The 6th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (ICCSE 2011) August 3-5, 2011.

SuperStar Virgo, Singapore

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Finite Element Analysis of Composite Leaf Spring

Zheng Yinhuan, Xue Ka
School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China e-mail: douzyh@163.com

Huang Zhigao
Department of Locomotive and Vehicle Engineering, Wuhan Railway Vocational College Of Technology, Wuhan, China

AbstractThis paper analyses the mechanics characteristic of a composite leaf spring made from glass fiber reinforced plastics using the ANSYS software. Considering interleaf contact, the stress distribution and deformation are obtained. Taking the single spring as an example, comparison between the performance of the GFRP and the steel spring is presented. The comparison results show that the composite spring has lower stresses and much lower weight. Then the automotive dead weight is reduced observably. Index Termscomposite, leaf spring, GFRP, finite element analysis

Xu Changsheng made an optimal design for single composite leaf spring [9]. This paper researches the variable cross-section leaf spring used in a cab model, which is made from composite materials instead of steel. The paper build the mechanical model of composite leaf spring and make finite element analysis in the use of ANSYS software. Taking the single spring as an example, it compares the two materials leaf spring. II. Mechanical Model Building

I.

INTRODUCTION

Safety, energy saving and environmental protection will be the trend of world car. Lightweight has become an important goal of vehicle development. The leaf spring is about 5% to 10% of the total mass of vehicles as the vehicle suspension elastic element. So leaf spring is one of the important components to achieve vehicle lightweight. In order to save energy and reduce consumption of vehicle, lots of researches have been done about leaf spring of the car at home and abroad [1-9]. In recent years, with the development of new materials and new technology, foreign auto companies begin to introduce composite leaf spring. Many scholars of various countries begin to research on composite leaf spring. There are much more studies in the area at abroad. A.E.Baumal and I. Rajendran made an optimal design of composite leaf spring by using genetic algorithms [3,4]. H. A. Al-Qreshi researched on composite leaf spring in analysis, design and processing [5]. Mahmood M. Shokrieh made an analysis and optimal design to composite leaf spring which is used in rear suspension system of light car based on ANSYS software [6]. But the domestic studies are relatively small. Wang Jicheng studied the calculation of composite leaf springs with equal strength [7].Bian Wenfeng made an optimal design and analysis for composite leaf spring using Matlab software [8]. __________________________
Supported bythe Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2010-la063).

The composite leaf spring analysed consists of three components. The first leaf is cross section and the other two are variable cross-section. When the leaf spring works, only the main spring leaf composed of the first leaf and the second leaf works in the case suffered a smaller load. When the load is large, then the third deputy leaf begins to work. The spring geometric model is created by Solidworks software, shown in figure 1.

Figure 1.Geometric model of composite leaf spring

The Glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRP) can do better to meet the requirement the mechanical properties of automobile spring. Its production cost is not high and production technology is more mature. It can effectively reduce the quality of springs relative to the steel spring. So the paper used GFRP composite material as the material of leaf spring. The tensile strength (Xt) is 900MPa. The compressive strength (Xc) is 450MPa. The density of material is 2e-9 t/mm3. After leading the geometric model of spring created in Solidworks into ANSYS software, the paper selects the appropriate element type and defines the corresponding parameters of the model material. GFRP materials are

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orthotropic materials, so that SOLID 46 laminated Element can be selected, which is commonly used in the analysis of composite materials. SOLID 46 element allows for up to 250 layers of different thickness and different orientation of the material layers. When defining the material properties, materials Young's modulus, Poisson ratio, density in all directions should be defined. The finite element model obtained after meshed is shown in figure 2. The total number of elements is 10693.

Figure 3 The deformation of composite leaf spring Figure 2.Finite element model of composite leaf spring

Each leaf of the spring in two outside parts of Ubolts can still be contacted or separated. Considering interleaf contact is the contact between two flexible faces, it can be defined using TARGE170 and CONTAC174. These two are three-dimensional contact elements. The related real count and material keywords can be set. III. MODEL CONSTRAINT, LOADING AND SOLUTION

The main leaf of the spring adopts lug connection mode when connected with frame at both ends. One end is fixed, the other one is activities lug terminal. When applying constraints to leaf spring, it can be consulted actual installation and the test method of leaf spring characteristics. The paper chooses both ends of the first leaf, exerts all constraints at one end and imposes Y directions of displacement constraints at another end that the displacement is zero. The force of 2000N on the node of middle part of the last leaf is loaded. When defining the solving option, the definition of automatic time step is opened. The NewtonRaphson option is set to the FULL. The large deformation switch is opened. The linear search option is used to make calculation stabilizing. Finally, the paper sets up reasonably the sub-steps of force and the iterations number of balance. IV. THE FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS RESULTS

Figure 4 The Von Mises equivalent stress contour

From the deformation figure, the maximum strain is occured in the roots. Its value is 35.615mm. The stiffness of this spring is 57.78N/mm. From the Von Mises stress diagram, the first and the second leaves occur larger stress value of the regional distribution near the U-bolts between the first leaf and the second leaf. The length of maximum stress area accounts for about one-third of the leaf. The maximum stress is 364MPa.The stress decreases progressively from the center to both sides, but it occurs the maximum value at the lug of leaf spring. The maximum stress area of the third leaf also appears in U-bolts nearby and the both ends have a small stress distribution. V. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SINGLE LEAF SPRING

Applying load to the model and solving in nonlinear method, the deformation of composite leaf spring under the stress is shown in figure 3. The Von Mises equivalent stress contour is shown in figure 4.

