Design and construction of a shock absorber prototype for a SAE formula vehicle

Motivated by the continually growing challenge of the SAE r Formula competition, the primary goal of the present study is to design and fabricate a prototype of shock absorber adapted to the requirements of performance, adjustability, reliability, cost and weight of a Formula SAE vehicle, which are not fully satisfied by commercially available dampers. After defining some general characteristics of the prototype, the desired characteristic curve (Force vs. Velocity), effective damping coefficient, and compression/ extension ratio are established. To achieve this, characteristic curves of commercial shock absorbers are analyzed and the quarter car model is used to study the road roughness effect on the ride and handling of the vehicle. Detailed dimensioning and mechanical strength verification is performed after an analysis of the loads on the prototype. Finally, the prototype is mounted on a dynamometer to determine its characteristic curve and verify the requirements fulfillment. This project shows that it is possible to design and fabricate specialized Formula SAE shock absorbers in Venezuela. Also, even though more testing is necessary to define valve optimization, the prototype meets the requirements and results into a feasible option to be used in an F-SAE against the available race car or bike dampers options.