works tripple rate shock question

[siggy konowaluk]

when i got my 400ex i got some works shocks with it too along with the stock ones currently on my quad. the works shocks are tripple rate and one of the sprind on it has a crack, would it be ok to put on the quad untill i got the money to fix it?

[honda400ex2003]

i wouldnt if i were you, once a crack starts to form, it is very easy for them to start to break from the shear stresses placed on the spring as it flexes. steve

[siggy konowaluk]

yeah because i was thinking about putting them on but i wasnt sure about if it would be a good idea. thanks!

[honda400ex2003]

no prob, the spring is made to support a certain force with a certain crack length before it will start to fail, these microcracks are taken into the design of the shock but once something happens to create a bigger crack than is designed into the safety factor of the spring it can fail violently and very quickly. once cracks become visible they are too big to take into the design of the spring. once you get them fixed though they should be a pretty nice set of shocks. steve

[siggy konowaluk]

wait what would happen if a piece of the spring where the crack was snapped?

[honda400ex2003]

nothing once it went all the way through but it would change the characteristics of the spring overall since there would be less to compress and such. the spring would still have the same k value for the hookes law equation but the displacement would be less since there is less elastic deformation that can occur before the shock would reach the yielding point again and fracture again. the same amount of force would be there on the spring but the displacement would be messed up so the spring could fracture easier. this equation for hookes law is the F=-kx if you want to play with it a bit. Colby at c and d would probably know what the k value and displacement is on each shock along with the forces that are exerted on the spring. it is actually pretty cool. they use different spring constants for different areas, hence a dual or triple rate and such. different spring rates to make the ride better for less force or more force depending. pretty interesting stuff when you start think about it. i get sort of weird with this stuff since i like to try to use what i have learned and apply it to something. at least i know my money is going toward something. we just did some crazy beam forces and stuff by ANSI standards yesterday. we had a mixture of shear forces, bending moments, and point forces. but that is another story all together. lol. hope i could help to try to explain it a bit for you. steve

[siggy konowaluk]

yeah you did, thanks again

[honda400ex2003]

hey no prob bro glad to help out someone with something i have learned from here and in class material science blows too by the way. lol. gotta love fractures in stuff like this. i have calculated crack lengths, forces required given teh type of material, all kinds of useless crap that isnt used most of the time. until you run into something like this. lol. :) steve

[siggy konowaluk]

lol well I'll probobly have somemore questions soon!

[honda400ex2003]

that is good. ill try to do my best and i am sure that others know this stuff much better than i do. steve

[siggy konowaluk]

yeah well I'm glad to learn more from you guys