Composite Mono Leaf Spring Research Articles

Comparative analysis of static and vibration characteristics of glass fiber reinforced epoxy mono composite leaf spring and conventional steel leaf spring

Leaf springs play a vital role in heavy-duty vehicles by offering substantial load support, durability, and convenient maintenance. Lightweight leaf springs enhance vehicle performance, offering benefits like improved fuel efficiency and a smoother ride. Glass fiber reinforced composites enhance fuel efficiency and durability, providing corrosion resistance. Their design flexibility improves ride comfort, and damping properties enhance vehicle stability. The examination conducted through finite element analysis, utilizing ANSYS software, demonstrated a substantial 75.32% decrease in weight for the E-Glass-Epoxy composite leaf spring (GECLS), affirming its efficacy in enhancing strength, reducing weight, and enhancing stiffness. This underscores its superiority as a viable alternative to traditional steel leaf springs (SLS) in vehicular applications. The mono-GECLS exhibited a natural frequency that was found to be 1.9 times higher than that observed in the traditional SLS. It indicates the potential to mitigate resonance issues. After analysing the SLS and GECLS using ANSYS, it was observed that the GECLS exhibits greater values in deflection, natural frequency, and strain energy, measuring 4.659 mm, 29.98 Hz, and 440.68 mJ, respectively, compared to its steel counterpart. Conversely, the SLS demonstrates elevated values in stress, mass, and density, with readings of 283.84 MPa, 3.7695 kg, and 5920 kg/m³, respectively.

Structural Design and Analysis of Sliding Composite Mono Leaf Spring

<div>The lightweight structure of a semitrailer composite leaf spring is designed and manufactured using glass fiber composite to replace the conventional steel leaf spring. The sliding composite mono leaf spring was designed based on the conventional parabolic spring design theory. The composites product design (CPD) module of CATIA software is used to create the lamination of the composite leaf spring. Using finite element analysis of the position and proportion of ±45° biaxial layer by OptiStruct software, it is found that a certain proportion (nearly 5%) of a ±45° biaxial layer can effectively reduce the shear stress under the condition of keeping the total number of layers fixed. Then, the natural frequency, stiffness, and strength of the composite leaf spring are simulated by the finite element method. Finally, the stiffness, fatigue, and matching of the designed spring are tested by experiments. The design weight of the composite leaf spring is 18.5 kg, which is 55.4% lighter than the conventional steel leaf spring. The composite mono leaf spring has good fatigue performance; the vertical fatigue cycles are more than 300,000 times, 1.6 times of the traditional steel leaf spring. The results of the system bench test show that the movement state of the composite mono leaf spring is consistent with the steel leaf spring. It can be preliminarily speculated that the composite leaf spring structure can meet the requirement of vehicles. A proposed method combining theoretical analysis, calculation, and finite element simulation can be used to design and test composite products quickly. This method has a high significance for the structural optimization of other laminated composite products.</div>

Fabrication and characterizations of glass fiber-reinforced functional leaf spring composites with or without microcapsule-based dicyclopentadiene as self-healing agent for automobile industrial applications: comparative analysis

This study described a critical review of the biological system of self-curing agents and catalysts in which damage triggers an automatic healing response. In the first phase, a glass fiber-reinforced composite (GFRC) mono-leaf spring was prepared, which is made of glass fiber with a cement-based metal matrix. GFRC was further embedded with a microcapsule-based self-healing agent dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) that prevents sudden breakdown/failure of automobile suspension components resulting in micro-cracks produced in the material due to constant load application. In this paper, GFRC mono leaf spring samples were prepared with and without a healing agent under three different categories of varying thicknesses 20, 30, and 40 mm. In the second phase, the load-carrying capacity of all the samples was investigated and found a continuous increase in load-carrying capacity. Percentage increase in load carrying capacity before the time break was 1.09%, 1.42%, and 1.08% followed by time break of 05 min was 24.24%, 17.67%, and 21.67% respectively. It was clearly identified from the results that the addition of microcapsule-based healing substituents increases the load-carrying capacity of GFRC mono-leaf spring and avoids sudden fracture.

