A Comparative Simulation Analysis of Conventional and Composite Leaf Spring

In the present scenario, strength of the structures has been the main focus of automobile manufacturers. The suspension leaf spring is one of the potential items for higher strength in automobiles as it accounts more than two times stronger than the conventional steel leaf spring. This helps in achieving more damping capacity, less fuel consumption and resistance against impact loads in the vehicle. The introduction of composite materials made it possible to avoid catastrophic damage due to sudden impact loads that are transferred to the chassis of light passenger vehicle through the leaf spring. In this work, an attempt has been made in replacing the design of a conventional multileaf leaf spring by a composite multileaf leaf spring based on strength ratio without any modification of the existing design of a light passenger vehicle. The materials adopted in the analysis of composite multileaf leaf spring are glass/epoxy, glass jute /epoxy, carbon jute/epoxy. The optimum material combination is determined based on the maximum induced bending stress, material availability and the contact pressure generated between each and every laminate which will influence the unsprung weight of the light passenger vehicle. Due to impact loads acting on the multileaf leaf spring damage tolerance work is also carried out in the composite material that has minimum contact pressure by creating artificial hemispherical damage for varying proportions. The optimum composite multileaf leaf spring is fabricated using filament winding technique. Modeling and contact analysis were carried out for both conventional and composite materials using ANSYS 8.1 software. From the investigations undergone, it is well proved that composite multileaf leaf spring made of glass/epoxy is found to be of higher strength comparing strength ratio, induced bending stress, contact pressure as well as with respect to cost, than the conventional leaf spring and the optimum damage radius due to sudden impact loads is also predicted in the composite multileaf leaf spring.

Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter Facebook Reddit LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Reprints and Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation A. Imthiyas, Samuvel Michael B., Naveen R., M. Arun Murugan, Mukesh Dinesh; Analysis of conventional and composite leaf spring using ANSYS. AIP Conference Proceedings 30 January 2023; 2523 (1): 020166. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0112445 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAIP Publishing PortfolioAIP Conference Proceedings Search Advanced Search |Citation Search

This paper presents an approach for the design optimisation of suspension springs, such as coil springs, torsion bar springs, steel leaf springs and composite leaf springs, using a Simulated Annealing algorithm. Around 14.39% of coil spring mass and 7.12% of torsion bar spring mass are reduced. In the case of steel leaf springs, 14.40% of mass, under two variables condition and 16.58% of mass, under three variables condition are reduced. Similarly, 22.93% of mass under two variables condition and 29.28% of mass under three variables condition are reduced in the optimisation process of composite leaf springs. When the composite leaf spring is compared with the conventional steel leaf spring, the mass reduction obtained before optimisation is 83.52% and mass reduction obtained after optimisation is 85.16% in the case of two variables condition and 86.03% in the case of three variables condition for the same load carrying capacity and stiffness.

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Composite leaf springs with variable stiffness function (‘shape memory alloy (SMA) hybrid composite leaf springs’) were constructed by embedding three-dimensional SMA actuators into a multi-material composite system. Bench test of dynamic stiffness and fatigue characteristics revealed that epoxy resin matrix leaf springs exhibit the highest initial strength/stiffness but suffer rapid long-term decay due to brittle fracture and Joule thermal softening. Although SMA phase transformation enables temporary crack closure, the interplay between thermal damage and cyclic repair restricts durability. Thermoplastic polyimide (TPI) matrices exhibited outstanding fatigue resistance under actuation, attributed to superior thermal stability and molecular chain reconstruction, while SMA activation effectively inhibited crack propagation. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix leaf springs are suitable for long-term active control scenarios due to hyperelastic interfacial slip and modulus mismatch. However, while the short-term increase in stiffness and strength after energization is high, interfacial delamination triggers catastrophic failure after 5000 cycles, making PDMS matrix leaf springs suitable for short-term deformation requirements only. The TPI-SMA synergistic architecture provides a theoretical foundation for resolving the intrinsic trade-off between active stiffness tunability and fatigue resistance, thereby demonstrating the substantial potential of intelligent structural composites for advanced automotive applications.

