Materials Today: Proceedings 21 (2020) 45–51

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Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

Fabrication and testing of composite leaf spring using carbon, glass and
aramid fiber
T. Keerthi vasan ⇑, S.M. Shibi, C.K. Tamilselvan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Karur 636113, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Leaf springs, oldest forms of suspension system used in automobiles. The behavior of the automobile sys-
Received 13 May 2019 tems is based on performance of leaf spring. Heavy weight of leaf spring is considered as drawback. To
Received in revised form 27 May 2019 avoid this, researchers pointed out in reducing weight of leaf spring with the help of alternate materials.
Accepted 30 May 2019
Objective of this paper is to reduce weight of leaf spring by using composite materials like Glass, carbon,
Available online 17 July 2019
Aramid fibers and Epoxy resin. The different specimens were prepared using Manual layup method, they
are taken for Flexural, tensile and Impact test. All values are tabulated and compared.
Keywords:
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Leaf springs
Composite leaf springs
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Recent
Flexural Trends in Nanomaterials for Energy, Environmental and Engineering Applications.
Tensile
Impact test

1. Introduction people. Composite material is complex multi-part different-stage

Leaf spring was first introduced by Obadiah Elliot in 1804 which
is used as a suspension for horse drawn cart. Later it was incorpo-
rated for automobile vehicles. Weight decrease plays an important
role in vehicle industry because of its spare material and vitality
[1]. Normal leaf spring may leads to failure due to leaf spring dis-
appointment which leads to accident. This steel leaf spring can be
modified by using fiber reinforced polymer, so it can reduce the
half the failure (or) mischance of leaf spring due to spring disap-
pointment [2]. For reducing the weight the best solution is using
substitute material, for making this material reinforced fabricating
method is utilized [3]. Likely 20% of unsprung weight in the vehicle
consist leaf spring weight also, for reducing this spring weight we
need to find an alternate source, by the way we can reduce the
energy loss occurred in the vehicle [4]. The Main objective of our
project is to reduce weight and increase the suspension system.
More effectively without change in the strength of the spring.
framework and it is hard to define the word composite material.
In the ‘‘material dictionary” which is corrected by ‘‘Changxu Shi”
gave a elaborate and broad meaning for the word composite. The
composite material are new material which consists of different
components to make this single component [5]. This can be man-
ufactured by regular polymer, inorganic metal or non-metal
through compound advancement. The structure of composite
material have two phases, framework and stronghold. the commit-
ment of stronghold is achieving nature of the composite and the
lattice have the obligation of holding of the fortresses and the com-
posite have mix of properties, for instance immovability quality,
weight, high temperature execution, hardness and conductivity.
If the composite to be manufacture by using polymer, then it is
called as fiber reinforced polymer. Any metal to be used for manu-
facturing then it is called as metal matrix composite.
2. Manufacturing method

The primary manufacturing methods used to produce compos-

1.1. Composite material
ites include:
The term composite material is first used at the period of 1950s
 Manual Lay-Up
in abroad. Later in 1960s the word composite can be used by all the
 Compression moulding
 Spray-Up
⇑ Corresponding author.
 Filament Winding
E-mail address: keerthivasant.mech@mkce.ac.in (T. Keerthi vasan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.05.358
2214-7853/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Recent Trends in Nanomaterials for Energy, Environmental and Engineering
Applications.
46 T. Keerthi vasan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 21 (2020) 45–51

 Injection moulding Table 3.2

 Resin Transfer Moulding Design parameters of steel leaf spring.

