International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
STRESS ANALYSIS AND MATERIAL
OPTIMIZATION OF MASTER LEAF SPRING
N.ANU RADHA1, C.SAILAJA2, S.PRASAD KUMAR3, U.CHANDRA SHEKAR REDDY4 &
Dr. A.SIVA KUMAR5
1,2
Assoc. Professor, 3Asst. Professor, 4M.Tech Student, 5Professor, Department of Mechanical
Engineering.MLR Institute of Technology, Dundigal, Hyderabad-43, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Abstract
Leaf springs are one of the oldest suspension components which are still frequently used, especially in automobile vehicles. These
are used to absorb the fluctuating loads from the vehicle. Leaf spring is also known as laminated spring or carriage spring or flat
spring. The main function of leaf spring is not only to support vertical load but also to isolate road induced vibrations. It is
subjected to millions of load cycles leading to fatigue failure. In this connection an attempt is made to study the material
optimization. Hence, existing steel, carbon fiber and boron fibers are evaluated and optimized the best one in concern with their
performance. The boron fiber composite material can be replaceable with existing steel for master leaf spring. The master leaf
spring is modeled in Pro/E (Wild Fire) 5.0 and analysis is carried out by using ANSYS 13.0 for better understanding. The
objective of this project is to present modeling, stress analysis and material optimization of master leaf spring and comparison of
deformation and stress results between steel leaf spring and composite leaf springs under same conditions.
Keywords: Leaf springs, Pro/E (Wild Fire) 5.0, ANSYS 13.0, Fatigue failure, Stress results:
1. INTRODUCTION
The suspension system is to isolate the vehicle body from road shocks and vibrations. It must also keep the tires in contact
with the road, regardless of road surface. A basic suspension system consists of springs, axles, shock absorbers, arms,
rods, and ball joints. The spring is the flexible component of the suspension. Basic types are leaf springs, coil springs, and
torsion bars.
The suspension leaf spring is one of the potential items for weight reduction in automobile as it accounts for ten to twenty
percent of the unsprung weight[3]. This helps in achieving the vehicle with improved riding qualities. It is well known
that springs, are designed to absorb and store energy and then release it. Hence, the strain energy of the material becomes
a major factor in designing the springs.
Leaf springs are known as flat springs or laminated springs. Their lengths are generally reduced from first plate to last
plate and all the plates are held together to act as a single spring by means of central to band , containing two U clips
bolted at the centre. The centre of the arc provides location for the axle , while tie holes are provided at either end for
attaching to the heavy vehicle body[5]. Thus the laef spring acts as a linkage for holding the axle in position and thus
separate linkage are not necessary. It makes the construction simple and strong
The development of a light flex suspension leaf spring is first achieved. Based on consideration of chipping resistance
base part resistance and fatigue resistance, a carbon glass fiber hybrid laminated spring is constructed[6]. A general
discussion on analysis and design of constant width, variable thickness, and composite leaf spring is presented. The
fundamental characteristics of the double tapered FRP beam are evaluated for leaf spring application. Recent
developments have been achieved in the field of materials improvement and quality assured for composite leaf springs
based on microstructure mechanism[8].
All these literature report that the cost of composite; leaf spring is higher than that of steel leaf spring. Hence an attempt
has been made to fabricate the composite leaf spring with the same cost as that of steel leaf spring.
Gulur Siddaramanna Shiva Shankar et al[1] In this paper a single leaf with variable thickness and width for constant
cross sectional area of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) with similar mechanical and geometrical
properties to the multi leaf spring, was designed, fabricated (hand-lay up technique) and tested. The computer algorithm
for design for variable with and variable thickness mono composite leaf spring is explained. Three-dimensional finite
element analysis is used for verification of result obtained from experiment. In which the solid 45 element is used for steel
leaf spring and solid layered 46 element is used for composite leaf spring .for the fabrication of mono composite leaf
spring of E-glass /epoxy hand layup technique is used. The experimental test are carried on both steel and composite leaf
spring and compared the result .It is observed that composite leaf spring is more superior than steel with a large weight
reduction.
Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
Mouleeswaaran Senthil Kumar et al[2] in this paper composite leaf spring is design on basis of fatigue failure .
Theoretical equation for prediction fatigue life is formulated using fatigue modulus and its degrading rate. The
dimensions and number of leaves for both steel leaf spring and composite leaf spring are considered to be same. The
stress analysis is performed using finite element method .The element selected for analysis is solid 45 which behave like a
spring. For the fabrication of each leave the filament winding machine is used and assembled this leaves together with the
help of center bolt and four side clamps. The testing of steel multi leaf spring and composite multi leaf spring are carried
out with the help of an electro hydraulic leaf spring test rig. Design and experimental fatigue analysis of composite multi
leaf spring are carried out using data analysis. It is found that composite leaf spring has 67.35%lesser stress, 64.95%
higher stiffness and 126.98% higher natural frequency and also 68.15% weight reduction is achieved.
Mahmood M. Shokrieh et al.[3] 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 fiberglass
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 (Tsai–Wu failure criterion) 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, the optimized composite spring has stresses that are much lower, the
natural frequency is higher and the spring weight without eye units is nearly 80% lower.
J.P. Hou et al[4] this paper presents the design evolution process of a composite leaf spring for freight rail applications.