Static analysis on mono composite leaf spring for Maruti 800 light vehicles

In this paper design and analysis of composite leaf spring made of glassfiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and sisal fiber reinforced polymer (SFRP). In addition, to compare the load carrying capacity, stiffness and weight savings of composite leaf spring with that of steel leaf spring. The dimensions of conventional steel leaf spring are used to fabricate a composite mono leaf spring using GFRP unidirectional laminates. Static analysis of 2-D model of conventional leaf spring is also performed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and compared with experimental results. and the analytical results are compared with experimental results from the analysis it is observed that Sisal fiber /Epoxy mono composite leaf spring showing best results as compared to the other materials

Mechanical characterization, and comparison of stress-induced on mono and multi-leaf spring from laminated composite material

Currently, one of the main issues in the automotive industry is the weight reduction of the body. In this study, analysis of multi from steel, and mono leaf spring from composite material and comparison of stress-induced on the applied load in finite element analysis was studied. The three-dimensional (3D) modeling of the leaf spring was done on SOLIDWORK 17 and analyzed using ANSYS R 18.1 workbench and the stacking sequence is, [45/0/0/0/0/0/-45/90] s. From static analysis, it is observed that weight reduction of leaf spring is achieved 70.01% in case of the composite than steel, and the equivalent stress-induced and deformation is carbon/epoxy composite leaf spring is 60% and 6.16% respectively less than steel leaf spring for the same load-carrying capacity respectively. From the study, it is concluded newly designed carbon/epoxy mono composite leaf spring has better performance than the steel leaf spring.

Modal Strain Energy based Crack Inspection in Mono Composite Leaf Spring

Modal Strain Energy based Crack Inspection in Mono Composite Leaf Spring

Design and Static Analysis of Mono Composite Leaf Spring Made of Various Types of Composite Materials Using Finite Element Method

In this study design and static analysis of mono composite leaf spring are performed in comparison to the existing structural steel leaf spring. The basic idea behind this work is to replace the existing structural steel leaf spring with composite materials. In this work, three different kinds of composite materials are taken such as laminated Carbon/Epoxy, Boron/Aluminum, and Carbon/Epoxy (Non-Laminated) with the same thickness, width, and load-carrying capacity. The main investigation of the study is to reduce the weight of existing structural steel leaf spring while upholding its strength. This study seeks to address, improving load-carrying capacity, and designing less stressed and lightweight mono composite leaf spring. In this study, 60% fiber volume fraction and 40% matrix volume fraction are taken. In present work total deflection and equivalent von-misses stresses induced in the different kinds of mono composite leaf spring are compared with total deflection and equivalent von-misses stresses of conventional structural steel leaf spring. For analysis purposes, Ansys workbench 19.2 is used and for modeling of composite leaf spring, NX 10 (Unigraphics) is used. Finally, from the static analysis results, it has been observed that the newly designed composite leaf spring made of Carbon/Epoxy (Non-Laminated) has better performance than the existing conventional structural steel leaf spring.

Design and analysis of composite mono leaf spring for passenger cars

The suspension leaf spring is one of the most crucial parts which help in improving the ride quality of an automobile. It is devised to absorb, store and release the energy. A considerable reduction of unsprung weight is generally adopted to improve comfort and ride quality. A simple but yet effective method to meet this objective is replacing the metallic leaf spring by a composite spring. Other than weight reduction, the composite leaf spring provides additional benefits such as high strength to weight ratio and high elastic strain energy storage capacity. In this research work, a steel mono leaf spring which could be employed in passenger cars is taken as reference, which is further analyzed and compared with composite mono leaf design. The objective of this research work is to investigate the suitability of hybrid composite spring which incorporates carbon fibers and flax fibers as primary and secondary reinforcements respectively. The natural frequency of the composite leaf spring was found to be 93% more than that of steel. Moreover, the incorporation of flax layers in between carbon fibers increased the factor of safety and strain energy owing to its high damping properties.

Evaluation of modal parameters and static characteristics for composite mono leaf spring

The objective of this paper was to investigate and evaluate modal parameters and static characteristics for designed carbon/epoxy composite CFRP leaf spring made from carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy by comparing its finite element analysis FEA modal, harmonic and static results to that of conventional steel one under the same maximum full bump load. In ANSYS software, finite element modal, harmonic and static analysis for 3D models of conventional steel and designed composite mono leaf springs is carried out. FEA displacements for the steel and designed composite CFRP mono leaf springs at the maximum full bump load were 92.9 mm and 93.1 mm respectively. Compared to the steel mono leaf spring, the composite mono leaf spring has advantages; lower stresses, higher natural frequencies and higher safety in stresses of front and rear eyes. All these advantages let the composite leaf spring can be carried maximum full bump load with enough higher performance over steel one to avoid resonance and satisfy maximum stress failure criterion.