Parameters Values
2.1. Manual lay-up method Materials selected 55Si2Mn90
Tensile strength 1200 MPa
It is a open moulding method used for making composite mate- Impact strength 30 J
Flexural Strength 310 kN
rials that differ from small to large size. Production of composites Hardness Strength 92
using this method is very slow but its feasible to produce the Total Length 1540 mm
enough quantity using multiple molds. When compared to other Spring Width 70 mm
types of molding methods, this one will be of less investment. Number of Leaves 01
Quality and production rate is based on the efficiency of the oper-
ator. The simple replacement of leaf spring by composite yield sig-
nificant weight saving. It is not an easy task to replace steel by high melting point (>500 °C). Glass fiber and aramid fiber have ten-
composite leaf spring. In these project glass fiber and carbon fiber sile strength above 3000 N/mm2 and carbon fiber have higher
and epoxy resin material is used to make the leaf. There are differ- strength then the steel [9]. So we can use this fiber for making
ent types of techniques are available for the fabrication of compos- the composite leaf spring. These are parameter of composite leaf
ite leaf spring. For the fabrication of leaf spring we use the hand lay spring. And the testing and results are listed below.
up method. It is also known as open moulding method and it
required least amount when compare to other methods [6]. This 4. Testing and result
method is used to fabricate all kinds of materials from large to
small. This method includes fiber and resin for developing. Fiber Result for carbon, glass and aramid fiber.
is used in the system in hand and resin with brush or roller. It is In order to check the mechanical properties of manufactured
one of the simplest moulding method with low cost tooling and specimens, the three types of tests were carried out. They are
simple processing. For better quality surface, with the help of spray
gun a gel type of coat is applied [7]. Once the gel coat is cured, then  Flexural test
the fiber is manually placed on the mould. The laminating resin is  Tensile test
applied by pouring, brushing, spraying, or using a paint roller. FRP  Impact test
rollers, paint rollers, or squeegees are used to consolidate the lam-  Hardness test
inate, thoroughly wetting the reinforcement and removing
entrapped air. Subsequent layers of fiberglass reinforcement are 4.1. Flexural test
added to build laminate thickness. The layer by layer of resin and
fiber are applied by the method of hand lay up method. This is Flexural strength are also known as bend strength or rupture
known as sandwich construction. strength. It is a materials property defined as the stress in a mate-
rial just before it yields in a rupture test or simply it is said as the
3. Material maximum stress observed by the materials. Flexural test analysis.
ASTM of flexural test is D790 (Figs. 4.1 and 4.2 and Tables 4.1 and
Conventional steel leaf spring and composite leaf spring are two 4.2).
types of leaf springs on which the analyses conducted. The materi-
als used in the steel leaf spring are plain carbon steel, chromium 4.2. Tensile test
vanadium steel, chromium nickel molybdenum steel, silicon man-
ganese steel are materials used in design of steel leaf spring. The A pliable test, otherwise called pressure test, is presumably the
composition percentage of the conventional steel material are most principal sort of mechanical test you can perform on material.
shown in the Table 3.1 and the design Parameters of steel leaf As the material is being pulled, you will discover its quality along-
spring are shown in Table 3.2. The commercially used fibers are side the amount it will lengthen. ASTM for tensile test is D7960 or
Glass, Carbon and Kevlar Fibers other fibers such as Boron, Silicon D638 (Figs. 4.3 and 4.4 and Tables 4.3 and 4.4).
Carbide, Aluminium Oxide are the materials used in certain quan-
tities. The matrix may be a polymer, ceramic are any Metal. Here in 4.3. Impact test
our composite leaf spring consists of E-Glass fiber, Aramid and Car-
bon fiber. Hence that the carbon have greater strength when com- Izod impact testing is an ASTM standard method of determining
pared to steel [8]. The parameters for the composite leaf spring are the impact resistance of materials. ASTM for Impact test is D256. A
listed below. pivoting arm is raised to a specific height (constant potential
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine energy) and then released. The arm swings down hitting a notched
fibers of glass. Glass fiber has roughly comparable mechanical sample, breaking the specimen. The energy absorbed by the sam-
properties to other fibers such as polymers and carbon fiber. Car- ple is calculated from the height the arm swings to after hitting
bon composite is an extremely strong and light fiber-reinforced the sample.
plastic which contains carbon fibers. CFRPs can be expensive to Sample – I
produce but are commonly used wherever high strength-to- Impact values in joules: 18
weight ratio and stiffness (rigidity). Aramid fibers are a class of Sample – II
heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. Aramides have a very Impact values in joules: 16

Table 3.1
Materials composition of steel leaf spring (55Si2Mn90).

