Mass damper is a device that is attached to structures to reduce the intensity of vibrations passing through them.
History[]
The tuned mass damper was introduced as part of the suspension system by Renault on its 2005 car Renault R25, at the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix and had been deemed to be legal by the stewards.
In the Renault R26, this technology was used for a more benign purpose. It was used to keep the front of car stable over kerbs and through slow and fast corners. Keeping the front of the car stable is crucial to the aerodynamic efficiency of the car because changes in ride height - caused by bumps on the road or changes in downforce levels due to speed - can alter the way that air passes over the front wing of the car and therefore the rest of the car's aerodynamic efficiency also suffers. The Tuned mass damper in the Renault R26 was invented by Renault engineer Rob Marshall. The mass damper itself was a cylinder, standing upright, with the mechanical components inside. Inside the cylinder sat a 9 kilogram disc which rested in between two springs. The disc was free to move on the Y-axis with its only hindrance, the springs that it was attached to and the damper fluid within the cylinder. The whole assembly was attached to the chassis inside the nosecone of the car. The device was then 'tuned' to the needs of each track by either changing the clearance between the disc and the cylinder bore or by adjusting the size of two-way valve within the disc itself. The Tuned mass damper on the Renault R26 vibrated in the opposite direction from the chassis due to inertia, with its magnitude calculated by the 'tuning' variables mentioned above. This counteracting force stabilized the front end of the car over kerbs and through slow and fast corners.
During the first half of the 2006 season, Renault had built up a comfortable points lead over their main rivals Ferrari. However, at the time of the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring the FIA decided to ban all the teams from using tuned mass dampers in their car. Even though the system was deemed legal for over half a year, the FIA decided that it broke the rule that no moving part can influence the aerodynamics of the car. Renault claimed that the loss of the system cost them 0.3 seconds a lap. The ban hurt the Renault team more than their competitors because Renault had designed their whole car around the technology, meanwhile, their competitors had just included the technology as an after-thought after seeing Renault's implementation. This was clearly visible because Ferrari won 5 of the 7 remaining races in the season. However, the French team managed to defend both championship titles successfully.