A theoretical model used for determining the stiffness of composite leaf springs with a main spring and an auxiliary spring

Abstract

The stiffness characteristics of composite leaf springs with a main spring and an auxiliary spring directly affect the handling stability and riding comfort of automobiles and finally determine its application value. In order to achieve precise calculation for the stiffness characteristics of composite leaf springs with a main spring and an auxiliary spring, a theoretical model, which is verified by finite element simulation and related test results, was established by using the mechanics of composite materials and finite difference method. Then, the design parameters that influence the stiffness of the composite leaf spring with a main spring and an auxiliary spring were analyzed to provide a guide for the stiffness matching and optimization of this kind of composite leaf springs. The proposed theoretical model is suitable for parametric modeling and programming, which not only considers the detail features of the spring and the anisotropy of composite material, but also guarantees the speed and the accuracy of the calculation process. This paper also provides a new numerical method for calculating the stiffness of composite structures with arbitrary section shape or complex material composition.