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Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000
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2nd International Conference on Materials Manufacturing and Design Engineering
Procedia Manufacturing 20 (2018) 428–433
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000

Optimization of Three Wheeler Front Suspension Coil Spring

www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

2nd International Conference on Materials

a
Manufacturing
a
and Design Engineering
H. B. Pawar , D. D. Desale
Optimization ofDepartment
Three Wheeler
a
of Mech Front
Engg, SCSMCoE, Suspension
Ahmednagar-414003, India Coil Spring
Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017, MESIC 2017, 28-30 June
a
2017, Vigo
H. B. (Pontevedra),
Pawar Spaina
, D. D. Desale
Abstract

Costing models forDepartment

capacity optimization in Industry 4.0: Trade-off
a
of Mech Engg, SCSMCoE, Ahmednagar-414003, India
The helical compression spring used in suspension system or shock absorber is a mechanical device designed to

transport
between used capacity and operational efficiency
smooth out or damp shock impulse and dissipate kinetic energy. A helical compression coil spring which used in
Abstract three wheeler is belonging to the medium segment of the Indian automotive market. It is observed that, the
vehicle drifts towards one side due to high weight of suspension system. This problem can be solved by redesigning
The helical compression
and optimizing A. Santana
spring
front suspension used
spring.
a
,For
P. the
Afonso
in suspension
a,*
system
present , A. Zanin
or shock
study
b
, R. material
the ISabsorber
4454 Wernke b
is a mechanical
was takendevice designed to
for consideration.
smooth out or damp shock impulse
Optimization of the spring was donea University and dissipate
by reducing kinetic energy. A helical compression coil spring
total number of turns and prototypes of the spring were made. which usedAsin
of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
transport three wheeler is belonging
per design the springs were made of material to the
b medium
IS 4454
Unochapecó, segment of the
and experimental
89809-000 Indian automotive market. It is observed
test was conducted. The static analysis using
Chapecó, SC, Brazil that, the
vehicle drifts towards
finite element methodone hasside
beendue done
to high in weight
order ofto suspension
find out the system. Thisload
detailed problem can be solved
vs defection of theby spring.
redesigning
The
and optimizing front suspension spring. For the present study the IS 4454 material was
experimental investigation was performed to calculate the stiffness and vertical acceleration of helical compression taken for consideration.
Optimization of the spring
spring. The theoretical was donewere
calculations by reducing
also done.total
Fornumber of turnstest
experimental andtheprototypes
universal of the spring
testing machinewerewasmade.
usedAsto
Abstract
per design the springs were made of material IS 4454 and experimental test was conducted.
find load vs defection of spring and quarter car test rig used to find the vertical acceleration of helical compression The static analysis using
finite
spring.element method has been done in order to find out the detailed load vs defection of the spring. The
Under the concept
experimental of "Industry
investigation 4.0", production
was performed to calculateprocesses will and
the stiffness be pushed
vertical to be increasingly
acceleration interconnected,
of helical compression
information
spring. The theoretical calculations were also done. For experimental test the universal testing machineoptimization
based on a real time basis and, necessarily, much more efficient. In this context, capacity was used to
goes beyond
find load the traditional
vs defection aim ofand
of spring capacity
quartermaximization,
car test rig usedcontributing
to find thealso for organization’s
vertical acceleration profitability and value.
of helical compression
Indeed, lean management and continuous
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
spring. improvement approaches suggest capacity optimization instead of
maximization. The study of capacity optimization and costing models is an important research topic that deserves
© 2018 The Authors.
contributions
Peer-review from
underPublished
both by Elsevier
the practical
responsibility ofand B.V.
the theoretical perspectives.
scientific committee This
of the 2ndpaper presents and
International discussesona Materials
Conference mathematical
Peer-review
model for under responsibility
capacity management of thebased
scientific
on committee
different of the 2ndmodels
costing International
(ABC Conference
and on Materials
TDABC). A Manufacturing
generic model and been
has
Manufacturing and Design Engineering.
Design Engineering.
developed and itAuthors.
© 2017 The was used to analyze
Published byidle capacity
Elsevier B.V.and to design strategies towards the maximization of organization’s
value. The trade-off
Keywords: Coil spring;capacity maximization
three wheeler; vs operational efficiency is highlighted and it is shown that capacity
optimization; analysis
optimization
Peer-review might
underhide operational of
responsibility inefficiency.
the scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Materials
© 2017 The Authors.
Manufacturing and Published by Elsevier B.V.
Design Engineering.
1. Introduction
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference
2017.
When people
Keywords: think three
Coil spring; about automobile
wheeler; performance,
optimization; analysis they normally think of hp, torque, acceleration and most
------------------------
Keywords: Cost Models;
* Corresponding author.ABC; TDABC; Capacity Management; Idle Capacity; Operational Efficiency
Tel.:+91-241-2568383
E-mail address: er.hbpawar@gmail.com
1. Introduction