Article history: Received October 6, 2014 Accepted 2 February 2015 Available online 2 February 2015 Parabolic leaf spring is one of the vital components in vehicle suspension system, and it is commonly used in heavy vehicles. It needs to have an excellent static load bearing capacity and fatigue life too. The purpose of this work is to make computer aided engineering (CAE) analysis of mono parabolic leaf spring and to see the effect of change of material in the optimized leaf. A mono steel leaf spring and a mono leaf spring made of composite material have been selected for this comparative analysis. The material of the mono steel leaf spring is EN45A and Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) as composite material which is having high strength to weight ratio. The mono leaf spring model is having one full length leave with eyes at both ends, two pins in each eye end and a rubber pad on the upper face of leave center. The CAD modelling of parabolic leaf spring has been done in CATIA and for analysis the model is imported in ANSYS workbench. It was shown that the use of composite material instead of steel resulted into large deflection, small variation in stresses and also a large amount of weight reduction. © 2015 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Automobile Industry has shown increase interest for replacement of steel leaf spring with that of composite leaf spring. Substituting composite materials for conventional metallic materials has many advantages because of higher specific stiffness, strength and fatigue resistance etc. This work deals with the replacement of conventional steel leaf spring with a hybrid Composite leaf spring using E -Glass/Carbon/Graphite/Epoxy. The hybrid composite is obtained by introducing more than one fiber in the reinforcement phase. The hybrid composite is fabricated by the vacuum bag technique. The result shows that introduction of carbon and graphite fiber in the reinforcement phase increases the stiffness of the composite.

The amount of vehicle damage and ride comfort of the passengers is mainly determined by suspension system which plays a major role in automotive vehicle dynamics. Leaf springs are found to be durable and inexpensive. They are good at isolating road incited vibrations and support vertically acting loads. This is the reason that the static and dynamic examination of the leaf spring is exceptionally fundamental to anticipate the quality and vibration properties. Stacking sheets of metal having extensive thickness of various lengths are arranged in a manner by which the more extended leaves are on the top of the shorter leaves banding them together with the assistance of a centre bolt, two U braces and four rebound clips which frames a leaf spring. The behavior of leaf spring is complicated because of its effects caused by the clamps and contact between the leaves. It is inferred from literature that, for the suspension arrangement of the passenger vehicles the excitation frequencies range from 1Hz to 800 Hz because of road irregularities which have to be damped to prevent passenger discomfort. This research work predominantly focuses on the static and modal examination to discover the mode shapes and their individual natural frequencies and validated by the experimental results with the assistance of LMS Test Lab. The modal analysis is done with the same three-dimensional model leaf spring of Maruti Suzuki Omni passenger vehicle using FEA. The design optimization is performed based on finite element analysis which helps in weight reduction by maintaining similar modal behavior and strength. Consequently, the natural behavior of leaf spring is investigated up to 10 mode shapes. The actual behavior of the leaf spring under road irregularities is recreated by road testing. The results obtained are analyzed and compared with standards and suitable damping is suggested to control vibrations.

A leaf spring is a suspension spring, commonly used to absorb the vibrationsbrought during themotion ofa vehicle due to load or road condition. The automobile sector has shown an improved concern in the replacement of metal leaf spring with composite materials due to extraordinary strength to weight ratio. This article is based on the performance comparison of leaf spring prepared from composite material which can be suitable for automobiles. By using composite fibers determinations have been made to reduce the cost and mass of the leaf spring. The composite material used here is an aramid fiber which known for its high tensile strength, high heat resistance, less abrasive and reduced weight ratio. The leaf spring is designed and analyzed. The specimens were fabricated as per the ASTM standards and testing was carried out.

Composite leaf springs constructed of glass fiber reinforced polymeric materials have been recognized as viable replacements for steel springs. Experience gained in the use of composite leaf springs in passenger vehicles is encouraging and clearly demonstrates the utility of glass fiber reinforced composites for leaf spring applications. This paper dis cusses a study on the use of glass fiber reinforced composite leaf springs for commercial vehicles, particularly for heavy tank trailer suspension systems. A general discussion on the analysis and design of constant width, variable thickness composite springs is pre sented. An example is given for the design of a composite spring for one of a tank trailer fleet. This spring is three inches wide with a maximum thickness of about two inches. Several dozen springs were fabricated according to the design and road tested on tank trailers. In general, the road test results demonstrated the applicability of glass fiber rein forced composite springs for trailer suspensions. The composite leaf springs were well received by the trailer operators.

Carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates are replacing traditional materials in numerous applications in which high specific strength and stiffness are sought. One example could be the use of composite leaf springs for lightweight structures in transport, which should be designed taking into account their bending response. The main objective of this work is to study analytically and numerically the influence of the geometry on the mechanical response of a mono leaf spring under the hypothesis of linear behaviour. With this scope, the performance of a CFRP mono leaf spring is observed considering four different geometries: cubic, parabolic, arc of circumference and elliptical. A linear-elastic study is carried out to examine the influence of the spring shape on its flexural behaviour in terms of the load transfer as well as the apparent bending rigidity, natural frequency and buckling load. Three-point bending tests are performed with parabolic specimens manufactured from unidirectional CFRP laminates for validating the assumption of linear response for three different thicknesses of the cross-section. The experimental results confirm the linear-elastic response of the samples, what allows theoretically estimating the stiffness and the stress state of the spring.

Analysis of laminated plain carbon steel leaf spring in maxi truck