MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF

COMPOSITE LEAF SPRING

A PROJECT REPORT
SUBMITTED BY
DANIEL M. YESUDASAN 621711114008
JOEL SANTHOSH E.
621711114017
MURUGAPERUMAL V.
621711114022
PUGAZHMURUGAN S.
621711114031
GUIDED BY
Mr. N. GURUMOORTHI M.E.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,
MUTHAYAMMAL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,
RASIPURAM

ABSTRACT

The fuel efficiency and emission of gas regulation of automobiles are two
important issues. To fulfill this problem the automobile industries are
trying to make new vehicle which can provide high efficiency with low
cost.

The best way to increase the fuel efficiency is to reduce the weight of the
automobile. The weight reduction can be achieved primarily by the
introduction of better material, design optimization and better
manufacturing processes.

The achievement of weight reduction with adequate improvement of

mechanical properties has made composite a very good replacement
material for conventional steel

INTRODUCTION
What is a Spring?
A spring is defined as an elastic body, whose function is to distort when
loaded and to recover its original shape when the load is removed. Springs
are elastic bodies that can be twisted, pulled or
stretched by some force.
They can return to their original shape when the force is released.
Leaf Spring
Leaf spring (also known as flat springs) is made out of flat plate. The
advantage in leaf spring over helical spring is that the ends of the spring
may be guided along a definite path as it deflects to act as a
structural member in addition the energy absorbing device. Thus the
leaf springs may carry lateral loads, brake torque, driving torque etc.,
in addition to shocks.

Flat spring cantilever type

Flat spring simply supported beam type

Laminated leaf spring

CONSTRUCTION OF LEAF SPRING

It is built up of a number of plates (known as leaves). The leaves are

usually given an initial curvature or cambered so that they will tend to
straighten under the load.
The leaves are held together by means of a band shrunk around them at
the center or by a bolt passing through the center.

APPLICATIONS OF LEAF SPRING

To cushion, absorb or control energy due to either shock or vibration as in

car springs, railway buffers, air-craft landing gears, shock absorbers and
vibration dampers.

To apply forces, as in brakes, clutches and spring loaded valves.

To control motion by maintaining contact between two elements as in cams

and followers.

To measure forces, as in spring balances and engine indicators.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAF SPRING

The leaf spring acts as a linkage for holding the axle in position and thus
separate linkage are not necessary.

The positioning of the axle is carried out by the leaf springs

Acceleration and braking torque cause wind-up and vibration

MATERIAL FOR LEAF SPRING

The material used for leaf springs is usually a plain carbon steel having
0.90 to 1.0% carbon. The leaves are heat treated after the forming process.
The heat treatment of spring steel produces greater strength and therefore
greater load capacity, greater range of deflection and better fatigue
properties.

The material of the spring should have high fatigue strength, high ductility,
high resilience and it should be creep resistant. It largely depends upon the
service for which they are used i.e. severe service, average service or light
service

MANUFACTURING OF LEAF SPRING

Shearing of flat bar

Center hole punching / Drilling
End Heating process forming (hot and cold process)
1. Eye Forming / Wrapper Forming
2. Diamond cutting / end trimming / width cutting / end tapering
3. End punching / end grooving / end bending / end forging / eye
grinding
4. Center hole punching / Drilling / nibbing
Heat Treatment
1. Heating
2. Camber forming
3. Quenching
4. Tempering

MANUFACTURING OF LEAF SPRING

Contd.

Surface preparation
1. Shot peening / stress peening
2. Painting
Eye bush preparation process
1. Eye reaming / eye boring
2. Bush insertion
3. Bush reaming
Assemble
1. Presetting and load testing
2. Paint touch-up
3. Marking and packing

LITERATURE REVIEW

From the static analysis results it was found that there is a maximum
displacement of 10.16mm in the steel leaf spring and the corresponding
displacements in E-glass/epoxy, Graphite epoxy, and Carbon epoxy are 15
mm, 15.75 mm and 16.21 mm.

