Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

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Leaf spring model for heavy load vehicle using solid works and ANSYS
analysis
Chirag D. Bhatt a, Mukesh Nadarajan a, R. Balaji b,⇑, Isukapalli rohith c, Ashish Selokar d
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science, Padur, Chennai, India
b
Department of Research & Development, NoobTron Pvt. Ltd, Chennai 600064, India
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, GITAM (DEEMED), Visakhapatnam 530045, India
d
Department of Physics, MohsinbhaiJaveri College, Wadsa, Gadchiroli, M.S 441207, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In present generation, suspension plays most important aspects in heavy automobile vehicles the opti-
Received 5 August 2020 mization of suspension, the leaf spring is introduced with new material selections in this paper. Leaf
Accepted 12 August 2020 spring is a simple form of spring, it is widely used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Leaf spring
Available online xxxx
is long narrow plates attached to the body of the trailer axle. Leaf spring plays major role in automobile
industries. Multi leaf spring in Indian Automobile Industries are very large automobile industries in
Keywords: Indian manufacturing companies majorly producing multi leaf spring for heavy load vehicles because this
Leaf spring
leaf spring it acts as an energy absorbing material on the virtue of its deflection. In this paper the study
Suspension system
FRP
includes, the version of leaf spring is created in stable works of different materials FRP, Titanium Alloy,
Titanium alloy Super Bainite and Structural Steel. The 3D modeling of leaf spring is carried out using SOLIDWORKS
ANSYS 2013 and the analysis is done using ANSYS 17.2 software.
Composites & alloys Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Nanotechnology: Ideas, Innovation and Industries.

1. Introduction The two holes is also known as eye. Multi leaf spring has several
layers which consist of different length placed upon each other.
Leaf spring is originally called as laminated or carriage spring The shorter plates are at the bottom and longer plates are on the
and sometimes it is referred as semi-elliptical or cart spring. This top. The longest leaf is technically called as master leaf spring
leaf spring is commonly used for suspension in automotive vehicle and other leaves are called as graduated leaves. These springs are
like heavy duty vehicle, motor vehicle etc. It is known as one of the mounted together by means of steel strap, nut and bolt. The spring
oldest forms of springs. It has tendency to carry lateral loads, brake is clamped to the axle by the means of U-bolt [4–6]. It is generally
torsion, driving torsion additionally to surprise riveting [1–3]. The used in heavy duty vehicles like truck, this spring is placed at top or
advantages of leaf spring is the vertical loading is also distributed bottom of the trailer’s axle. The rear end is fixed to shackle. And the
throughout the length of the leaf spring rather than the actual other front end is fixed to pin joint which is moveable. The entire
through a small spring and clamp, which can create a constant load of the vehicle is resting on leaf spring. The main use of shackle
force to a large amount for the suspension to handle and they also is to balance the spring length when the wheel comes across the
control axle damping. Leaf spring is also referred as slender arc- uneven roads. It means that front end of the leaf spring is fixed
shaped and narrow in length. The steel which is rectangular and it is constrained in all direction. As the rear end is constrained
cross-section. It consists of two types of springs Mono leaf spring only in Y and Z directions and not in X- direction. At a 90° shackle
and Multi leaf spring. Mono leaf spring consist of only single layer angle spring rate is not affected. If the shackle is kept less than 90°
of leaf spring which has two holes on the either side of the spring. the spring rate will stiffens and if the shackle angle is greater than
90° the spring gets softens [7–10]. There are some objective of sus-
pension like the road shocks is being prevented from being trans-
⇑ Corresponding author. mitted to the vehicle components. The suspension is utilized to
E-mail address: [email protected] ( R. Balaji).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.08.360
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Nanotechnology: Ideas, Innovation and Industries.

Please cite this article as: C. D. Bhatt, M. Nadarajan, R. Balaji et al., Leaf spring model for heavy load vehicle using solid works and ANSYS analysis, Materials
Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.08.360
C.D. Bhatt et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

