Impact response measurements of rubber dampers for automotive parts

A novel practical method for measuring the impact response of the rubber damper for automotive parts is proposed. In the method, a mass that is levitated with a pneumatic linear bearing is made to collide with a material under test. The moving part of the bearing encounters negligible friction and is used as the colliding mass. The inertial force acting on the moving part, F, is the product of its mass, M, and its acceleration, a. The impact force acting on the material is measured as the inertial force acting on the moving part. The mass velocity is measured as the Doppler frequency shift of a laser beam reflecting from the mass. The acceleration is obtained by numerically differentiating the velocity of the moving part. During the collision, only the Doppler frequency shift of the moving mass is accurately measured using an optical interferometer and an electronic frequency counter. The impact response of rubber dampers is highly accurately determined by means of the proposed method. © 2006 ICASE.