Manufacturing Process for Production of Composite Leaf Springs for5 Ton truck

Fatigue Load Study:

Automotive leaf springs are subjected to bending deflections, and, torsional loads which, during the life of the vehicle, impose repeated stresses on the spring material. It is necessary for the design engineer to know both the load cycle requirements and the degree of material degradation. The study evaluated E-glassfiber/epoxy and S2-glass fiber/epoxy for fatigue properties.CIBA-GEIGY and TACOM jointly selected load cycles(combinations of maximum stress and load ratio R, where R =ratio of minimum to maximum load cycle stress) for the frontand rear spring assemblies so as to represent loadsencountered in actual service.

Rear Spring
It was assumed that the two bottom leaves, which provide the attach points to the vehicle, would be made of steel and have a configuration essentially the same as that of the existing steel spring. The remaining leaves would be made from composite materials. The following design configurations were investigated: 1. E-glass, tapered thickness 2. S2-glass, tapered thickness 3. E-glass, constant thickness 4. S2-glass, constant thickness Loading Condition (minimum/maximum load) A. (Static load/2) to full jounce B. Static load to full jounce C. (Static load/2) to 2.5 times static load D. (Static load/2) to 2.0 times static load Load Ratio, R .16 .32 .20 .25

Notes: 1. Static load for composite leaves: 10,430 lbs (46,393 N). 4.7 Tonne 2. Full jounce: G.V.W. load deflection + 7.25 inches (184 mm). 3. Load on composite leaves at full jounce: 46,128 lbs (205,177 N).

 Each figure describes the number of leaves as a function of expected fatigue life for the four load conditions given in Table. The four figures represent combinations of material (E- or S2-glass) and leaf configuration (constant ortapered thickness). The program also calculated weight and stacked height, and these values are given on the graphs for each data point plotted. The target weight for the composite leaves in the rear spring is 100 lb(45.4 kg) , maximum. The stacked height of these leaves must not exceed 6 inches (152.4 mm) so as to remain within the dimensions of the currently used steel spring. For a fatigue life of 100,000 cycles, constant thickness leaves are acceptable only if S2-glass is used, and, even then, only for the least severe loading combination. Based on these results, CIBA-GEIGY recommended a design for the rear spring consisting of two steel bottom leaves and three composite leaves of S2-glass fiber/epoxywith tapered thickness. According to Figure 3-5, this design would have a fatigue life of 30,000 cycles at load condition A (half static load to full jounce, R = 0.16), or 3,000,000 cycles at load condition C (1/2 to 2-1/2 times static load, R = 0.20). Front Spring It was assumed that the two top leaves, which contain the mounting eyes for attaching the spring to the vehicle, would be made of steel Loading Conditions Load Ratio, R (minimum/maximum load) A. (Static load/2) to full jounce + max. axle torque .11 B. Static load to full jounce + max. axle torque .22 C. (Static load/2) to 2.5 times static load + max. axle torque .13 D. (Static load/2) to 2.0 times static load + max. axle torque .15 Notes: 2. Full jounce: G.V.W. load defl. + 4 in. (102 mm) 1. Static load for composite leaves: 3451 lbs. (15,350 N) 3. Load on composite leaves at full jounce: 10,606 lbs (47,175N) 4. Max. axle torque load on composite leaves: 4608 lbs (20,496N) , added to forward half the composite leaves andsubtracted from aft half. The target weight for the composite leaves in the front spring is 25 lb. (11.3 kg), maximum. Based on these results, CIBA-GEIGY recommended a design for the front spring consisting of two steel leaves with mounting eyes, steel rebound leaf and two composite leaves of S2-glass fiber/epoxy with tapered thickness.

Design Criteria:
Design criteria for the composite leaf spring are structural integrity, interchangeability with the present metal springs, lighter weight than the metal springs, cost, and, most important, compatibility with current manufacturing technology to allow quantity production (25 sets of springs per day). The two long leaves (bottom leaves) in the steel spring assembly are used in the composite spring because of interchangeability requirements. The steel leaves provide contact points to the vehicle and fit into the existing support brackets. Composite materials have much lower shear strength than steel, and a composite leaf or leaves would have to be much thicker at the tip than the steel leaves in order to take the vertical shear loads, and thus would not fit the existing support bracket on the vehicle. The maximum length for the composite leaves that can be allowed without interference with the brackets is 49 inches (1245 mm). Because of the shear characteristics, all composite leaves were designed to have equal length. Computer Analysis Constant bending stress along the length of the leaf. Near the end, away from the seat, shear stresses (rather than bending stresses) are critical and, therefore, the thickness becomes constant

Configuaration
It consists of two steel leaves and three composite material leaves made of S2glass fiber/epoxy. The fibers are oriented parallel to the length of the leaf. Spacers made of woven fiberglass fabric are bonded to the at the center to provide separation of the leaves and also to reinforce the hole for the center bolt. The bolt is used to align the leaves and to provide an indexing point for the seat clamp. Stress concentration around the hole should be minimal. The seat clamp is long enough, 10.75 inches (273 mm), to ensure that there are no bending loads at the center of the leaf. There are no lateral loads on the leaf causing bearing stress on the composite laminate. "Rubbing pads of Teflon are bonded to the tips of the leaves to provide wear surfaces. The pads are bonded to both sides of the leaves so that the rubbing action is Teflon against Teflon. This ensures minimum friction and maximum protection Plyfor the laminate.

Manufacturing Process Evaluation

A spring leaf consists of essentially unidirectional fibersoriented parallel to the length of the leaf, and embedded ina structural resin matrix. The fibers resist tension andcompression resulting from bending forces. Wet impregnation is performed at the time of lay-up of the fiber on the tool. The most common wet lay-up process isfilament winding where the fiber tow is wound over a mandrel of the desired shape after it has passed through a bath of liquid resin. A series of rollers squeeze out excess resin from the fiber before it is deposited on the mandrel. Three different fabrication processes, considered practical for the manufacture of the spring leaves, were evaluated. 1. Filament winding 2. Pultrusion 3. lamination and compression molding.

Filament Winding
Filament winding consists of depositing a continuous fiberstrand over a rotating mandrel while guiding the fiberbackand forth along the axis of rotation to achieve the desired winding angle and build up of material.

Pultrusion
The pultrusion method of fabricating composite components consists of pulling continuous resin impregnated fibersthrough a ceramic die to produce a given cross section. As the resin-impregnated material is drawn through the die, it is cured rapidly by R.F. heating. Pultrusions are normally produced in straight, continuous sections but with proper tooling the process is capable of producing parts with varying cross sectional shape or with curvature, as long as the volume of fibers drawn through the die is held constant. The material is 90% cured at the time it comes out of the die and, therefore, reshaping of the part is limited to minor changes.

Compression Molding
Compression molding of ply laminations involves molding of pre-impregnated plies in a heated, matched metal mold. The process requires that individual patterns be cut from broadgoods sheets and placed in the mold. The patterns may be cut from pre-plied sheets consisting of as many as 10 plies. Thickness tapering, such as that of an automotive spring leaf, is accomplished by stacking plies of different lengths. These plies must be cut and stacked as individual plies to minimize the effect of the steps. The process can be automated. Machines which will cut and stack patterns in a predetermined sequence, are available.

Conlusion: 1. Steel leaves were used in combination with fiberglass/epoxy leaves. The steel leaves assures interchangeability with the existing all steel leaf springs . 2. A fatigue study showed that E-glass fibre/epoxy material would not give a sufficient life to the spring. Therefore, S2-glass fibre was selected. 3. The study further showed that only leaves with tapered thickness would meet both envelope and weight requirements.