Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs
Weight reduction is a critical factor in the vehicles and numerous researchers worked on better materials and design optimization to achieve that goal. This paper is focused to design a natural fibre reinforced hybrid polymer composite mono leaf parabolic spring to replace the existing steel multi-l...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Materials Research Express |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ad1b02 |
| _version_ | 1827380824869175296 |
|---|---|
| author | Vijayalakshmi P Pazhanivel K Praveen Raj P Muruganantham K |
| author_facet | Vijayalakshmi P Pazhanivel K Praveen Raj P Muruganantham K |
| author_sort | Vijayalakshmi P |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Weight reduction is a critical factor in the vehicles and numerous researchers worked on better materials and design optimization to achieve that goal. This paper is focused to design a natural fibre reinforced hybrid polymer composite mono leaf parabolic spring to replace the existing steel multi-leaf semi-elliptical spring in an attempt of reducing the unsprung mass and to investigate its characteristics. The spring so designed is analyzed for its deflection and stiffness, by Virtual work method, whose complex integral was solved numerically by Gauss Quadrature. Along with this, SolidWorks was used to construct a model and ANSYS tests were used to compute the deflection, analyze the stress pattern and verify that the fail proof condition is met. Subsequently, three prototypes of the springs were fabricated by hand lay-up method. These springs were subjected to a static load test which results in deflection values similar to that of laminated steel springs with an appreciable 83 percent weight reduction. Modal Analysis conducted ensures that the fundamental frequencies of different modes are conveniently away from values of human discomfort and also from the nominal driving engine speed of 2000 rpm. The responses to harmonic disturbances which were studied experimentally, analytically and by ANSYS which indicates that vibration amplitudes due to average road undulations are under control, limiting the amplitude within 12 mm. The newly designed spring shall be recommended as a potential replacement, which can further be augmented by future works to be carried out on pot holes and studying the force transmitted on to the vehicle. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T13:45:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-13ad87c9e81d412981d42614cdae369d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-1591 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T13:45:04Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials Research Express |
| spelling | doaj.art-13ad87c9e81d412981d42614cdae369d2024-01-16T09:41:08ZengIOP PublishingMaterials Research Express2053-15912024-01-0111101530510.1088/2053-1591/ad1b02Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springsVijayalakshmi P0Pazhanivel K1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1622-1521Praveen Raj P2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2493-2868Muruganantham K3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology , Vellore-632 002, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, ARS College of Engineering Maraimalai Nagar , Chennai-603 209, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology , Vellore-632 002, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Thiruvalluvar College of Engineering and Technology , Vandavasi, T.V. Malai, 604 505, IndiaWeight reduction is a critical factor in the vehicles and numerous researchers worked on better materials and design optimization to achieve that goal. This paper is focused to design a natural fibre reinforced hybrid polymer composite mono leaf parabolic spring to replace the existing steel multi-leaf semi-elliptical spring in an attempt of reducing the unsprung mass and to investigate its characteristics. The spring so designed is analyzed for its deflection and stiffness, by Virtual work method, whose complex integral was solved numerically by Gauss Quadrature. Along with this, SolidWorks was used to construct a model and ANSYS tests were used to compute the deflection, analyze the stress pattern and verify that the fail proof condition is met. Subsequently, three prototypes of the springs were fabricated by hand lay-up method. These springs were subjected to a static load test which results in deflection values similar to that of laminated steel springs with an appreciable 83 percent weight reduction. Modal Analysis conducted ensures that the fundamental frequencies of different modes are conveniently away from values of human discomfort and also from the nominal driving engine speed of 2000 rpm. The responses to harmonic disturbances which were studied experimentally, analytically and by ANSYS which indicates that vibration amplitudes due to average road undulations are under control, limiting the amplitude within 12 mm. The newly designed spring shall be recommended as a potential replacement, which can further be augmented by future works to be carried out on pot holes and studying the force transmitted on to the vehicle.https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ad1b02leaf springstensilepolymer |
| spellingShingle | Vijayalakshmi P Pazhanivel K Praveen Raj P Muruganantham K Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs Materials Research Express leaf springs tensile polymer |
| title | Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs |
| title_full | Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs |
| title_fullStr | Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs |
| title_short | Investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs |
| title_sort | investigation on the effects of changing automotive vehicles leaf springs from steel to hybrid polymer composite leaf springs |
| topic | leaf springs tensile polymer |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ad1b02 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vijayalakshmip investigationontheeffectsofchangingautomotivevehiclesleafspringsfromsteeltohybridpolymercompositeleafsprings AT pazhanivelk investigationontheeffectsofchangingautomotivevehiclesleafspringsfromsteeltohybridpolymercompositeleafsprings AT praveenrajp investigationontheeffectsofchangingautomotivevehiclesleafspringsfromsteeltohybridpolymercompositeleafsprings AT murugananthamk investigationontheeffectsofchangingautomotivevehiclesleafspringsfromsteeltohybridpolymercompositeleafsprings |