safeguard the occupants from road shocks. It is also use to preserve

the stability of the vehicle in pitting or rolling during motion. Now
a days, composite materials are widely used in multi leaf spring. As
the composite material is used it is possible to reduce weight of
leaf spring without changing its load carrying capacity and stiff-
ness. Composite leaf springs are up to five times more durable than
a steel spring. Composites also has tendency to replace steel and
save weight in longitudinal leaf springs. The non-ferrous metals
like titanium alloy are also used to manufacture leaf spring it
improves its corrosion resistance. Composite materials are replace-
ment of metal parts in automobile industry [4,8,11]. According to
the investigation, a material with higher strength and lesser
young’s modulus in the longitudinal direction is the exactly suit-
able material for a leaf spring [2–4,12]. In recent years, automobile
companies as well as manufacturers are trying to reduce the Fig. 1. Basic leaf spring model.
weight of vehicles to meet the natural resources [3]. The fiber com-
posite leaf springs is to replace with stainless leaf spring to make
system weightless which can maintain same strength as compare
to steel leaf spring. If the weight of the system is less which helps
to increase overall performance of the vehicles. E-Glass/epoxy
composite material also utilized which has good strength and also
light in weight as compared to traditional steel spring. A study has
been done during this paper to investigate the analysis of spring
and fatigue life. The fatigue means damage or breaking point, dam-
age due to frequently applying stresses on the material [10–12].
The repeated bending at a certain point may cause the material
to fail. Fatigue strength is known to be the utmost stress that can
be suffered any point of quantity of cycles without failure. There
are two types low cycle fatigue and high cycle fatigue. Repeated
bending at a same point of portion of wire may cause material to
fail. Fatigue strength is understood to be utmost stress that may
be suffered for any specified quantity of cycle without failure
[13–15]. Many tests has been done to operate and to get the
expected quantity of cycles to failure at the level of stress [16].
Almost all engineering failures come from fatigue failure which is
known as inclination of the material to the brittle cracking under
repeated alternating or cyclic stresses of intensity of the normal
strength. Where the composites are the perfect for leaf spring
because of their application of their high strength to weight ratio,
internal damping within the composite material which results in Fig. 2. Analysis of multi-leaf spring model.
better vibration energy absorption inside the material. The benefit
of composite is mass reduction and it has five occasions stronger
than the usual steel spring. After the case study has done there
are some problem identification in finding weight of the structural is incited at the fixed eye end of the leaf spring its greatest worth is
steel leaf spring is comparably high. The deflection credits are poor 397.03 Mpa as shown in Table 1 (Fig. 5).
in case of structural steel and poor ride properties due to the noise
and friction. The four fundamental kinds of leaf spring systems: 1.
1.2.2. Titanium alloy
Multi-leaf spring, 2. Mono leaf spring, 3. Parabolic Single leaf, 4.
Figs. 1–4 ensues the Force applied (6KN), Normal Elastic Strain,
Fiberglass Leaf spring.
Total Deflection and the equivalent von-Mises stress of the FRP
Leaf spring respectively. Red zone shows the region of most
1.1. Modeling and analysis
extreme stress and blue zone demonstrates the region of least
stress. The most extreme deflection is at the focal point of the leaf
Leaf spring of heavy duty vehicles is taken for modeling and
spring its greatest worth is 0.095388 mm. The most extreme stress
analysis. The 3D modeling of leaf spring is carried out using SOLID-
is incited at the fixed eye end of the leaf spring its greatest worth is
WORKS 2013. Figures given below show one of the models of leaf
398.35 Mpa as shown in Table 2 (Fig. 6).
spring used in analysis.

1.2. Leaf spring analysis 1.2.3. Super bainite

Figs. 1–4 ensues the Force applied (6KN), Normal Elastic Strain,
1.2.1. FRp Total Deflection and the equivalent von-Mises stress of the FRP
Figs. 1–4 ensues the Force applied (6KN), Normal Elastic Strain, Leaf spring respectively. Red zone shows the region of most
Total Deflection and the equivalent von-Mises stress of the FRP extreme stress and blue zone demonstrates the region of least
Leaf spring respectively. Red zone shows the region of most stress. The most extreme deflection is at the focal point of the leaf
extreme stress and blue zone demonstrates the region of least spring its greatest worth is 0.051445 mm. The most extreme stress
stress. The most extreme deflection is at the focal point of the leaf is incited at the fixed eye end of the leaf spring its greatest worth is
spring its greatest worth is 0.054334 mm. The most extreme stress 395.91 Mpa as shown in Table 3.
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C.D. Bhatt et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 3. FRP-LeafSpring analysis.

1.2.4. Structural steel 3. Results & discussion

Figs. 1–4 ensues the Force applied (6KN), Normal Elastic Strain,
Total Deflection and the equivalent von-Mises stress of the FRP A detailed investigation of various Leaf Spring material reports
Leaf spring respectively. Red zone shows the region of most draws the following statements regarding the ANSYS-analyzation
extreme stress and blue zone demonstrates the region of least in various aspects of Leaf spring.
stress. The most extreme deflection is at the focal point of the leaf
spring its greatest worth is 0.056334 mm. The most extreme stress  The development of the leaf spring plays an important role in
is incited at the fixed eye end of the leaf spring its greatest worth is LCV and heavy vehicle design, in the current generation. These
399.05 Mpa given in below Table 4. materials are considered to be one of the most safety providing
as well as shock absorbing components. In the view of this point
2. Results our paper designs the Leaf – spring development to enhance in
every aspects of Thermo-Mechanical property.
 The implementation of various materials has been taken into
consideration for the production and to enhance the quality of
Materials Equivalent Normal Total Leaf – spring, the Leaf – spring have been analyzed in ANSYS
Stress (MPa) Elastic Deformation with various factors like Equivalent Stress; Total Deformation;
Strain (–) (mm) Fatigue; Temperature; Normal Elastic Strain and other factors
are analyzed and proven in this paper.
FRP 397.03 0.00049612 0.054334
 FRP (Fibre Reinforced Plastic/Polymer) ensued an excellent out-
Super Bainite 395.91 0.00060602 0.051445
come in ‘Leaf – Spring’. In Leaf spring, the analyzation of defor-
Structural Steel 399.05 0.0005212 0.056334
mation factor is considered as least impact. This study ensues
Titanium Alloy 398.35 0.001012 0.095388
that FRP Leaf – spring has ultimate strength, stress and with-

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Fig. 4. Ti-Alloy LeafSpring analysis.

