Ranjeet Mithari et al.

/ International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST)

ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE LEAF

SPRING BY USING ANALYTICAL &
FEA
* Ranjeet Mithari, * Amar Patil, ** Prof. E. N. Aitavade,
*P. G. Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Engineering & Technology, Warananagar - 416113, Maharashtra (India)
rsmithari@tkietwarana.org, ampmech@tkietwarana.org
** Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Tatyasaheb Kore Institute of Engineering & Technology, Warananagar - 416113, Maharashtra (India)
enamech@tkietwarana.org
Abstract
Leaf spring are of the oldest suspension component they are still frequently used. The current leaf spring is
multiple leaf spring types with a steel material. It has high weight, low natural frequency, high corrosion, more
noise. Therefore current multiple leaf spring is replaced by mono composite (E- Glass epoxy) leaf spring which
has high natural frequency, low weight etc. The maximum stress produced at the cylindrically joint than fixed
joint. Therefore stress analysis of composite material mono leaf spring is carried out. The result of finite element
method is verified with analytical calculation. Also compare the natural frequency by FFT analyzer with FEA.
Key words: Leaf spring, FEM, natural frequency.
1 Introduction
In order to conserve natural resources and economize energy, weight reduction has been the main focus of
automobile manufacturers in the present scenario. Weight reduction can be achieved primarily by the
introduction of better material, design optimization and better manufacturing processes. The suspension leaf
spring is one of the potential items for weight reduction in automobiles as it accounts for 10% - 20% of the
unstrung weight. This achieves the vehicle with more fuel efficiency and improved riding qualities. The
introduction of composite materials was made it possible to reduce the weight of leaf spring without any
reduction on load carrying capacity and stiffness. Since, the composite materials have more elastic strain energy
storage capacity and high strength to weight ratio as compared with those of steel, multi-leaf steel springs are
being replaced by mono-leaf composite springs. The composite material offer opportunities for substantial
weight saving but not always are cost-effective over their steel counter parts. The leaf spring should absorb the
vertical vibrations and impacts due to road irregularities by means of variations in the spring deflection so that
the potential Energy is stored in spring as strain energy and then released slowly. So, increasing the energy
storage capability of a leaf spring ensures a more compliant suspension system.
According to the studies made a material with maximum strength and minimum modulus of elasticity in the
longitudinal direction is the most suitable material for a leaf spring. Fortunately, composites have these
characteristics. In the present work, a seven-leaf steel spring used in passenger cars is replaced with a
composite multi leaf spring made of glass/epoxy composites. The dimensions and the number of leaves for both
steel leaf spring and composite leaf springs are considered to be the same. The primary objective is to compare
their load carrying capacity, stiffness and weight savings of composite leaf spring. Finally, fatigue life of steel
and composite leaf spring is also predicted using life data. The objective of this paper is to calculate stresses,
strength to weight ratio, dynamic loading condition, and stiffness & compare those with conventional steel leaf
spring. For the accurate evaluation of above factor we use Finite Element Method. In Static analysis, there is no
variation of force with respect to time. Output in the form of stress, displacement, etc. with respect to time is not
taken into account. Modal analysis of leaf spring is conducted to study the natural frequencies.
2 Design Parameter
The work is carried out on mono leaf spring of TATA SUMO vehicles. The mono leaf spring is used with eyes
and in full length as shown in figure;

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 Ranjeet Mithari et al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST)

Actual mono Leaf spring

Dimension of actual leaf spring:
Table 1. Design Parameter

Parameter Length in mm

1. Length of leaf spring from Eye to Eye(L) 1270mm

2. Width at both end 120mm

3. Width at center 60mm

4. Thickness at End both 10mm

5. Thickness at Center 30mm

6. Eye Dia. closed 50mm

3 Composite Material
In this analysis the material of mono leaf spring is E- glass epoxy used. There are four layers of material is lay
up by following way:
 The E glass Epoxy is also type of fiber.
 SiO2 54wt%
 Al2O3 14wt%
 CaO+MgO 22wt%
 B2O3 10wt%
 Na2O+K2O less then 2wt%.
The properties of E-glass epoxy material used for the analysis which are following:

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 Ranjeet Mithari et al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST)

