Damper constitutes a mechanical energy storage element

What is a damper in mechanical systems?

Dampers are non-conservative elements that dissipate energy from a mechanical system. They convert the energy into another form of energy, usually heat. Dampers relate the element force (torque) to a translational (angular) velocity, leading to ordinary differential equations of motion.

What is a pure damper?

It is impossible to recover 100% of the energy put into any system.) A pure damper dissipates all the energy supplied to it, i.e., converts the mechanical energy to thermal energy. Pure / ideal damper element provides viscous friction. All mechanical elements are defined in terms of their force/motion relation.

What is a damper element used for?

force proportional to the current. The result is a force proportional to and opposing the velocity. The dissipated energy shows up as I2R heating of the cup. The damper element can also be used to represent unavoidable parasitic energy dissipation effects in mechanical systems.

What do dampers relate to?

Dampers relate the element force (torque) to a translational (angular) velocity.

What happens when a damper element dissipates into heat?

Damper element dissipates into heat all mechanical energy supplied to it. Force applied to damper causes a velocity in same direction. Power input to the device is positive since the force and velocity have the same sign. It is impossible for the applied force and resulting velocity to have opposite signs.

Can a damper supply power to another device?

Thus, a damper can never supply power to another device; Power is always positive. A spring absorbs power and stores energy as a force is applied to it, but if the force is gradually relaxed back to zero, the external force and the velocity now have opposite signs, showing that the spring is delivering power. (e.g., air drag).