Design and Manufacturing of Leaf Spring

INTRODUCTION TO LEAF SPRING

Originally Leaf spring called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of
spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. It is also one of the oldest forms of
springing, dating back to medieval times.
Sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring or cart spring, it takes the form of a slender arcshaped length of spring steel of rectangular cross-section. The center of the arc provides location
for the axle, while tie holes are provided at either end for attaching to the vehicle body. For very
heavy vehicles, a leaf spring can be made from several leaves stacked on top of each other in
several layers, often with progressively shorter leaves. Leaf springs can serve locating and to some
extent damping as well as springing functions.
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.

DESIGN OF LEAF SPRING

Materials 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.
According to Indian standards, the recommended materials are :
1. For automobiles : 50 Cr 1, 50 Cr 1 V 23, and 55 Si 2 Mn 90 all used in hardened and
tempered state.
2. For rail road springs : C 55 (water-hardened), C 75 (oil-hardened), 40 Si 2 Mn 90
(waterhardened) and 55 Si 2 Mn 90 (oil-hardened).
3. The physical properties of some of these materials are given in the following table. All
values are for oil quenched condition and for single heat only

Design of leaf spring

Leaf springs (also known as flat springs) are made out of flat plates. The
advantage of 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 to energy absorbing
device. Thus the leaf springs may carry lateral loads, brake torque, driving torque etc., in
addition to shocks.
Consider a single plate fixed at one end and loaded at the other end as shown in Fig This plate may
be used as a flat spring.
Let t = Thickness of plate,
b = Width of plate, and
L = Length of plate or distancenof the load W from the cantilever end.

We know that the maximum deflection for a cantilever with concentrated load at the free end is given
by

It may be noted that due to bending moment, top fibres will be in tension and the bottom fibres are
in compression, but the shear stress is zero at the extreme fibres and maximum at the
centre, as shown in Fig. Hence for analysis, both stresses need not to be taken into account
simultaneously.
We shall consider the bending stress only.

If the spring is not of cantilever type but it is like a simply supported beam, with length 2L and
load 2W in the centre, as shown in Fig., then Maximum bending moment in the centre,as shown in
fig, then
Maximum bending moment in the center,
M=W.L

Flat spring (simply supported beam type)

The above relations give the stress and deflection of a leaf spring of uniform cross-sectionThe stress
at such a spring is maximum at the support.
If a triangular plate is used as shown in Fig , the stress will be uniform throughout. If thistriangular
plate is cut into strips of uniform width and placed one below the other, as shown in Fig to form a
graduated or laminated leaf spring, then

A little consideration will show that by the above arrangement, the spring becomes compact so that
the space occupied by the spring is considerably reduced. When bending stress alone is
considered, the graduated leaves may have zero width at the loaded end. But sufficient metal must
be provided to support the shear. Therefore, it becomes necessary to have one or more leaves of
uniform cross-section extending clear to the end. We see from equations (iv) and (vi) that for the
same deflection, the stress in the uniform cross-section leaves (i.e. full length leaves) is 50%
greater than in the graduated leaves, assuming that each spring element deflects according to its
own elastic curve. If the suffixes F and G are used to indicate the full length (or uniform cross
section) and graduated leaves, then

Length of Leaf Spring Leaves

The length of the leaf spring leaves may be obtained as discussed below :
Let
2L1 = Length of span or overall length of the spring,
= Width of band or distance between centres of U-bolts. It is the
ineffective length of the spring,
nF = Number of full length leaves,
nG = Number of graduated leaves, and
n = Total number of leaves = nF + nG.
We have already discussed that the effective length of the spring,
.. ...(When band is used)

MANUFACTURING OF LEAF SPRING

Raw material
Generally leaf springs are made of various fine grade alloy steel. The most
commonly used grades of steel are 55 Si 7,60 Si Cr7,50 Cr V4. The others are En 45 A, 65 Si 7,55
Si Cr 7,65 Si cr7,En 42 60 s 87.
In our project we are going to use En 42 60 S87 grade of steel
alloy.Generally the width of the raw material varies from 40-100 mm and thickness varies from 4
to 20mm.