Three designs of eye-end attachment for composite leaf springs are described. The material used is glass fibre reinforced
polyester. Static testing and finite element analysis have been carried out to obtain the characteristics of the spring. Load–
deflection curves and strain measurement as a function of load for the three designs tested have been plotted for
comparison with FEA predicted values. The main concern associated with the first design is the delaminating failure at
the interface of the fibres that have passed around the eye and the spring body, even though the design can withstand 150
KN static proof load and one million cycles fatigue load. FEA results confirmed that there is a high interlaminar shear
stress concentration in that region. The second design feature is an additional transverse bandage around the region prone
to delaminating. Delaminating was contained but not completely prevented. The third design overcomes the problem by
ending the fibres at the end of the eye section.
S. Vijayarangan [5] showed the introduction of fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) made it possible to reduce the weight of a
machine element without any reduction of the load carrying capacity. Because of FRP materials high elastic strain energy
storage capacity and high strength-to-weight ratio compared with those of steel, multi-leaf steel springs are being
replaced by mono- leaf FRP springs.
2. SPRING MATERIALS
Steel alloys are the most commonly used spring materials. The most popular alloys include high-carbon (such as the
music wire used for guitar strings), oil-tempered low-carbon, chrome silicon, chrome vanadium, and stainless steel. The
selection of the spring material is usually the first step in parametric spring design. Material selection can be based on a
number of factors, including temperature range, tensile strength, elastic modulus, fatigue life, corrosion resistance,
electrical properties, cost, etc. The Helical Spring Design module requires the following material properties as input as
Elastic Modulus (E), Poisson's Ratio (µ) and Material Mass Density (ρ).
Materia
l
Stainles
Steel
Carbon
Fibre
Boron
Fibre
1.
2.
Table 1 Mechanical properties of materials
Youngs Modulus
Poissons Ratio
(G Pa)
Density
(Kg/m3)
200
0.305
7800
240
0.33
2000
380
0.35
2540
Table 2 Specifications of Master Leaf
Total Length of The Spring (Eye To Eye)
No of Full Length Leave
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1540MM
01
Page 325
International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
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Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
(Master Leaf)
Outer Diameter of Eye
Inner Diameter of Eye
Thickness of The Leaf Spring
Width of The Leaf Spring
Youngs Modulus of The Spring
Load Acting on The Spring
43 MM
36 MM
13 MM
70 MM
200*103N/MM2
3850
3. FEA ANALYSIS
3.1 Stress analysis between materials
The comparison of displacement in Steel alloy, Carbon fiber and Boron are as follows.
Fig 1 Nodal displacement Vector sum of Steel.
fiber Maximum Displacement of Carbon Fiber = 4.189 mm
Fig 2 Nodal displacement Vector sum of
Carbon Maximum Displacement of Steel = 5.055 mm
Fig 3 Nodal displacement Vector sum of Boron fiber
Maximum displacement of Boron fiber = 2.566 mm
Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
3.2 Graphs Between Materials
The comparison of deformation in graphs of Steel, Carbon Fiber and Boron are as follows.
Fig 4 Deformation Vs Nodal Distance Graph in
X, Y, Z axes of steel
Fig 5 Deformation Vs Nodal Distance Graph in
X, Y, Z axes of Carbon Fiber
Fig 6 Deformation Vs Nodal Distance Graph in
X, Y, Z axes of Boron Fiber
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The deformation results for Steel, Carbon Fiber and Boron are as follows.
Table 3 Deformation Results
UX
UY
UZ
USUM
554
493
493
0.50550
5.0549
1680
-0.49368E01
CARBON FIBRE
554
Node
0.39957
Value
493
4.1897
1680
-0.43200E-
493
4.1898
Deformation
STEEL
Node
Value
Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
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Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
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01
BORON FIBRE
554
Node
Value
0.24457
STRESS
STEEL
S1
Node
1708
493
2.5659
1680
493
0.27476E-01
2.5660
Table 4 Minimum values of Von mises stress
S2
S3
SINT
Value
0.52160E+07
CARBON FIBRE
1708
Node
Value
0.70258E+07
BORON FIBRE
1708
Node
Value
0.80786E+07
SEQV
1875
1797
626
626
0.82792E+07
0.30133E+08
0.92924E03
0.80705E03
1875
0.10129E+08
1797
0.31172E+08
626
0.16903E02
626
0.14728E02
1875
0.12426E+08
1797
0.31069E+08
626
0.25944E02
626
0.22602E02
The maximum values of Von mises stress results for Steel, Carbon Fiber and Boron are as follows.
STRESS
S1
Table 5 Maximum values of Von misses stress
S2
S3
SINT
SEQV
STEEL
Node
Value
1081
0.31663E+0
8
290
0.94621E+0
7
1007
0.55923E+0
7
933
0.35007E+0
8
933
0.30999E+0
8
290
0.11199E+0
8
1007
0.69714E+0
7
933
0.34051E+0
8
933
0.30216E+0
8
290
0.11488E+0
8
1007
0.83557E+0
7
933
0.32972E+0
8
933
0.29307E+0
8
CARBON FIBRE
Node
Value
1081
0.30543E+0
8
BORON FIBRE
Node
Value
1081
0.29479E+0
8
5. CONCLUSIONS
The development of composite leaf spring can be adoptable in place of conventional steel spring. Since it is having some
tremendous advantage. This project analysed that composites can be used in place of steels for designing leaf springs to
reduce weight and improved performance. In this project leaf springs 3D-modelling has done in pro-E and analysis has
done in ANSYS. Also comparative study has been done between composites like carbon fibre, boron fibre and
conventional steel with respect to weight and strength. From the observations and results, it is concluded that leaf spring
with composite is lighter and economical than the conventional steel springs with same design specifications.
References
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Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 10, October 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
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