Prototyping design and experimental validation of membranous dual-cavity based amplitude selective damper

This paper designs a membranous dual-cavity based amplitude sensitive damper (shorted as MASD) for road vehicle suspension to better compromise ride comfort and driving safety. A specially designed sleeve, separated into two cavities by a rubber membrane, is centrally placed along the main piston of conventional twin-tube damper. The volume change of dual-cavity caused by membrane deformation accommodates partial oil flow in the condition of small piston displacement, which results in a reduced damping ratio. Due to the attached rubber embossments on both sides of rubber membrane, this MASD can switch smoothly between low and high damping forces at the final stage of membrane deformation. This design prevents the damper from additional impact when switching between higher damping ratio to lower one. After elaborating the working principle of MASD, its dynamic model is derived by combining first-principle modeling of hydraulic components and empirical modeling of membranous valve. A prototyping MASD is finally developed and tested on a damper test rig to demonstrate its effectiveness.