Damping characteristics of dashpots

An investigation of the damping characteristics of dashpots was carried out combining theory and experiment. Laminar flow was assumed and three equations for the steady velocity of a piston moving in a cylinder filled with liquid were derived. In the first equation, the piston was assumed coaxial in the cylinder and, in the second equation, the piston was assumed eccentric in the cylinder with an element of the piston in contact with the cylinder wall. The third equation is for a piston of circular cross section in an elliptical cylinder. Experiments showed that the piston is normally eccentric in the cylinder. The pistons tested were 1.25 and 2 inches in diameter 0.062 to 1.00 inch long, and the clearances varied from 1.36 to 5.16 x 10 to the 3rd power inch. The difference in pressure on the two sides of the piston varied from about 2 to 55 pounds per square inch. The piston velocities for each assembly were measured with damping liquids of three different viscosities. At high piston velocities, when turbulent flow exists, the observed velocities were much lower than the velocities calculated on the basis of laminar flow. Results for a wide range of Reynolds numbers are presented in graphical form.