Table 1
Properties of FRP-material leafspring.

S. No Analysis Unit Method/Type Outcomes

1. Equivalent Stress Mpa Static Structural 397.03 max
2. Poission Ratio – Static Structural 0.3
3. Total Deformation mm Static Structural 0.054334 max
4. Normal Elastic Strain – Static Structural 0.049612 max

stand of temperature and load. The FRP Leaf spring endurance of Structural steel, which show very high performing ability of
limit is comparatively very high with other analyzed leaf – material. Thus, the load applied of about 6KN on the leaf –
spring materials. spring during analyzation outcomes in very less deformation
 Super Bainite Leaf – Spring ensued an nearly ultimate outcome i.e., 0.056334max, which is appreciable for the FRP and also
in Leaf – spring, Super Bainite is an thermo-safe material which Super Bainite in the application of LEAF – SPRING.
it ensued the deformation factor 0.051445 max it is slightly les-  Titanium Alloy has better quantitative operating condition,
ser compared to Structural steel and FRP (deformation 0.054334 applied stress levels. As a foremost processing in such a design
max) and the deformation range is very less as compared to any proceeding, fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate
other material in this paper. Its Safety factor gives an excellence properties were determined. which was sensitive to temper
of the Leaf – spring. Therefore, Super Bainite ensues more ability brittle conditions, this steel gives an ultimate endurance limit
to withstand in LEAF – SPRING utilization. and it ensued acceptable stress and deformation outcome fac-
 Structural steel is an advanced form of steel, at present leaf – tor when it tends to 6KN load applied on leaf – spring, which
spring for LCVs, Buses, SUVs and other vehicles it has been uti- ensues the stress 0.16663 max, from this we can conclude
lized. Structural steel plays as an important role in the steel that Titanium alloy is also preferable in Leaf – Spring
material. In this study, the FRP results in the similar properties production.

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C.D. Bhatt et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 5. Analysis – superbainite material leafspring.

Table 2
Properties of Ti-alloy material leafspring.

S. No Analysis Unit Method/Type Outcomes

1. Equivalent Stress Mpa Static Structural 398.35 max
2. Poission Ratio – Static Structural 0.36
3. Total Deformation mm Static Structural 0.095388 max
4. Normal Elastic Strain – Static Structural 0.01012 max

4. Conclusion utilization of composite and alloy materials, without any decline

on load carrying capacity and stiffness. This is also due to the high
The design of FRP, Titanium alloy, Super Bainite, and Structural normal elastic strain and high strength-to-weight ratio of these
steel leaf spring is done in SOLIDWORKS 2013 and analyzed in composite and new variety of steel materials. It is also observed
ANSYS 17.2. An investigation has been made between these mate- that the Super Bainite ensues high deflection and strain energy
rials with respect to its Total Deformation, Normal Elastic Strain than that of other materials such as stainless steel. Though its total
and Equivalent Stresses. It is ensued that the FRP leaf spring is deformation is slightly higher, FRP composite as well as the Super
light-weighted and stronger material. It is also highly economical Bainitic Steel gave similar outcomes during analysis. The Titanium
compared to other materials with same design specifications. The Alloy ensued a lesser but a good out-turns, compared with these
weight reduction of the leaf spring was made possible due to the three materials.

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C.D. Bhatt et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 6. Analysis SS-Material LeafSpring.

Table 3
Properties of super bainite material leafspring.

S. No Analysis Unit Method/Type Outcomes

1. Equivalent Stress Mpa Static Structural 395.91 max
2. Poission Ratio – Static Structural 0.43
3. Total Deformation mm Static Structural 0.051445 max
4. Normal Elastic Strain – Static Structural 0.00060602 max

Table 4
Properties of SS- material leafspring.

S. No Analysis Unit Method/Type Outcomes

1. Equivalent Stress Mpa Static Structural 399.05 max
2. Poission Ratio – Static Structural 0.3
3. Total Deformation mm Static Structural 0.056334 max
4. Normal Elastic Strain – Static Structural 0.0005212 max

Declaration of Competing Interest [2] U.S. Ramakant, K. Sowjanya, Design and analysis of automotive multi leaf
springs using composite material, IJMPERD 2249-6890 3(1) (March 2013)
155162.
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan- [3] I. Rajendran, S. Vijayarangan, Design and analysis of a composite leaf spring, J.
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared Inst. Eng. India 8 (2) (2002).
[4] Mahnood M. shoried, Davood Rzaei, Analysis and optimization of composite
to influence the work reported in this paper.
leaf spring. Composite structures 60, Elsevier science Ltd, 2003, pp. 317 to 325.
[5] Sandeep Bhattacharjee, Suyog Kanitkar, Composite Leaf Spring, Volume: 04
Issue: 11 | Nov -2017, (IRJET).
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