Development of mono leaf spring with composite material and investigating its mechanical properties

At present, the automobile industry is focusing on composite and light-weight materials for a substitute to the conventional steel material, because of their excessive strength, lesser weight. The main objective of this work is to develop a mono composite leaf spring to replace the conventional multi-leaf spring in automobiles. The composite material has a variety of advantages like excessive energy to weight ratio, convenient availability, ease and hassles free fabrication methods and improvised thermal and Mechanical properties. The mechanical residences of a leaf spring depend on the type of material, Fabrication methods, and fiber orientation used. Some unique composite materials have higher stiffness and greater pressure rate as associated with metals, the strength of composite material additionally depends on the geometry and shape. In this paper, the mechanical properties of different composite materials are examined to find out the greatest suitable composite fabric for the fabrication of a mono composite leaf spring. Overall weight, stiffness, and load-carrying capability of the fabricated leaf spring were determined using distinctive experimental tests. The experimental results show a weight reduction of 69.4% and 75% respectively for the aid of the usage of glass fiber epoxy and Carbon fiber.

Delamination Detection in Mono Composite Leaf Spring by Modal Curvature and Flexibility Approaches

The premature failure analysis of laminated composite structures through damage inspections at initial level has gained considerable importance in recent years. Delamination is one of the major failure mechanisms which occur due to low inter-laminar fracture toughness of the matrix in composite structures. Detection of delamination is crucial to ensure safety and reliable use of composites. In the paper, the modal curvature and flexibility methods have been applied for delamination detection in composite leaf spring through analytical and finite element approaches. First, finite element models of healthy and delaminated leaf spring are formulated to evaluate the Eigen value and Eigen vectors. Next, the absolute curvature difference and change in flexibility in both springs are determined after mass normalization. The presence, location and severity of delamination in a spring are found through change in absolute modal curvature and difference in local flexibilities. The modal curvature method precisely identifies the delamination location and its severity than the modal flexibility method.

Optimization of a mono-composite leaf spring using a hybrid fiber-layup approach

Conventional leaf springs are simple in design, utilizing multiple metallic bars (leaves) with low geometrical moment of inertia to generate an economical and linear spring rate. In its early form, the leaf-spring was manufactured using metals like steel, but, in modern applications, there exist composite leaves reinforced by advance glass and carbon fibers. Benefits of composite spring designs include: high specific strength, ability to form complex profiles, and possibility of subcomponent consolidation to reduce assembly. Due to the bending characteristics of the leaf spring, the axial load decreases through the beam thickness, reaching a minimum at the neutral surface. Given this fact, a design optimization approach for mono-composite leaf springs is developed considering a hybrid fiber-layup. Initially, a detailed topology optimization is conducted to optimize the geometry of the leaf spring based on the Tsai-Wu failure model. This process yielded a unique spring design which reduced the mass of the spring by 29% compared to the initial non-optimized spring and 80–90% compared to a steel spring. Subsequently, the design is further optimized by replacing low stress, high modulus reinforcement with lower modulus and cost-effective materials to improve overall vehicle mass, efficiency, and operation. The second stage of the optimization based on the hybrid fiber-layup approach resulted in an additional 7% mass reduction. As there is a connection between fuel efficiency and vehicle mass, the significant reduction of spring mass has a positive impact on vehicle fuel consumption and leads to suspension responsiveness gains. Moreover, the possibility of swapping up to 20% of the middle plies reinforcement with commodity plastics demonstrates the cost benefits of the hybrid fiber-layup design approach considering the high cost of carbon and other high-performance reinforcements.

Mono Composite Leaf Spring for Light-Weight Automobiles

The foremost aspire of this mission is to ease overall mass of the vehicle by replacing steel leaf spring in its place of mono composite leaf spring which enhance overall vehcile concert.weight diminution can be achieved principally by preamble of better stuff, creation and well mechanized process,not only lessening of the credence as to tighten your belt energy and save up natural resources. Composite fabric has accompanying elastic strain energy store power. Composite resources provides for more generous burden economy load carrying capacity and stiffness.In this analysis carbon fiber reinforced polymer is used which is enormously strong and it is light fiber reinforced plastic which contains carbon fibers which has good decomposition properties.

Design Optimization and FE Analysis of 3D Printed Carbon PEEK Based Mono Leaf Spring.

In this research work, design optimization and static analysis of a 3D printed based carbon PEEK (poly ether ether ketone, reinforced with carbon) polymer composite mono leaf spring was done using finite element analysis. Comparative study of leaf springs of a Dodge SUV car has been made by using 3D printed carbon PEEK. The main objective of this work is to optimize the design and material parameters, such as fiber diameter, fiber length, percentage volume of fibers and orientation angle of fibers in 3D printed based material with a mono polymer composite leaf spring. The effects of these parameters were studied to evaluate the deflection, bending stress, spring rate, stiffness and von Mises stress under different loading conditions. Furthermore investigation has been done to reduce the weight of leaf springs and claimed the 3D printed based leaf springs have better load carrying capacity. Thus an attempt has been made in this regard and we selected the 3D printed carbon PEEK in developing product design and material selection for minimum deflection and bending stress by means of response surface optimization methodology for an efficient leaf spring suspension system. The 3D printed carbon fiber polymer composite has three different percentage volume fractions such as 30%, 50%, and 60%. The selected carbon PEEK has 0°, 45°, and 90° fiber orientations. Finite element based analysis has been performed on 3D printed carbon PEEK material to conclude the optimized design parameters and best possible combination of factors affecting the leaf spring performance.

