Influence of different textile structure reinforced composite leaf spring on their fabrication potential

Abstract

In advanced engineering applications, machining of composite material is a must to perform necessary assembly operations. This work deals with the investigation of fabrication potential of Glass/epoxy composites reinforced with different textile structures in the form of E-glass based chopped fiber, unidirectional (UD) tow, bidirectional (2D) plain woven, four different 3D woven orthogonal solid structures with varying binder percentage and one 3D woven angle interlock structure. The Influence of reinforcement architecture on tensile strength, drilling damage, bearing response, specific energy absorption (bending), and spring stiffness of composites structure was investigated. Damage analysis due to drilling was primarily assessed in terms of delamination whereas bearing strength, bearing strain and common bearing failure were examined from the bearing strength test. Different bearing failure was observed for different composite structures; UD composite was noticed with complete shear out failure while chopped failed due to tearing and 2D structure reinforced composite predominantly failed due to tearing and delamination failure. 3D orthogonal composite failed due to tearing in the warp direction and shear out in weft direction whereas 3D interlock failed due to tearing in both warp and weft direction. 3D orthogonal based composite structure exhibited the highest specific energy absorption (SEA) along with improved spring stiffness and therefor it could be a potential material for automotive leaf spring application.