Shock absorbers which are continuously adjustable in less than 5ms with solenoid valves or with electro-rheological fluids are compared experimentally in this paper. Electromechanically adjustable shock absorbers are continuously adjustable between a very soft and a hard limit curve in the entire damping-power map (damping ratio 1:500). The valves are sturdy and small and have limp-home characteristics. They can be integrated completely in single-tube or twin-tube shock absorbers and are suitable for practical applications in continuous, semi-active ride control systems. In principle, shock absorbers with electro-rheological fluids have a simple design. Measurements and theoretical consideration indicate that the electro-rheological effect of fluids available to date is still too low to permit this effect to be implemented with an adequate force-adjustment range in shock absorbers. The electro-rheological effect must be improved by one order of magnitude by further research.
Abstract