From the static analysis results, the von-mises stress in the steel is 453.92
MPa and the von-mises stress in Eglass epoxy, Graphite epoxy and Carbon
epoxy is 163.22 MPa, 653.68 MPa and 300.30 MPa was exiting
respectively.

A comparative study has been made between steel and composite leaf
spring with respect to strength and weight. Composite mono leaf spring
reduces the weight by 81.22% for E-Glass/epoxy, 91.95% for Graphite
epoxy, and 90.51 % for Carbon epoxy over conventional leaf spring
~ Design and analysis of composite leaf spring for light vehicles By
Pankaj Saini, Ashish Goel and Dushyant Kumar

Steel leaf spring was replaced by composite material of fiberglass with

epoxy resin and analyze it with same loading condition for stresses and
deflection.

Also from the analysis result they optimized spring geometry and found
that spring width is decreased with hyperbolically and thickness is increase
linearly from spring eyes towards the axle seat.

Also they concluded that the optimize composite leaf spring has much
lower stress as compared to steel spring and the spring weight without eye
units which having in steel is 9.2 kg is decrease by 80 % of its value.

The natural frequency of composite leaf spring is higher than that of the
steel leaf spring
Analysis and optimization of a composite leaf spring by Mahmood M.
Shokrieh and Davood Rezaei

The composite leaf spring having 67.35% less 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.

Design and analysis of composite leaf spring in light vehicle by

M.Venkatesan and D.Helmen

The ANSYS software results were verified with analytical and

experimental results and they concluded that optimize composite spring
having much lower stress, weight is reduce nearly 85 % and the natural
frequency is higher as compared to steel leaf spring

Mono composite leaf spring for light weight vehicle Design, end joint
analysis and testing by Gulur Siddaramanna Shiva Shankar and
Sambagam Vijayarangan

The load carrying capacity, stiffness and weight of composite leaf spring are
compared with that of steel leaf spring analytically and experimentally.

It was analyzed that, the composite leaf spring has 67.35 % lesser stress,
64.95 % higher stiffness and 126.98 % higher natural frequency compare to
existing steel leaf spring. A weight reduction of 68.15 % is also achieved by
using composite leaf spring.

The composite leaf spring fatigue life is more than that of the conventional
steel leaf spring.
Analytical and experimental studies on fatigue life prediction of steel and
composite multi-leaf spring for light passenger vehicles using life data
analysis by Mouleeswaran Senthil Kumar and Sabapathy Vijayarangan.

When steel leaf spring is replaced by composite material (GRP), the

deflection is reduced by 6.51%.

The bending stress in GRP leaf spring is decreased by 83.64% that of steel
leaf spring.

The material saving 71.85% is obtained by weight

Computer aided FEA comparison of mono steel and mono GRP leaf
spring by Kumar Krisha and Aggarwal M.L

Deflection of composite leaf spring is less as compared to steel leaf spring

with the same loading condition. They concluded that optimize
conventional steel leaf spring have weight 23 Kg. whereas composite leaf
spring weight is only 3.59 Kg.

So it is indicating the reduction in weight by 84.40% at same level of

performance. Composite leaf spring can be used on smooth road with very
high performance expectations
Modelling and analysis of composite leaf spring under the static load
condition by using FEA by M. M. Patunkar and D. R. Dolas

DESIGN CALCULATIONS
STEP 1 - MATERIAL OF LEAF SPRING
Material selected steel : 50 Cr 1 V 23
Composition of material : 0.45% C,
0.1-0.3% Si,
0.6-0.9 % Mn,
0.9-1.2 Cr
STEP 2 - BASIC DATA OF FORCE MOTORS TRAX CRUISER LEAF
SPRING
Total length of the spring (Eye to Eye) = 1250 mm
No. of full length leaves (nf) = 02

