The first thing required when sizing a shock absorber is understanding the properties of your system. This can be separated into four main parts: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Mass (M) in kg<\/li>
- Velocity (V) in m\/s<\/li>
- Propelling Force (F) in N<\/li>
- Cycles per hour (c)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Rotary applications will require more parameters but aren\u2019t covered in this practice. For this example, let\u2019s say M = 90 kg, V = 2.05 m\/s, c = 300\/hr, and let\u2019s put F on hold for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kinetic Energy and Work Energy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
With the information above, we\u2019ll be using the following formula to determine kinetic energy (Ek<\/sub>) in Nm for a horizontal moving load:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ek<\/sub> = \u00bd M V2<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ek<\/sub> = \u00bd (90) (2.05)2<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ek<\/sub> = 190 Nm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now let’s take a look at MISUMI’s Shock Absorbers<\/a> page, specifically under the \u201cMaximum Absorbed Energy (J)\u201d filter on the left side of the page. Here, you want to select an energy that is equal to or more than the number we just found, 190 Nm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Picture1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nDepending on the shock absorber selected, we\u2019ll need to get the stroke (S) in m to determine work energy (Ew<\/sub>). Choosing the ENIDINE option, MAWC1251W<\/a>, we find a stroke of S = 0.025 m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"ENIDINE](\"https:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/110310292319_001.jpg\")
ENIDINE Shock Absorber MAWC1251W<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n To pick back up on what the F is, we have a few different scenarios. If your load is moving horizontally without any propelling force, F = 0 N and you\u2019ll only have to worry about kinetic energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Horizontal](\"https:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1.png\")
Horizontal Load With No Propelling Force<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n If you have a propelling force, possibly from an air cylinder or a motor which will be application specific, you will use that number in the formula below for work energy. We will use F = 110 N:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ew<\/sub> = F S<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ew<\/sub> = (110) (0.025)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ew<\/sub> = 2.75 Nm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Copy-of-Contactors-Blog-Post-Image-1.png\")
Horizontal Load With Propelling Force<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Things are a bit different if your load is moving vertically in freefall. The equation for kinetic energy (Ek<\/sub>) will be calculated as follows with g being 9.81 m\/s2 <\/sup>and h being the height that the load is released measured in m. We will use a height of h = 0.5 m:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ek<\/sub> = g M h<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ek<\/sub> = (9.81) (90) (0.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ek<\/sub> = 440 Nm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll notice the energy is more than twice the amount of our horizontal example, which would require a new selected shock absorber. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"shock](\"https:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Copy-of-Contactors-Blog-Post-Image.png\")
Vertical Load<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Total Energy per Cycle and Total Energy per Hour<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Now that we have our Ek<\/sub> = 190 Nm and Ew<\/sub> = 2.75 Nm, we can add them together to get the total energy per cycle (Ec<\/sub>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ec<\/sub> = Ek<\/sub> + Ew<\/sub><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ec<\/sub> = 190 + 2.75<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ec<\/sub> = 193 Nm\/c<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
In one last step, we can find the total energy per hour (Et<\/sub>) using the following formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Et<\/sub> = Ec<\/sub> c<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Et<\/sub> = (193) (300)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Et<\/sub> = 5790 Nm\/hr<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
And when we compare this to the Et<\/sub>max of the selected shock at 111400 Nm\/hr while considering ENIDINE\u2019s suggestion of a minimum of 5% maximum rated energy per cycle<\/a>, we find we are within the suggested range with significant room for potentially increased loads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now you have another tool to add to your belt in selecting shock absorbers. If you\u2019re experiencing a more unique setup, feel free to reach out to MISUMI’s engineering team<\/a> for product help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With brands like ACE Controls<\/a>, ENIDINE<\/a>, and SMC<\/a>, we\u2019re sure to find something that can fit your application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"MISUMI](\"https:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Shock-Absorbers-Blog-PostCopy-of-Contactors-Blog-Post-Image.png\")
ENIDINE Adjustable Hydraulic Series<\/a> | ACE Controls MA\/ML33 to MA\/ML64 Series<\/a> | SMC RB Series<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Copy-of-CTA-Button-Seals.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This guide offers sizing and product selection tips on how to find the best shock-absorber for your linear application.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":14939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[1136],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14931"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14959,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14931\/revisions\/14959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}