1.When people think about automobile performance, they normally think of hp, torque, acceleration and most
Introduction
------------------------
2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
* Corresponding
Peer-review under author. Tel.:+91-241-2568383
responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Materials Manufacturing and
The
E-mail
Design cost of idle
address:
Engineering. capacity is a fundamental information for companies and their management of extreme importance
er.hbpawar@gmail.com
in modern production systems. In general, it is defined as unused capacity or production potential and can be measured
in several ways: tons of production, available hours of manufacturing, etc. The management of the idle capacity
2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
* Paulo Afonso.
Peer-review Tel.:
under +351 253 510of
responsibility 761;
thefax: +351 253
scientific 604 741 of the 2nd International Conference on Materials Manufacturing and
committee
E-mail address:
Design Engineering.psafonso@dps.uminho.pt

2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review
2351-9789 © under
2018responsibility
The Authors. of the scientificbycommittee
Published Elsevier of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017.
B.V.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 2nd International Conference on Materials Manufacturing and
Design Engineering.
10.1016/j.promfg.2018.02.062
 H.B. Pawar et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 20 (2018) 428–433 429
2 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000

important comfort. So, the suspension is an important system in an automobile and much attention is given to it. The
vehicle suspension system is responsible for the vehicle control, driving comfort and safety as the suspension carries
the vehicle body and transmits all the forces between the road and the body.
Suspension system consist of different parts such as spring, shock absorber etc. In most of the suspension system
the spring plays an important role. The springs having different types like push type, pull type etc.
In some three wheelers the front suspension is at one side of tire. Normally, it is observed that the vehicle drifts
towards one side due to high weight of front suspension system. The study is performed to reduce the weight of
helical compression spring used in three wheeler front suspension system. The objective of the present work is to
optimize the front suspension system’s component i. e. helical compression spring by achieving minimum of 8% to
10% reduction in weight and so in cost.
Researchers were used various methods for analysis and optimization of coil spring. M. P. Nagarkar, Dr. G. J.
Vikhe Patil, R. N. Zaware Patil [1] investigated a nonlinear quarter car suspension–seat–driver model for optimum
design. A nonlinear quarter car model comprising of quadratic tyre stiffness and cubic stiffness in suspension spring,
frame, and seat cushion with 4 degrees of freedom (DoF) driver model was presented for optimization and analysis.
Non-dominated Sort Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) and Multi-Objective Particle Swarm Optimization – Crowding
Distance (MOPSO-CD) algorithm are implemented for optimization. Tausif M. Mulla, Sunil J. Kadam, Vaibhav S.
Kengar [2] studied the stress analysis of a helical coil compression spring which was employed in three wheeler’s
auto-rickshaw belonging to the medium segment of the Indian automotive market. The material used for study was
ASTM A227. To ensured structural reliability of spring the static stress analysis using finite element method has
been done in order to find out the detailed stress distribution of the spring. The stress distribution clearly shows that
the shear stress having maximum value at the inner side of the every coil.