STEP 4 - CALCULATION OF THE LOAD AND EFFECTIVE

LENGTH OF LEAF SPRING

1. Consider the leaf spring is cantilever beam. S the load acting on the
each assembly of the leaf spring is acted on the two ends of the
leaf
spring. Load acted on the leaf spring is divided by the two because of
consideration of the cantilever beam.
2W = 7125 N
W = 7125/2
W = 3562.5N

2. For support and clamping of the leaf spring the U bolt is use and the distance
between the U bolts is 110 mm. This is considered as an unbent portion of the
leaf spring. Ineffective length of the leaf spring is as under:
l = 100.00 mm
Effective length of the spring:
2*L = 2*L1 l
2*L = 1250 2/3 (110)
2*L = 1176.67
L = 1176.67/2
L = 588.34 mm

COMPOSITE MATERIALS

Composite materials (also called composition materials or shortened to

composites) are materials made from two or more constituent materials
with significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when
combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the
individual components.

Typical engineered composite materials include:

Composite building materials such as cements, concrete
Reinforced plastics such as fiber-reinforced polymer
Metal Composites
Ceramic Composites

CHARACTERISTICS
1.

A composite material is defined as a material composed of two or more

constituents combined on a macroscopic scale by mechanical and
chemical bonds.

2.

Typical composite materials are composed of inclusions suspended in a

matrix. The constituents retain their identities in the composite.

3.

Many composite materials offer a combination of strength and modulus

that are either comparable to or better than any traditional metallic
materials.

4.

The fatigue strength weight ratios as well as fatigue damage tolerances of

many composite laminates excellent. For these reasons, fiber composite
have emerged as a major class of structural material and are either used or
being considered as substitutions for metal in many weight- critical
components in aerospace, automotive and other industries.

5.

High internal damping. This leads to better vibration energy absorption

within the material and results in reduced transmission of noise and
vibration to neighboring structures.

WHY A COMPOSITE?

Unlike conventional materials (e.g. steel), the properties of the composite

material can be designed considering the structural aspects. The design of a
structural component using composites involves both material and
structural design. Composite properties (e.g. stiffness,) can be varied
continuously over a broad range of values under the control of the
designer.

Careful selection of reinforcement type enables finished product

characteristics to be tailored to almost any specific engineering
requirement.

BENEFITS

Weight Reduction.

High Strength.

Corrosiveness and

Low specific gravity

CARBON FIBRE

Carbon fiberreinforced polymer, carbon fiberreinforced plastic or carbon

fiberreinforced thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP or often simply carbon
fiber, or even carbon), is an extremely strong and light fiber-reinforced
polymer which contains Carbon fibers.

CFRPS are commonly used wherever high strength-to-weight ratio and

rigidity are required, such as aerospace, automotive and civil engineering,
sports goods and an increasing number of other consumer and technical
applications. which contains carbon fibers.

The binding polymer is often a thermoset resin such as epoxy, but other
thermoset or thermoplastic polymers, such as polyester, vinyl ester or
nylon, are sometimes used.

PROPERTIES OF CARBON FIBRE

The reinforcement will give the CFRP its strength and rigidity; measured
by stress and elastic modulus respectively.

Unlike isotropic materials like steel and aluminum, CFRP has directional
strength properties

It has high initial strength-to-weight ratio

MANUFACTURING
MOLDING
VACUUM BAGGING
COMPRESSION MOLDING
FILAMENT WINDING
DISPOSAL AND RECYCLING

APPLICATIONS
Aerospace engineering
Automotive engineering
Civil engineering
Carbon fiber microelectrodes
Sports goods

MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF

COMPOSITE LEAF SPRING
Based on the dimensions obtained from the conventional design of leaf spring, the
model of the leaf spring was created with the help of the 3-D modeling CAD software
Solidworks 2009.

Solid works is modeling software for modeling various mechanical designs for
performing related design and manufacturing operations. The system uses a 3D solid
modeling system as the core, and applies the feature base parametric modeling method.
Some of the features of solid works are as below:
Ease of use
Parametric & feature based modeling
Robustness
User Friendly Environment

MODELING OF LEAF SPRING

1.

