 #)
b 1+ν a 1−ν b
C9 = ln + 1− , (B2)
a 2 b 4 a
"  2  #
1 b r
F2 = 1− 1 + 2 ln , (B3)
4 r b
("  # )
2  2
b b r b
F3 = + 1 ln + −1 , (B4)
4r r b r
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 31
   
r0 r0 2 r  r 2
0 0
G3 = + 1 ln + − 1 hr − r0 i , (B5)
4r r r0 r
  r 2  r 4  r 2   r 2  
1 0 0 0 0 r 0
G11 = 1+4 −5 −4 2+ ln hr − r0 i ,
64 r r r r r0
(B6)
   r 2 
r0 1 + ν a 1−ν 0
L9 = ln + 1− , (B7)
a 2 r0 4 a
   r 4   r 2  
1 1−ν 0 0 a
L17 = 1− 1− − 1 + (1 + ν) ln . (B8)
4 4 a a r0

0
Here, the expression hr − r0 i is equivalent to (r − r0 ) ∀ r > r0 and 0 ∀ r ≤ r0 .

Appendix C Modelling of crossover shim

contact
For the case of an introduced crossover shim at position m within a stack,
the shim deflections and stiffness are initially computed in the same way as
presented in Sec. 3.2.3 until contact is reached between the adjacent layers
of the crossover. At this point the difference between the displacements of
neighbouring shims equals the total thickness of the crossover, δm+1 − δm−1 =
tm , and the new contact force wa needs to be taken into account:

δ1 (w1 ) = 2 (w1 ) + 2 (w2 ) , (C1)

δ2 (w1 ) + δ2 (w2 ) = 3 (w2 ) + 3 (w3 ) , (C2)
..
.
δm−2 (wm−3 ) + δm−2 (wm−2 ) = m−1 (wm−2 ) + m−1 (wm−1 )
+ m−1 (wa ) , (C3)
m
m−1 (wm−2 ) + m
m−1 (wm−1 ) + m
m−1 (wa ) = δm (wm−1 ) + δm (wm ) , (C4)
δm (wm−1 ) + δm (wm ) = m+1 (wm ) + m+1 (wm+1 )
+ m+1 (wa ) , (C5)
δm+1 (wm ) + δm+1 (wm+1 ) + δm+1 (wa ) = m+2 (wm+1 ) + m+2 (wm+2 ) ,
(C6)
δm+2 (wm+1 ) + δm+2 (wm+2 ) = m+3 (wm+2 ) + m+3 (wm+3 ) ,
(C7)
..
.
δn−2 (wn−3 ) + δn−2 (wn−2 ) = n−1 (wn−2 ) + n−1 (wn−1 ) ,
(C8)
δn−1 (wn−2 ) + δn−1 (wn−1 ) = n (wn−1 ) + n (q) , (C9)
δm+1 (wm ) + δm+1 (wm+1 ) + δm+1 (wa ) = m+1
m−1 (wm−2 ) + m+1
m−1 (wm−1 )
32 A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers

+ m+1
m−1 (wa ) + tm . (C10)

Here, the notation m m−1 stands for the intermediate deflection of the shim
(m − 1) before the crossover at the same radius of the crossover shim m. Eq.
(C10) is added to the original equation system to account for the additional
contact force wa . Using the above Eq. (C1)-(C10), the matrix  of linear
coefficients is built up as in Eq. (36) for the non-crossover case and the algebraic
system  · w~ = ~b with
 
w1

 w2 

w
~ = ..
, (C11)
 
 . 
 wn−1 
wa
 
0
 .. 
 . 
~b = 
 0 .

(C12)
 
 n (q) 
−tm

is solved for all unknown forces w.

~ The above approach can be readily general-
ized for multiple additional contact forces or intermediate crossovers as shown
in Fig. 5.

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Declarations
Funding. This work was enabled by computational resources and research
budget from KTM and KTM TECHNOLOGIES.
Acknowledgements. Johannes Wimmer is gratefully acknowledged for
providing the test bench data for validation.
Competing Interests. There are no conflicting interests that would have
biased this work.
A universal nonlinear model for the dynamic behaviour of shock absorbers 35

Data Availability. The datasets generated and analysed during the current
study are not publicly available, but are available from the corresponding
author on reasonable request.