Carbon fiber has been used in many exotic applications in cars but I’ve never seen a carbon fiber damper before! Unlike the Bose suspension system which is exotic in its own complicated way, ZF Sachs basically just aims at reducing weight with this new ultralight carbon fiber damper designed for use in A-segment cars.
It only weighs half the weight of today’s aluminum lightweight damper. Partially sprung and unsprung masses are reduced too, which according to ZF Sachs leads to better ride comfort.
According to ZF Sachs’ Head of the Powertrain and Suspension Components Dr. Peter Ottenbruch, the damper design is realistic in terms of feasibility and cost analysis and can easily be transferred to volume production.
Could we see carbon fiber dampers be used in premium A-segment cars like the upcoming BMW Megacity range of front wheel drive microcars?
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Seems like it is integrated with the wheel carrier/upright/knuckle
Looks good, but I wonder about the fatigue strength and durability.
Light, cheap, strong – choose two – unfortunately.
This looks light and strong, and of course expensive. To me steel is still the real deal.
I agree, as it is subjected to direct & repeated loading from the tyre. It’s fatigue strength is very crucial.
this concept damper introduced last year……
http://www.zf.com/corporate/en/press/press_releases/products_press/products_detail.jsp?newsId=21703083
surely they have made the fatigue and durability test before they release new product
good things dont come cheap….
technology moved ahead….back then is steel….now is aluminum…future is CF….
I don’t know about a CF damper. I mean, it would be sitting in the wheel barrel and over here in Msia…. that’s where all the water would be…. CF and water…. not a good mix…….the protective layer better be resistant to impact strikes from loose pebbles.
Remember my friends…
Even the aeroplane A380 use CF material on its wing..
Another example, A350XWB will be made out of 53% composites..
Most of the composites made by CFRP..
Do you know what kind of weather up there, 40000ft from sea level at 900km/h..
What a harsh environment compare to land..
It is just a suspension damper, I believe ZF Sachs well understand about they product..
No doubt about the ZF Sachs’s suspension capability..
agreed. Same goes as B787 Dreamliner. I cant imagine the price of this suspension.One thing for sure, a brilliant things never getting cheaper.
p/s:hopefully they dont install it on a hybrid car/EV…hahahahaha….hybrid + composite = cant imagine the price tag!!!!
creative
It’s real world performance could be questionable, unless maybe smooth highways or race tracks.
Smooth highways don’t exist in our countries these days, bro! It used to.. its used to once upon a time.
Are they going to make this CF damper for my Iswara?
can i have em please :-)
CF does not suffer fatigue if im not mistaken but its ability to absorb impact can shatter itself into perhaps dust
hard to imagine…can explain more?
Materials can be measured by its strength and stiffness.
Eg Plastic is strong but it’s not stiff. Similar with steel. Can bend, but hard to break.
Glass is stiff but it’s not strong. Similar with CF. Hard to bend, but easy to break.
the word “brittle” means something…closely describe all that!
Hm??? Describe brittle? Well, it’s to do with the material’s stiffness I suppose. The stiffer it is, the more brittle. Think of the eg of materials I gave.
may only helps reduce unsprung weight.
no other advantage compares to metal case damper.
dirt of rally might be broken if we are using this kind of damper.
totally for street onlyy.
CF is quite brittle. Does not like hard impacts. Curious how that might work on something getting a pounding everyday.
It also fails without warning. Many people have been driving on bent steel suspension for ages without noticing a thing.
for Asian road particularly ours…the application is questionable…I a little skeptic it would last
btw there are also CF rim, if I’m not mistaken..built by Japs company..
agree with mazda mps.
many tuners have produce CF wheels including AXEL. but pothole could give them a problem
whats next? cf rims ?
there are carbon fiber wheels in the market..
Cool~~~ i love it… I’m proud to be one of them…. keep it up ZF..
you work in ZF? cool….
any other updates? can buy stuff from you ar?
looks solid and ridged enough..we can found this tech on f1 cars..if this goes into production and use on daily car..will Massa-like accident in hungry will happen in public?..ha..wear a carbon crash helmet…he he..
carbon fibre is in use today as a lining to protect the inside wheel well of rally cars.. despite the massive pounding they get from rocks and what not.. i hardly see any damage at all, even though the material is very thin. i’m sure it will be strong enuf to withstand the elements.. after all, modern yachts also use carbon fibre masts, which get some serious salt spray and pounding as well.
Got this from Wikipedia:
Carbon fiber is very strong when stretched or bent, but weak when compressed or exposed to high shock (eg. a carbon fiber bar is extremely difficult to bend, but will crack easily if hit with a hammer).
i believe there a new tech on CF that hasn’t yet been revealed in free encyclopedia..try read out some journal on E-science or Imech
f1 use cf suspension kah?
Yes, tapi budget la… F1 tracks is not the same as normal public road we all use everyday =.=
yea la kn. they also spend millions every year.
Should be strong enough la. Bicycles long time ago also using carbon fibre frames(I think even parts of the suspension)
yeap..racing bicycle especially.
F1 / Indycars’ push rod suspensions are made of Kevlar composite material, more exotic than CF.
These carbon fiber news are really getting up my nerve….. Why do we NEED carbon fiber on a daily basis car? Isn’t it better for them to concentrate on how to make the ride more comfortable?
Reducing overall weight of a vehicle (using CF for example) not necessarily only for performance oriented vehicles like the WRC cars or the F1…
Everyday cars like yours or mine can also get the benefits from this pratice, less weight ..eventually less fuel, more acceleration etc
Haven your notice, the average car weight is getting more and more from one decade to another…this is due to the continuous features that we slot into our vehicles…
Air conditioning parts, entertainment system, ABS and so many other electronics gadget… contribute to the overall weight gain of the vehicle.
If nothing being done, we ended up with a vehicles weighing more than 2 tonnes…and it is hard to stay “lean” and low in fuel consumption, when our vehicles is that FAT!
Making cars more comfortable is the easy part.
Making it more comfortable AND handle better is the tough bit.
Reducing unsprung weight make a lot of difference in that respect. the less unsprung weight means there is less momentum in the suspension movement making it easier to control the motions of the body.