2. Design of suspension spring

2.1 Equations used for spring design

To design the spring and determine the stress developed in the spring consider a helical spring subjected to
an axial load P. [5]
Let, D = Mean diameter of the spring coil (mm), Do = Outside diameter of the spring coil (mm), D i = Inside
diameter of the spring coil (mm), d = Diameter of the spring wire (mm), N = Number of active coils, N t = Total
number of coils, G = Modulus of rigidity for the spring material, P = Axial load on the spring (N or Kg), τ = Max.
Shear stress induced in the wire (N/mm2), C = Spring index = D/d, p = Pitch (mm), δ = Deflection of the spring, as a
result of an axial load P, L = Free Length (mm), K = Wahl factor, k = Stiffness of the spring (N/mm).
The equations required for the design of the spring are as follows;
a) Spring Index (C) = D/d (1)
b) Wahl’s Stress factor (K) = 4C  1 0.615
 (2)
4C  4 C

c) Stiffness = (G×d4)/( 8×D3×N) N/mm and divide by 10 for kg/mm (3)

2
d) Shear Stress (τ) = K 8 P  D

K 8 P  C N/mm (4)
 d3  d2

e) Solid Length = Nt × d (5)

f) Deflection (δ) = P/k mm (6)
2.2 Spring Data
The existing suspension spring weighing 2.90 Kg is heavy hence needed to be optimized and a lighter
design of the spring is needed. The existing suspension spring having wire diameter 12 mm, with outside and inside
diameter 88 mm and 64 mm respectively, total number of coils 14, number of active coils 12 and free length 315
mm. New designs have same data as of existing spring only total numbers of coils changed so active coils are also
changed. The three designs having 13, 12.5 and 12 total coils having 2 coils inactive in each case respectively. By
using above equations different values can be found for new developed springs.
430 H.B. Pawar et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 20 (2018) 428–433
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000 3

3. Loading conditions of spring for FEA

As this spring is used in the Three Wheeler Vehicle’s front suspension it is necessary to find out the load
acting on the spring in actual practice in static condition as well as in dynamic condition. Normally total weight of
the vehicle with driver and load is about 975 Kg, concentrated at the center of gravity of the vehicle. It is assumed
that this total weight is equally divided into two springs of rear suspension and one spring of front suspension. So
the front suspension spring is experiencing load approximately 3188.25 N for safer side it is rounded up and taken as
3200 N. The stress analysis was done by using ANSYS it is shown in figure 1. Here only three springs were
considered because spring with total 12 numbers of turns fails.

Table 1 Material properties [7,8,9]

Modulus of Density Poisson’s Ultimate

Material
Elasticity MPa g/cc Ratio Tensile Strength

IS 4454 206000 7.85 0.3 1250

(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 1. Stress analysis of suspension spring of (a) existing design (b) new design I (c) new design II

Fig. 2. Load vs. deflection for various springs (Software)

 H.B. Pawar et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 20 (2018) 428–433 431
4 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000

4. Experimental work

4.1 Load Verses Deflection Test

The experimental study was carried out for design validation. Physical testing on the spring in compression is
done as accordance to Compression Testing. The testing was done by 10 tonne universal testing machine along with
load cell having load carrying capacity 1000 kg as in figure 3. The one spring was tested at a time. The tested
springs were mounted both on top and bottom, at specially made seats. After this the spring is compressed for
different deflections and applied load is recorded by the use of load cell. Total four springs were tested. Here it is
find that spring having total 12 turns fails and its stiffness decreases. [3]

Fig. 3. Actual set up of UTM for Load verses Deflection Testing

Fig. 4. Load vs. deflection for various springs (Experimental)

4.2 Quarter - Car Test Rig
A typical test rig is shown in figure 5. Longitudinal or transverse deflections of the suspension components are
considered negligible in comparison to vertical deflections. It consists of a sprung mass, unsprung mass consisting
of tyre, rim and axles. Spring and damper is attached between sprung and unsprung mass. Accelerometers with
sensitivity 100.8 mv/g are mounted on sprung mass and unsprung mass to record accelerations with respect to time.
432 H.B. Pawar et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 20 (2018) 428–433
Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000 5

Svantek FFT analyser is used to record the time histories. The frequency for excitation used was 1.81 Hz and
readings were taken after each 10 mille-second.