Table 2. Properties of E-Glass Epoxy

Sr. No Properties Value

1 Tensile modulus along X-direction 34000MPa
2 Tensile modulus along Y-direction 6530MPa
3 Tensile modulus along Z-direction 6530MPa
4 Tensile strength of material 900MPa
5 Compressive strength of the material 450MPa
6 Shear modulus along XY-direction 2433MPa
7 Shear modulus along YZ-direction 1698MPa
8 Shear modulus along ZX-direction 2433MPa
9 Poisson ratio along XY-direction 0.217MPa
10 Poisson ratio along YZ-direction 0.366MPa
11 Poisson ratio along ZX-direction 0.217MPa
12 Mass density of the material 2.6×103Kg/mm3
13 Flexural modulus of the material 40000MPa
14 Flexural strength of the material 1200MPa
4 Methodologies
4.1 Finite element analysis
In finite element analysis 3D model of mono leaf spring is developed. After modeling of leaf spring then give
the actual supporting boundary condition i.e. fixed support and cylindrical support. In fixed support there is no
any degree of freedom i.e. there is no displacement at any direction. But in cylindrical support only vertical
excitation or motion is present and horizontal motion is restricted. This condition is real on TATA-SUMO leaf
spring. After giving the support meshing of leaf spring is done by giving element size 100 for better results.
Here the number of time meshing was done ie at 50element size ,70 element size, 75 element size, 85 element
size , 95 element size but at 100 and 95 element size the result that is natural frequency and stresses are does not
change. Therefore element size taken as 100 for better result. The following meshing is done in ANSYS it is
similar to both conventional as well as composite material leaf springs.

Fig. 1 Meshing of leaf spring Fig. 2 Load applied on leaf spring

After giving all boundary condition and load i.e. 50N, 100N, 150N is applied at center. Also applying all
material properties of both steel as well as composite material properties i.e. modulus of elasticity, density etc.
In following composite mono leaf spring and steel leaf spring the deformation is found 26.708mm and 20.08mm

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 Ranjeet Mithari et al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST)

Fig. 3 Steel leaf spring Fig. 4 Composite leaf spring

4.2Natural Frequency Analysis

Normally road natural frequency is 12HZ. Therefore the natural frequency of leaf spring is more required. But
the conventional steel leaf spring frequency is nearer to road frequency. Therefore calculating natural frequency
of composite leaf spring is important and for that we use FFT analyzer and compare the result with FEA results

Fig. 5 FFT Experimental setup

The first three natural frequency of composite and steel leaf spring:
Table 3. Experimental results of natural frequency

F(HZ) 1 2 3
Steel 30.06 52.34 93.56
Composite 33.844 57.188 102.14

Table 4. Finite Element Analysis results of natural frequency

F(HZ) 1 2 3
Steel 31.40 51.999 92.871
Composite 34.44 58.20 109.77

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 Ranjeet Mithari et al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST)

In the above table natural frequencies of composite material and steel leaf spring are given from experimental
and FEA. From that we seen that natural frequency of E glass epoxy that is composite material is higher than
conventional steel leaf spring by experimental as well as FEA. And which is required.
4.3 Results from FFT Analyzer
Peak before first natural frequency
2 Cursor values
1.6 X: 28.469 Hz
Y: 0.346 m/s²
1.2

0.8

0.4

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Autospectrum(1 Scalar,) (Magnitude)
[Hz]\ FFT
First Natural frequency:-
2 Cursor values
1.8
X: 33.844 Hz
1.6 Y: 2.233 m/s²
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
[Hz]
Autospectrum(1 Scalar,) (Magnitude) \ FFT
Peak after first natural frequency
2 Cursor values
1.8
X: 35.969 Hz
1.6 Y: 1.668 m/s²
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
[Hz]
Autospectrum(1 Scalar,) (Magnitude) \ FFT
4.4 Analytical analysis
For analytically calculation following formula is used by assuming leaf spring as a simply supported beam:
3
═
4
In these calculation three lengths with load and there stresses from Analytical and FEA these are in following
table for composite leaf spring:

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 Ranjeet Mithari et al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST)

Table 3. Comparison between stresses of Analytical and FEA

Sr. No. Load (N) Length(mm) Analytical FEA

Stress (MPa) Stress (MPa)
1 50 127 50.40 52.36
2 100 333 288.77 230.33
3 150 560 217.77 220.45
5. Result and Discussion:
Under the dynamic load conditions natural frequency and stresses of steel leaf spring and composite leaf spring
are found with the great difference. Here also the natural frequency of composite material is high than the steel
leaf spring. Conventional steel leaf spring was found to weigh 23Kg. whereas E-Glass/Epoxy mono leaf spring
weighs only 3.59 Kg. Indicating reductions in weight by 84.40% same level of performance. Conventional Leaf
spring shows failure at eye end only. Composite leaf spring can be used on smooth roads with very high
performance expectations. However on rough road conditions due to lower chipping resistance failure from
chipping of composite leaf spring is highly probable. That is the composite leaf spring is having greater
vibration absorbing capacity than conventional steel leaf spring. Also the stress of composite leaf spring is
higher than conventional steel leaf spring. Because of using only mono leaf spring space also reduced. The
corrosion resistance of composite leaf spring is higher i.e. it will work in environmental condition than
conventional steel leaf spring.
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