C% Si% Mn% Cr% Mo% P% S%

0.55 1.74 0.87 0.1 0.02 0.05 0.05
 T. Keerthi vasan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 21 (2020) 45–51 47

Fig. 4.1. Load vs displacement graph for flexural test for sample 1.

Fig. 4.2. Load vs displacement graph for flexural test for sample 2.

Table 3.3 Table 3.4

Dimension for carbon, glass and aramid fiber. Dimensions for carbon and glass fiber.

Parameters Sample 1 Sample 2 Parameters Sample 1 Sample 2

Width 25 mm 25 mm Width 38.55 mm 39.37 mm
Thickness 13 mm 13 mm Thickness 9.68 mm 9.46 mm
Length 200 mm 250 mm Length 25 mm 25 mm
48 T. Keerthi vasan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 21 (2020) 45–51

Table 4.1 4.5. Flexural test

Description for flexural test (Sample 1).

Parameter Description Flexural strength are also known as bend strength or rupture
Material Carbon, Glass, Aramid Fiber Composite strength. It is a materials property defined as the stress in a mate-
Machine Universal Testing Machine, 600 kN rial just before it yields in a rupture test or simply it is said as the
Sample type Rectangular maximum stress observed by the materials. Flexural test analysis.
Width 25.23 mm Here in graph Fig. 4.5 represents the flexural test of specimen 1.
Thickness 13.34 mm
Gauge length 50 mm
This graph is plotted for rectangular specimen. The dimensions
for the given specimen is shown in the Tables 3.3 and 3.4. The
Results of Flexural Test: specimen absorb the maximum force of 5.760 KN. At this point
Maximum Force (Fm): 7.920 kN.
the failure of specimen takes place.

Table 4.2
Description for flexural test (Sample 2). 4.6. Tensile test

Parameter Description
A pliable test, otherwise called pressure test, is presumably the
Material Carbon, Glass, Aramid Fiber Composite most principal sort of mechanical test you can perform on material.
Machine Universal Testing Machine, 600 kN
As the material is being pulled, you will discover its quality along-
Sample type Rectangular
Width 24.94 mm side the amount it will lengthen. This graph Fig. 4.6 represent the
Thickness 12.83 mm tensile strength of the given specimen. The dimensions for the
Gauge length 50 mm given specimen is shown in the Tables 3.3 and 3.4. The specimen
Results of Flexural Test: absorb the maximum force applied is 34.620 KN. The specimen
Maximum Force (Fm): 6.900 kN. can withstand up to 92.955 MPa. These value is taken for area
372.440 mm2. At this point the failure of specimen takes place.

4.4. Hardness test

There are variety of hardness test are present here we have cho-
sen the Rockwell Hardness Testing. Hardness is a characteristic of a
material, not a fundamental physical property. It is defined as the
resistance to indentation, and it is determined by measuring the
permanent depth of the indentation. With the help of the Rockwell
hardness test we have obtained the value of the test specimen such
as 89 and 90.
Result for carbon and glass fiber.
4.7. Hardness test
There are variety of hardness test are present here we have cho-
sen the Rockwell Hardness Testing. Hardness is a characteristic of a
material, not a fundamental physical property. It is defined as the
resistance to indentation, and it is determined by measuring the
permanent depth of the indentation. With the help of the Rockwell
hardness test we have obtained the value of the test specimen such
as 83, 84 and 85.

Fig. 4.3. Load vs displacement graph for tensile test for sample 1.
 T. Keerthi vasan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 21 (2020) 45–51 49

Fig. 4.4. Load vs displacement graph for tensile test for sample 2.

