FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF LEAF SPRING

Abstract

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. This helps in achieving vehicle improved riding qualities. The springs are designed to absorb, store and release energy. Therefore, the strain energy of the material becomes a major factor in designing the springs. In every automobile, leaf spring is one of the main components that provides a good suspension and plays a vital role in supporting- lateral loads, shock loads. brake torque. and driving torque. Advantages of leaf' spring over helical spring are that the ends of the springs are guided along a definite path so as to act as a structural member in addition to shock absorbing device. A Leaf spring is as an elastic body, whose function is to distort when loaded and to recover its original shape when the load is removed. Leaf spring absorbs the vehicle vibrations, shocks and bump loads (induced due to road irregularities) by means of spring deflections. This deflection generates potential energy in the leaf spring and which is then relieved slowly. Ability to stoic and absorb more amount of strain energy ensures a comfortable suspension system. Semi-elliptic leaf springs are almost universally used for suspension in light and heavy commercial vehicles. There are also other types of leaf springs like Parabolic, Bogie Suspensions. Bell crank Suspensions etc. Leaf spring consists of a number of leaves. The leaves are varying in length. The leaves are usually given an initial curvature or camber so that they will tend to straighten when loaded. The leaf spring design is based upon the theory of a beam of uniform strength.