Temperature rise characteristics of the valve-controlled adjustable damping shock absorber

The thermodynamic study of the valve-controlled adjustable damping shock absorber is conducted in order to solve the problem of oil leakage caused by excessive temperature rise of shock absorber. In this paper, the temperature rise of the valve-controlled adjustable damping shock absorber is analyzed from the perspective of energy conservation. Combined with the theory of fluid mechanics, the damping heat model is established, and the heat dissipation model of the shock absorber is established based on heat convection, heat conduction and heat radiation. The corresponding thermal equilibrium equation is established on the basis of damping heat and heat dissipation. The effects of vibration velocity, outer diameter, thickness and length of reservoir cylinder, and wind velocity on its thermal performance have been investigated. Specifically, temperature after thermal equilibrium will grow with the increase of vibration velocity and thickness of reservoir cylinder and degrade with the increase of outer diameter, length of reservoir cylinder and wind velocity. The higher the balance temperature, the shorter time is required to arrive thermal equilibrium. The difference between the experimental and simulation values of oil temperature after thermal equilibrium was not more than 2 °C, which verified the correctness of the theoretical model, while the experimental value in the process of temperature rise lagged behind the simulation value, which was mainly caused by the cumulative error of step-by-step iteration and the mechanical hysteresis in the experiment. The conclusions obtained can provide some references for the design of shock absorbers.