Fig. 5. Actual set-up of quarter - car test rig

Fig. 6. Time verses acceleration for various springs

5. Results and Discussion

5.1 Software vs. Experiment

The software and experimental values of load verses deflections were compared and graph was generated
and shown in figure 7. From graph it is observed that the experimental and software values are close to each other.

5.2 Existing vs. Modified

It was clear from above discussion that the experimental and software values are close to each other. The
ANSYS 16.0 version customize package is used to analysis the CAD model of spring with modified dimension. The
load applied on the spring as per the specification provided by the manufacturer. It was found that the maximum
stress induced in the new design I and II were 420 MPa and 492 MPa respectively. These stresses are below the
0.56Sut so the design is safe. The new design I and II required 239 mm and 358 mm less feed wire length
 H.B. Pawar et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 20 (2018) 428–433 433
6 Author name / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000

respectively than the existing design. The mass of new design I and II reduced by 189 gm. and 296 gm. respectively
than the existing design.

Fig. 7. Software and experimental values of load for various deflections

6. Conclusion

From above study of the helical compression spring used for front suspension of three wheeler the
conclusions drawn are as following;
1. The feed wire length required for modified spring new design II is reduced by 10%.
2. Due to the reduction in feed wire length the mass of new design II reduced by 10%.
3. Due change in stiffness the load carrying capacity of the modified spring was increased by 7%.
4. The vertical acceleration for modified spring was close as that of came for existing spring so no drastic change
in ride comfort and handling characteristics of the vehicle.

References

[1] Mahesh P. Nagarkar, Gahininath J. Vikhe Patil, Rahul N. Zaware Patil, Optimization of nonlinear quarter car suspension – seat–driver model,
Journal of Advanced Research, 7 (2016) 991–1007
[2] Tausif M. Mulla, Sunil J. Kadam, Vaibhav S. Kengar, Finite Element Analysis of Helical Coil Compression Spring for Three Wheeler
Automotive Front Suspension, International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering, (2012) 51-54.
[3] Mohd Izaham Zainal Abidin, Jamaluddin Mahmud , Mohd Juzaila Abd Latif , Aidah Jumahat, Experimental and Numerical Investigation of
SUP12 Steel Coil Spring, The Malaysian International Tribology Conference, (2013) 251 - 257
[4] Harshad B. Pawar, Amol R. Patil, Dr. Sanjay B. Zope, Design and Analysis of a Front Suspension Coil Spring for Three Wheeler Vehicle,
International Journal of Innovations in Engineering Research and Technology, (2016)
[5] V. B. Bhandari, Design of Machine Element, 2nd Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Company, 5th Print, (2008) 389-439.
[6] Richard G. Budynas, J. Keits Nisbett, Mechanical Engineering Design, 9th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Company, 517- 560.
[7] IS 7906-1, Helical Compression Spring, Part-1, Design and Calculation for Springs Made from Circular Section Wire and Bar, Bureau of
Indian Standards, (1997) 1-32.
[8] http://supersprings.biz/raw-material [Visited on 22 November 2017]
[9] http://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet.aspx?matguid=7262f09758654ba5b9f67779db0ef038&ckck=1 [Visited on 22 November 2017]

Acknowledgement

We like to express our gratitude towards the management of AJMVPS Ahmednagar and express our thanks to the
Prof. M. P. Nagarkar (HoD, Mechanical Department) and Dr. R. S. Deshpande (Principal) of SCSMCoE,
Ahmednagar for their kind support and help throughout this work.