Main failure modes of shock absorbers
Aug 12, 2025
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Shock absorbers play a vital role in the automotive suspension system. However, they may also encounter various failure modes that affect the vehicle's driving performance and ride comfort. Understanding these failure modes is crucial to ensuring the normal operation of the automotive suspension system.
1. Abnormal noise problem
The abnormal noise that may be generated by the shock absorber may come from its internal source, such as impurities, improper oil volume, insufficient inflation force, unbalanced valve system, or resonance of a valve plate at a specific frequency, etc., or from the outside, such as the relative displacement between the shock absorber body and surrounding parts such as dust covers, buffer blocks, and top covers. These factors may cause abnormal noises in the shock absorber in the automotive suspension system.
2. Oil leakage problem
Oil leakage in the shock absorber may be caused by a variety of factors, including abnormalities of the piston rod and oil seal, as well as damage to internal parts. In addition, the stability of the valve system, as a key component for controlling the preload, is also crucial. Customers usually require the force stability of the valve system to reach CPK 1.33 or above, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of production.
The manufacturing process of shock absorbers covers multiple links such as stamping, electroplating, heat treatment, welding, painting, metal forming, etc., and also involves the selection and application of material disciplines such as steel, plastics, rubber, polymers, oil, gas, powder metallurgy, etc. Fluid mechanics, CAE simulation and material properties research are also indispensable.
There are many challenges to break through the technical bottleneck of shock absorbers. For example, the surface treatment of the piston rod, the consistency of the machining accuracy of each valve plate, and the consistency of the machining accuracy of the bottom valve are all key problems in the manufacturing process of passive shock absorbers. In addition, traditional passive shock absorbers can no longer meet the needs of further improving vehicle performance, and the application of advanced technologies such as solenoid valves and magnetic fluids may become the direction of future development.