Shearing or cutting process

Shearing is a process for cutting sheet metal to size out of a larger stock such as roll
stock. The raw material is cut into different sizes with the help of the 100 ton cutting press machine.
1) At first the raw material is placed on the roller bed so that it will be easy to move the material
towards the machine.
2) Required length of the material to be cut is measured with a tape and marking is done on the raw
material.
3) Now move the material in to the cutting area of the machine so that the mark is placed exactly at
the cutting edge of the blade.
4) Now lock the material with the help of the lock nut provided.
5) Allow the lubricant to flow for free action of cutting and for reducing friction.
6) Now apply the load on the material by pressing the brake provided.
7) Now the required length of the material piece can be obtained.
Drilling operation
Necessary holes are provided on the strips of leaf springs to hold all the plates
together. So drilling operation is performed. Generally vertical drilling machine is used for this
operation.
1.) The given material piece is placed on the table of the drilling machine.
2.) The diameter of the required hole is choosen and the required drill bit is connected to the
spindle.
3.) The workpiece is placed in the required position for drilling and the coolent oil is sprayed
over the work piece.
4.) Now by applying the hand lever the required hole diameter is drilled. Required number of holes
are drilled.

Eye rolling of main blade

The master blade is heated at its two ends for eye formation, these are
done to attach with the frame of the vehicle. The heating is done in a end heating furnace at a

temperature of 1000 degree centigrade. The heating is done only at the ends so that it will be easy
to bend at the ends.
Furnace oil and the air are used for heating the furnace. The furnace is first allowed to heat freely
for 45 mins. Now the master blades are placed in the furnace such that only ends are heated.
After heating is done for one end it is bend to form the eye and again it is
placed in the furnace to heat the other end. After heating the main blade is bent slightly to form curve
at the end with the help of 50 ton punching machine so that it will be easy to roll to form eye
formation.
In the eye rolling machine the master blade end is placed between the circular wheel and the die.
after placing the hand lever is moved so that the end of the master blade rolls over the die thus
forming eye shape
Hardening (Quenching)
Hardening is carried out to achieve the maximum hardness.
The main blades after the eye formation are heated to a temperature of 800-1000
degree centigrade in a furnace to increase the hardness of the material.
The other blades along with main blades are heated in the furnace. The furnace is heated by
using air and furnace oil through conventional air flow system. The conventional air flow system
is used to mix both air and furnace oil for heating purpose. A pump is provided for the air to
go out.
After heating the blades in the furnace for 45 minutes they are taken out and bent to the
required angle on the hydraulic bending machine. The required angle can be obtained by using
required angle dies.
The blades after making the required angle they are immersed in the Quenchngon oil to
increase the hardness. The hardness at the end of this stage is about 50 to 60.
Tempering
Quenched steel, while very hard and strong, is too brittle to be useful for most
applications. A method for alleviating this problem is called tempering. For most steels,
tempering involves heating to between 250 and 500 C, holding that temperature (soaking) for
an appropriate amount of time (on the order of seconds or hours), then cooling slowly over
an appropriate length of time (minutes or hours). This heat treatment results in higher toughness
and ductility, without sacrificing all of the hardness and tensile strength gained from rapid
quenching. Tempering balances the amount of hard martensite with ductile ferrite and pearlite.
In some applications, different areas of a single object are given different heat treatments.
This is called differential hardening. It is common in high quality knives and swords.
Clamps
Clamps are the devices which are used for holding the leaf springs together. Clamps are made of
Mild Steel.
Procedure for making clamps
At first the material is cut into the required length on the 50 ton cutting machine by using
blades. Next the cutted material is punched on the 5o ton punching machine to obtain required

circular shape at the edge by using suitable die.

Now after measuring the correct size the other end is also punched on 50
ton punching machine to obtain circular shape by using the same die. This circular shape at the
ends is provided for clamps of width greater than 20 mm.
After making the reqired size the clamp materials are heated in the end heating
furnace at 1000 degree centigrade by using furnace oil and air. The clamps are heated for 15
minutes in the furnace.
After heating they are taken out and placed on the 50 ton punching machine to make the
clamp of U shape by using clamp dies. Different dies are used for making clamps of
different widths.
Generally 4 clamps are used for 12 plates and 2 clamps are used for 7 leaf plates.the clamps are
arranged at equal distance from the centre.

Stock ready to supply

After inspection the leaf springs with good quality and performance are allowed to stock
storage. Now the stock is are ready to supply.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf_spring
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/equipment/accessories/leaf-springs.htm
http://www.indialeaf.com/
http://dir.indiamart.com/impcat/cart-springs.html