Mathematical Analysis of an Ideal ZED

[MarkE]

Yes MarkE,

The "Ideal ZED" only pops up, the real one does not "pop" it has a lift.

Tell it to Snap and Crackle.  The "ideal ZED" emulates a linear compression spring.  The "real ZED" doesn't do as well.  The "real ZED" is an even more complicated, less energy dense, more lossy, bad spring emulator than the piece of junk "ideal ZED".  A ~$1. spring beats the "ideal ZED" on all counts other than scores for Rube Goldberg unnecessary complexity.  Why don't you replace your car suspension with a set of ZEDs and tell us how it works out when you are done?

[MarkE]

Actually I have done this for other cars,, well that would be to replace the springs with either air or hydraulic or air over hydraulic.

Yeah, sure, I'd like to see a picture of your Russian Dolls of Ignorance suspension.  The 80' high columns running through the passenger compartment might make seating a bit difficult as well as clearing overpasses a bit of a problem.

[MarkE]

Ever played with gas struts?

Ever played with those pesky control disks inside?

Ever watched a monster truck race?

Gas struts bear little resemblance to the Russian Dolls of Ignorance.  The Russian Dolls of Ignorance rely entirely on the liquid weight multiplied by the internal leverage for their tiny restoring force and stored energy.  They end up being huge for the amount of stored energy, and they are open, so they easily dump their fluid.  They are unsuitable for a kiddie play car, much less a real car or God forbid a monster truck.

[MarkE]

MarkE,

Quick question.

Is it OK to calculate the energy and change for each column and then sum them together?  Would it be OK to just sum the change?

I tried to do it and, well I am on a steep learning curve,,so back to small steps

Context?

[minnie]

   I don't know if the Citroen BX ever made it to your part of the world.
      I used to run one and it was one of the smoothest running vehicles
   I've ever known.
      The system used spheres with diaphragms and I think it was compressed
    nitrogen. Over time the gas escaped and re-con spheres were needed.
     Unfortunately the steel oil lines were prone to rust out and it rather
     spoiled a very good car.
                    John.