Table 4.3 Sample – I

Description for tensile test (sample 1). Impact values in joules: 18
Parameter Description Sample – II
Material Carbon, Glass, Aramid Fiber Composite Impact values in joules: 16
Sample type Rectangular
Width 23.81 mm
Thickness 13.83 mm 5. Conclusion
Gauge length 50 mm
Area 392.292 mm2 The above table contains the results of both sample tests in
Results of Tensile Test: three different methods. The above values are compared with the
Maximum Force (Fm): 52.980 kN. default leaf spring which is also mentioned. Based on the tested
Tensile Strength (Rm): 160.891 MPa. values we can say that the composite leaf spring will provide better
performance when compared to ordinary steel leaf spring. So selec-
tion of composite materials for the manufacturing of leaf spring
Table 4.4
Description for tensile test (sample 2).
will provide better efficiency. Each fiber having higher strength
when its individually but when combining these fiber it may have
Parameter Description
some less strength when compared with steel leaf spring also man-
Material Carbon, Glass, Aramid Fiber Composite ufacturing method is important. By using manual lay up method
Sample type Rectangular give reduced strength due to air molecule inclusion present in
Width 24.36 mm
Thickness 13.4 mm
the fiber at time of manufacturing. So its suitable for light moving
Gauge length 50 mm vehicle. These composite leaf spring can absorb more vibration and
Area 326.424 mm2 also give more cushion and better suspension effect. When com-
pare these two result and we conclude Glass, Carbon and Aramid
Results of Tensile Test:
Maximum Force (Fm): 52.560 kN. Fiber spring can give more strength than Carbon and Glass Fiber
Tensile Strength (Rm): 161.018 MPa. spring (Tables 5.1 and 5.2).

4.8. Impact test
Izod impact testing is an ASTM standard method of determining
the impact resistance of materials. ASTM for Impact test is D256. A
pivoting arm is raised to a specific height (constant potential
energy) and then released. The arm swings down hitting a notched
sample, breaking the specimen. The energy absorbed by the sam-
ple is calculated from the height the arm swings to after hitting
the sample.
Acknowledgements
Our sincere thanks to Thiru. M. Kumarasamy, Chairman and Dr.
K. Ramakrishnan, B.E, Secretary of M. Kumarasamy College of Engi-
neering for providing extra ordinary infrastructure, which helped
us to complete the project in time. It is a great privilege for us to
express our gratitude to our esteemed Principal Dr. N. Ramesh
Babu.
M.E., Ph.D., for providing us right ambiance for carrying out the
project work. We would like to thank our Dr. C. Ramesh M.E., Ph.D.,
50 T. Keerthi vasan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 21 (2020) 45–51

Fig. 4.5. Load vs displacement graph for flexural test.

Fig. 4.6. Load vs displacement graph for tensile test.

Table 5.1 Head, Department of Mechanical engineering, for their unwavering

Result of composite materials for carbon, glass and aramid fiber. moral support throughout the evolution of the project. We offer
Sample ID Sample 1 Sample 2 our whole hearted thanks to our internal guide Mr. T. Keerthi vasan
Tensile Strength in MPa 160.90 161.01
M.E., Assistant professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Flexural load in KN 7.92 6.90 for her/his constant encouragement, kind co-operation, valuable
Impact values in JOULES 18 16 suggestions and support rendered in making our project a success.
 T. Keerthi vasan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 21 (2020) 45–51
Table 5.2
Result of composite materials for carbon and glass fiber.
Types Of Test
Flexural Test
Tensile Test
Hardness Test
We would like to thank our project coordinator Mr. R. Manivel M.
E., Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering for
her/his kind cooperation and culminating in the successful com-
pletion of project work. We glad to thank all the Faculty Members
of Department of Mechanical Engineering for extending a warm
helping hand and valuable suggestions throughout the project.
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