Static and Vibration Analysis of CFRP Composite Mono Leaf Spring

Conventional steel leaf spring is analyzed at maximum load using finite element analysis (FEA), ANSYS v16 software. The finite element results showed stresses and deflection, and then by using the results of the steel leaf spring, a composite one made from carbon fiber with epoxy resin CFRP is designed using FEA. The objective was to obtain safe design of CFRP composite leaf spring with less weight and the same stiffness of that the steel one. In the study, safe design means that CFRP composite leaf spring has high safety factor in stresses and high natural frequencies. Static, modal and harmonic analysis for both steel and composite leaf springs has been carried out using FEA. The results showed that the CFRP composite leaf spring withstands against failure and resonance where it has much higher factor of safety in stresses and higher natural frequencies with weight reduction 79% over conventional steel leaf spring.

Prediction of Residual Fatigue Life of Composite Mono Leaf Spring Based on Stiffness Degradation

Estimation of remaining useful life gained considerable attention in composites technology in recent years. It is due to efficient technique to check the reliability or sustainability of components. This paper adopts the mixed-mode approaches such as experimental, analytical and finite element methods to predict the residual fatigue life of cracked composite mono leaf spring. The finite element analysis is carried out on both healthy and cracked composite springs to analyze static and fatigue life. Experimental fatigue test has been conducted on an artificially cracked leaf spring for 500 set numbers of fatigue cycles up to 2000 to record strains. These strains are used in Hwang and Han analytical model to determine the residual fatigue life of cracked spring. As a result, the residual fatigue life of cracked spring is found to be 2.48 × 106 cycles determined by the model. At the end, the stiffness degradation curve is drawn by Hwang and Han model and compared with benchmark stiffness degradation curve. The analytical model results are found to be in closer approximation with the benchmark.

Fabrication and Testing of Glass/Banana Hybridized Epoxy Mono Composite Leaf Spring under Static Loading

This study makes use of E glass fiber and Banana fiber woven mats for the development of the hybrid composite mono leaf spring. Six composite laminates for selecting the optimum stack sequence were fabricated, four hybrids and two standalone using epoxy as matrix. From the flexural tests, two hybrid combinations were selected for fabricating the mono leaf spring. Among the hybrid composites, the one with three layers of glass fabric on the outside displayed maximum bending strength of 99.6 MPa. Composite mono leaf spring with three layers of glass fabric on the outside exhibited lower deflection when compared to conventional leaf spring. Results indicate that mono composite leaf spring has the potential to be used as an alternative to conventional leaf spring with continual research.

Fabrication of Hybrid Composite Mono-Leaf Spring with Unidirectional Glass Fibers

One of the vital parts during the design of an automobile is the Suspension system. The primary function of the suspension system is to minimize the transmission of road shocks. The role of composites in weight reduction and fuel saving in automobiles is highly significant. A combination of better material and better design approach will further enhance the weight reduction process. In the present work, multi leaf steel spring is replaced by the optimally designed composite mono leaf spring. A mono composite leaf Spring of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced plastic with similar mechanical and geometrical properties to the multi leaf steel spring, was fabricated and tested for static strength. The objective was to obtain a spring with minimum weight that is capable of carrying external forces without failure. Compare to steel springs, the composite spring has stresses that are much lower, the natural frequency is higher and the spring weight is reduced considerably.

Detection of Internal Delamination in Composite Mono Leaf Spring based on Vibration Characteristics

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is one of the non destructive evaluations universally accepted to detect defect or damage in composite structures. The paper deals with detection of inter laminar delamination problems in composite mono leaf spring during service conditions by vibration techniques. The delamination detection is crucial issue as it leads to catastrophic failure. The vibration parameters such as natural frequency and modes shapes are evaluated for healthy and delaminated spring. It has been observed that some mode shapes are found to be more sensitive to the delaminated region. The presence, location and severity of delamination are simulated and validated by experimental modal analysis for both the spring and found closer approximation with each other.

Design Analysis and Experimental investigation of Composite Mono Leaf spring.

Design Analysis and Experimental investigation of Composite Mono Leaf spring.