If your application involves rotary motion, it’s important to consider how you mount your shock absorbers. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the common issues that can arise and provide you with some helpful tips on how to maximize your shock absorber’s lifespan and damping capability.

Challenge #1: Side Load
Let’s consider a packaging machine that incorporates rotary motion. In cases like this, the machine’s rotary movement can cause side load on the piston rod—leading to wear and tear and lowering the shock’s lifespan.

ACE Tip: Whenever you encounter a lateral impact angle greater than 2 degrees, you can incorporate a side load adaptor, which removes the side loading from the piston rod to achieve considerably longer life.

Challenge #2: Moving Your Mounting Point
Sometimes your shock absorber—which is already sized for a specific mounting point—needs to move closer to the pivot point. Now, the shock absorber is too soft and can’t absorb the energy properly.

In rotary applications, moving the mounting point will impact the stiffness of the damper, as well as the effective weight—a calculation that considers the total energy affecting your shock absorber and the impact velocity on the damper:

$$ \large{\mathsf{W_E=\frac{2 \times W_3}{V_D {^2}}}} $$

• W_E = effective weight
• W₃ = complete energy that affects the damper
• V_D = impact velocity on the damper

ACE Tip: In rotary applications, moving a shock absorber closer to the pivot point increases its effective weight. You can use this value to help you select the right shock absorber for the new mounting point.

In one case example, the original mounting point on a rotary machine called for an ACE MC600 miniature shock absorber, which has a maximum effective weight of 136 kg. Because the damper moved closer to the pivot point, however, the application required a stiffer damper with a higher effective weight capacity. In this case, the original unit was swapped out for an MC600MH3 shock absorber, which has a maximum effective weight of 4,536 kg.

Learn More
With our free ACE calculation program, you can size shock absorbers for almost every movement and application. Visit our calculations page to learn more.

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ACE Tips: The Advantages of Modular Gas Springs
Gas springs with interchangeable end fittings provide many benefits. The ability to mix and match various connections improves application flexibility and facilitates installation. In the following blog, we’ll provide some helpful tips to help you mount your gas spring while making the most of its modular design:

Mix and Match Accessories
Let’s say you’re mounting two gas springs in parallel to decelerate a horizontal-hinged hood. In this case—as in all cases—proper mounting is essential. Mounting your springs incorrectly could cause them to wear prematurely or experience torsion-related seal damage.

ACE tip: In situations like this, simply screw on an end fitting with a swivel eye to enable more movement and minimize the risk of torsion.

The modular design also lets you attach your gas spring to mounting brackets should your application require them. Thanks to the interchangeable end fittings, mixing and matching these accessories is easy and makes the mounting process quick and painless.

ACE tip: Our product code system provides a simple, clear way to shop around for gas springs based on your application’s requirements. Each set of letters and numbers in the product code corresponds to gas spring type (push or pull), cylinder diameter, stroke, rod end fitting, body end fitting and extension force, respectively.

Customized and Ready to Ship in 24 Hours
Visit our gas springs calculations page—available 24 hours a day, seven days a week—to customize your gas spring in just a few minutes. Based on your data, we’ll size your spring and send you a technical proposal complete with mounting points. We’ll also include all the end fittings and mounting equipment you’ll need. You’ll then receive your customized, modular gas spring in as little as 24 hours from order finalization.

Visit our online calculations page to get started.

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Hydraulic dampers are ideal anytime you need doors, flaps or hoods to close in a smooth, controlled way. Similar to industrial gas springs, these components provide single or bidirectional motion control for a range of applications. They are also adjustable—letting you stabilize movement in both the push and pull directions—and easy to mount.

In this post, we’ll provide you with some helpful tips on how to best mount your hydraulic damper—ensuring it operates safely and with minimal wear.

Choosing Your Damper
Hydraulic dampers come in a wide range of sizes with different end fittings, strokes and compression and extension forces. Choosing the right one depends on the required damping direction—out-stroke only, in-stroke only or both directions—as well as the mounting conditions and weight of the flap. To assist you, experts can provide you with mounting points so the only thing you’ll need to adjust during installation is velocity. If the damping is too fast, simply turn the piston rod in the end position to the right to close the orifice. If the damping is too slow, turn the rod to the left to open the orifice.

Accounting for Mounting Variables
If you need to mount your damper outside, bear in mind that drastic temperature changes can change the viscosity of the hydraulic fluid. Fortunately, ACE dampers let you easily adjust your device to account for these changing conditions.

ACE tips: To avoid free travel in the damping stroke, we recommend choosing a damper with a longer complete stroke or using an HBD damper, which does not allow for free travel. Improper assembly can cause damaging end-position wear. Proper assembly, on the other hand, ensures your flap will close with uniform velocity.

Selecting the right hydraulic damper for your application has never been easier. To get started, check out our free calculations service.

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Challenge #1: Moving Masses
It’s not always possible to mount your shock absorber in the center of a moving mass—which is often the case in Cartesian robot systems. For one, moving masses have a wide impact surface, which can make it difficult to place your shock absorber exactly in the middle.

ACE tip. To avoid torsion in these types of applications, simply mount two shock absorbers on the left and right of the outer impact area of the mass. Make sure that you mount both dampers at the same height, however, otherwise they won’t be parallel.

Challenge #2: Limited Mounting Space
Sometimes your application might not have enough space to mount a large damper. Again, the solution is to mount several smaller dampers in parallel. This kind of mounting will effectively decelerate your moving mass despite the limited space.

ACE tip. Use self-compensating dampers, which you can size according to the exact stiffness requirements of your application. This ensures every damper of the same model and weight will have the same stiffness and damping characteristics. Adjustable dampers, on the other hand, are too difficult to adjust equally—creating differences in stiffness that can cause the moving mass to impact each damper differently.

Size Your Damper In Minutes
Using our free calculation program and online sizing tool, you can size shock absorbers and gas springs for nearly any load and direction within minutes. For particularly difficult or complex applications, our application engineers are ready to help.

To get started, visit www.acecontrols.com/us/calculations.html.

Use Our Free Calculator  

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Tip 1: Mount Your Gas Spring With The Piston Facing Downwards
Gas springs contain a small amount of oil in the pressure tube. This oil is important for two reasons: first, it lubricates the main seal and rod. It also creates damping at the end of each stroke—particularly the last few millimeters.

Remember: it’s very important to mount your spring with the piston rod facing downwards. This position keeps the oil in contact with the rod seal, preventing it from drying out. But more importantly, it ensures the piston dives into the oil, which reduces the velocity at the end of extension.

Tip 2: Adjust The Pressure Using The Spring’s Built-In Valve
You may find, at some point, that your spring has too much pressure. This could be the result of many things. The technical data related to sizing may have been incorrect or unknown at the time of specification. The design of your machine may have also changed.

Whatever the case may be, our valve technology lets you easily adjust and fine-tune the gas pressure and extension force of your spring. Each spring integrates a pressure valve in the stud of the end fitting. Simply thread our DE-GAS adjustment knob onto the stud and press down to release small amounts of nitrogen gas. Now your spring is adjusted.

Tip 3: Take Advantage Of Our Local Support Team
Here at ACE Controls, we offer a full range of motion control products, including industrial push- and pull-type gas springs, hydraulic dampers and door dampers. For free sizing or on-site support, contact our local support team. Our application engineers are always ready to provide you with the help you need to make sure your spring is tailor-made your application.

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