Composite Leaf Spring for Tank Trailer Suspensions

Abstract

Composite leaf springs constructed of glass fiber reinforced polymeric materials have been recognized as viable replacements for steel springs. Experience gained in the use of composite leaf springs in passenger vehicles is encouraging and clearly demonstrates the utility of glass fiber reinforced composites for leaf spring applications. This paper discusses a study on the use of glass fiber reinforced composite leaf springs for commercial vehicles, particularly for heavy tank trailer suspension systems. A general discussion on the analysis and design of constant width, variable thickness composite springs is presented. An example is given for the design of a composite spring for one of a tank trailer fleet. This spring is three inches wide with a maximum thickness of about two inches. Several dozen springs were fabricated according to the design and road tested on tank trailers. In general, the road test results demonstrated the applicability of glass fiber reinforced composite springs for trailer suspensions. The composite leaf springs were well received by the trailer operators.

Development and preliminary performance evaluation of discontinuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic leaf spring

“…Sancaktar and Gratton [14] explored the use and capabilities of composite leaf springs produced by using unidirectional E-glass roving impregnated in epoxy resin for lightweight application. Lo et al [15] developed constant width, variable thickness glass fibre reinforced epoxy leaf spring by compression molding and demonstrated with road tests for tank trailer suspensions. Nepershin and Klimenov [16] replaced polymer composites in leaf spring applications, bumpers, and reported substantial weight savings.…”

“…Prior investigations [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] identified thermoset composite material for leaf spring application. However, because of the intricacy involved in the manufacturing process, the production capability for thermoset plastic leaf spring is limited.…”

Structure Design of GFRP Composite Leaf Spring: An Experimental and Finite Element Analysis

“…Therefore, the introduction of composite materials enables the weight reduction in the leaf spring, which leads to a better riding performance of the vehicle as well as the reduction in vehicle cost [22]. In practice, the structure of the leaf spring's main body used in automobiles is mainly categorized into four types, including that with constant width and thickness [23], constant width and variable thickness [24], constant thickness and variable width [6], and variable width and variable thickness [6,25]. Specifically, the leaf spring with constant width and thickness is easy to fabricate but it is weak in the thin middle part.…”

Evaluation of modal parameters and static characteristics for composite mono leaf spring

“…Many researchers have investigated the composite leaf spring. 5–10 Design, fabrication, weight analysis and testing of a composite integrated rear suspension in a Ford Escort vehicle were reported by. 11 Carello et al 12 designed and modeled a novel transverse Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) leaf spring prototype for a multilink suspension in order to reduce un-sprung masses for city car suspension.…”