Create sketch with the help of leaf spring length and camber. Divide leaf
spring length and camber into equal division and draw a spline which
passes through intersection of camber and length division.

2.

Extrude above sketch to leaf spring width to create one leaf.

3.

Same way create six leaves for generating leaf spring

INTRODUCTION TO ANSYS

In most structural analysis applications it is necessary to compute

displacements and stresses at various points of interest. The finite element
method is a very valuable tool for studying the behavior of structures. In
the finite element method, the finite element model is created by dividing
the structure in to a number of finite elements.

The process of performing ANSYS can be broken down into three main
steps.
1) Pre-processing
2) Solver
3) Post-processing

ASSUMPTIONS

Meshing size is limited to computer compatibilities.

Static analysis is considered.

Material used for steel leaf spring analysis is isotropic

MESHED MODEL

BOUNDARY CONDITION

ANALYSIS OF STEEL LEAF SPRING

Maximum Von mises Stress Plot, in MPa

MAXIMUM DEFORMATION PLOT FOR

STEEL

ANALYSIS OF CARBON FIBRE LEAF

SPRING
Maximum Deformation Plot, in Mpa (Carbon /Epoxy) of leaf spring

COMPARISON OF RESULTS
PROPERTIES OF STEEL LEAF SPRING
Parameter

Values

Material selected

50Cr1V23

Youngs modulus

2*105 MPa

Passions ratio

0.3

BHN

534-601

Tensile strength ultimate

2000 MPa

Tensile strength yield

1800 MPa

Density

7850 Kg/m3

MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF
CARBON/EPOXY
Tensile modulus along x-direction(Mpa

68457

Tensile modulus along y-direction(Mpa)

66527

Tensile modulus along y-direction(Mpa)

10000

Shear modulus along xy_direction(Mpa)

4570

Shear modulus along yz_direction(Mpa)

3570

Shear modulus along zx_direction(Mpa)

3570

Poisson ratio along xy_direction

0.39

Poisson ratio along yz_direction

0.0044

Poisson ratio along zx_direction

0.045

Mass density(kg/mm3)

1500e-9

COMPARISON OF STEEL &

CARBON FIBRE
Comparison of Displacements (mm)

Comparison of Stress (N/mm2)

Comparison of Densities (kg/m3)

Comparison of Volumes (mm3)

Comparison of Mass (kg)

CONCLUSION
All the three composite leaf springs have lower displacements and
stresses than that of existing steel leaf spring
Composite leaf spring reduces the weight by 79.66% for Carbon
epoxy over steel leaf spring

FUTURE SCOPE

Transient analysis of leaf spring

Manufacturing of composite leaf spring.
Experimental results for composite leaf spring.
Residual stress calculation using FEA.

REFERENCES
Pankaj Saini, Ashish Goel, Dushyant Kumar, Design and analysis of composite leaf
spring for light vehicles, International Journal of Innovative Research in Science,
Engineering and Technology, Vol. 2, Issue 5, May 2013.
Mahmood M. Shokrieh, Davood Rezaei, Analysis and optimization of a composite leaf
spring, Composite Structures 60 (2003) 317325.
M.Venkatesan, D.Helmen, Design and analysis of composite leaf spring in light vehicle,
International Journal of Modern Engineering Research, Vol.2, Issue.1, 2012, pp 213-218.
Gulur Siddaramanna Shiva Shankar, Sambagam Vijayarang n, Mono Composite Leaf
Spring for Light Weight Vehicle Design, d Joint Analysis and Testing, Materials science
(mediagotyra), Vol. 12, No. 3, 2006.
Mouleeswaran Senthil Kumar, Sabapath Vijayarangan, Analytical and Experimental
Studies on Fatigue Life Prediction of Steel and Composite Multi-leaf Spring for Light
Passenger Vehicles Using Life Data Analysis, Materials science (mediagotyra), Vol. 13,
No. 2, 2007.

THANK YOU