In order to compare composite leaf spring with steel spring, the paper takes the single spring as an example. In the circumstance of same size, it chooses GFRP composite materials and 60Si 2 Mn steel materials for finite element analysis. The processing methods of GFRP leaf spring, included meshing, model constraint force and loading, are the same as above. For comparison, the loading is 2000N which is the same with foregoing three leaves spring. The selection of material element is SOLID 45 element for the leaf spring made from 60Si 2 Mn steel. Its elastic modulus (EX) is 2.1e11. Its poisson ratio (PRXY) is 0.3. Applying the same
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restraint and load for comparative analysis, then the results are got. The analysis results of these Two materials leaf spring are shown in figure 5, figure 6, figure 7 and figure 8. The deformations are shown in figure 5 and figure 6. The Von Mises equivalent stress contours are shown in figure 7 and figure 8.

Figure 8 The Von Mises equivalent stress contour of 60Si2Mn steel spring

Figure 5 The deformation of GFRP leaf spring

From the deformation, in the circumstance of same stress, the maximum deformation in the middle of GFRP leaf spring is 176.398 mm. But the maximum deformation of 60Si2Mn steel spring is only 26.611 mm. The reason is that the elastic modulus of this composite material is only one-seventh to onetenth of the steel. Hence its deformation will be much larger. The density of composite material is only about one-fourth of the steel. When the sizes are same, it can drastically reduce the weight of the spring. From the Von Mises stress contours, the trends of the stress distribution are similar, whether the material is steel or composite. They both have the maximum stress area in the U-bolts nearby. The stress reduces gradually and then increases gradually from center to both sides. The larger value of stress can appear at the place of lug. This is in accordance with the foregoing three leaves spring. When choosing 60Si2Mn steel material, its maximum stress value is 914Mpa, which is higher than the value of 804MPa for GFRP composite material. The strength of composite material is stronger than the steel. The above analysis results are the same as the reality. The stress at plug place is larger. In the practical application, the composite leaf spring is also prone to failure at plug place. So it usually needs strengthen treatment for lug place. The theoretical studies and practice on composite leaf spring overseas have proved that the car using composite leaf spring can significantly reduce the deadweight of automobile. It can reduce consumption of oil, improve driving smooth and comfort. VI. CONCLUSION

Figure 6 The deformation of 60Si2Mn steel spring

Figure 7 The Von Mises equivalent stress contour of GFRP leaf spring

This paper analyses the mechanics characteristic of a composite leaf spring. Taking the single spring as an example, comparison between the performance of the GFRP and the steel spring is presented. The calculation results show that it can get the deformation of composite leaf spring and stress distribution of each leaf precisely through the finite element analysis. The results show that the stress of composite leaf spring is lower than steel spring and its resistance to fatigue ability is much stronger. In the case of meeting the strength requirements, it can greatly reduce the weight of leaf spring so
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that it will reduce the deadweight of vehicle. It meets the requirements of lightweight, comfort, stability and durability. REFERENCES
[1] Zheng Yinhuan, and Zhang Zhongfu, Optimum Analysis for Taper-leaf Spring Using ANSYS, Modern Machinery, vol.2, 2005, pp. 3031. [2] Zheng Yinhuan, and Zhang Zhongfu, Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of the Mechanics Characteristic of a Leaf Spring, Mechanical Science and Technology for Aerospace Engineering, vol.7, 2008, pp. 914916. [3] A.E.Baumal, J.J.McPhee, and P.H.Calamai, Application of genetic algorithms to the design optimization of an active vehicle suspension system, Computer methods in applied mechanics and engineering, vol.163, 1998, pp. 8794. [4] I.Rajendran, and S.Vijayarangan, Optimal design of a composite leaf spring using genetic algorithms, Computers and Structures, vol.79, 2001, pp. 11211129. [5] H.A.Al-Qureshi, Automobile leaf springs from composite materials, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol.118, 2001, pp. 5861. [6] Mahmood M.Shokrieh, and Davood Rezaei, Analysis and optimization of a composite leaf spring, Composite Structures, vol.60, 2003, pp. 317325. [7] Wang Jicheng, Calculation of strength composite leaf spring, Machinery, vol.5, 1990, pp. 1014. [8] Bian Wenfeng, and Li Wei, Optimum design for the vice-spring of Composite material leaf spring, Machinery Design & Manufacture, vol.9, 2006, pp. 2931. [9] Xu Changsheng, and Gao Chenghui, Optimization and Analysis of a Composite Leaf Spring , Agricultural Equipment & Vehicle Engineering, vol.12, 2007, pp. 2224.

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