International Journal of Advances in Engineering, 2015, 1(6), 591 - 600
ISSN: 2394-9260 (printed version); ISSN: 2394-9279 (online version); url:http://www.ijae.in
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Analysis of Mono Leaf Spring Using Composite Materials
M. Premkumar and G. Mahesh
Assistant professor Department of Mechanical Engineering,Sree sakthi Engineering College, Coimbatore, India.
[email protected]
Received 16 June 2015 / Accepted 10 July 2015
Abstract - Reducing weight while increasing or maintaining strength of products is getting to be highly important research issue
in this modern world. Composite materials are one of the material families which are attracting all sectors. In this paper we
describe design and analysis of composite leaf spring. The objective is to compare the stresses and weight saving of composite
leaf spring with that of steel leaf spring. The design constraints are stresses, life, frequency and deflections. The Automobile
Industry has great interest for replacement of steel leaf spring with that of composite leaf spring, since the composite materials
has high strength to weight ratio, good corrosion resistance. The material selected was glass fiber reinforced polymer (E-
glass/epoxy), carbon epoxy is used against conventional steel. The design parameters were selected and analyzed with the
objective of minimizing weight of the composite leaf spring as compared to the steel leaf spring. Compared to steel spring, the
composite leaf spring is found to have 67.35% lesser stress,64.95% higher stiffness and 126.98% higher natural frequency than
that of existing steel leaf spring. A weight reduction of 76.4% is achieved by using optimized composite leaf spring. The leaf
spring is modeled in Solidworks and the analysis is done using ANSYS 14.5 software. The composite material is selected by
comparing fiber reinforced polymer (E-glass/epoxy), S-glass and epoxy carbon fiber, and the best of the material is selected.
Keywords: Stiffness, Composite leaf spring, Steel leaf spring, ANSYS 14.5, Solidworks 13
I. INTRODUCTION
A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a
laminated or carriage spring, and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring or cart spring, it is one of the oldest
forms of springing, dating back to medieval times. A leaf spring can either be attached directly to the frame at both
ends or attached directly at one end, usually the front, with the other end attached through a shackle, a short swinging
arm. The shackle takes up the tendency of the leaf spring to elongate when compressed and thus makes for softer
springiness. According to the studies made amaterial with maximum strength and minimum modulus of elasticity in the
Longitudinal direction is the most suitable material for a leaf spring. Weight reduction can be achieved primarily by the
introduction of better material,design optimization and better manufacturing processes. The suspension leaf spring is
one of the potential items for weight reduction in automobiles unsprung weight. This achieves the vehicle with more
fuel efficiency and improved riding qualities. The introduction of composite materials was made it possible to reduce
the weight of leaf spring without any reduction on load carrying capacity and stiffness. The composite materials made
it possible to reduce the weight of machine element without any reduction of the load carrying capacity. high elastic
strain energy storage capacity and high strength-to-weight ratio compared with those of steel. FRP springs also have
excellent fatigue resistance and durability. But the weight reduction of the leaf spring is achieved not only by material
replacement but also by design optimization. The replacement of steel with optimally designed composite leaf spring
can provide 92% weight reduction. Moreover the composite leaf spring has lower stresses compared to steel spring. All
these will result in fuel saving which will make countries energy independent because fuel saved is fuel produced.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
H.A. Al-Qureshi “Automobile leaf springs from composite materials”: In this paper a single leaf spring with variable
thickness of glass fibers reinforced plastic (GFRP) with similar mechanical and geometrical properties to the multileaf
steel spring was designed, fabricated and tested. Glass fibers reinforced plastic (GFRP) presents advantages over
graphite/epoxy such as lower sensitivity to cracks, impact and wear damage The leaf spring model was considered to
be a parabolic ally tapered, constant width beam carrying a concentrated load and assumed to be symmetrical with
different cord lengths for the two limbs of the spring.
Mahmood M. Shokrieh *, DavoodRezaei “Analysis and optimization of a composite leaf spring”: In this paper a four-
leaf steel spring used in the rear suspension system of light vehicles is analyzed using ANSYS V5.4 software. The
finite element results showing stresses and deflections verified the existing analytical and experimental solutions. Using
the results of the steel leaf spring, a composite one made from fibers glass with epoxy resin is designed and optimized
using ANSYS. Main consideration is given to the optimization of the spring geometry. The objective was to obtain a
spring with minimum weight that is capable of carrying given static external forces without failure. The design
constraints were stresses and displacements. The results showed that an optimum spring width decreases hyperbolically
and the thickness increases linearly from the spring eyes towards the axle seat.Compared to the steel spring
Gulur Siddaramanna Shiva Shankar : “Mono Composite Leaf Spring for Light Weight Vehicle – Design, End Joint
Analysis and Testing” In this paper A single leaf with variable thickness and width for constant cross sectional area of
