Burande et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies

E-ISSN22498974

Research Paper

ANALYSIS OF LEAF SPRINGS IN LIGHT AUTOMOTIVE

VEHICLES BY EXPERIMENTAL AND FINITE ELEMENT
APPROACH
S.W.Burande1*, G.R.Chavhan2, Dr. L.P.Dhole3

1,2,3

Address for Correspondence

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering,

Chandrapur, Maharashtra, India 442403

ABSTRACT:
The work investigated leaf spring of a commercial vehicle Tata Sumo. The study was targeted for static and dynamic
behaviors of steel and composite multi-leaf spring using CAE tool (ANSYS V12). The dimensions of an existing
conventional leaf spring of Tata Sumo vehicle were used. The same dimensions were used to design composite multi-leaf
spring form the composite material. Work was aimed to carry out computer aided design and analysis of a conventional leaf
spring and validate the results by experimental method. SUP 9 (AISI) material leaf spring was taken for study. The design
constraints were bending stresses and deflection. Compared to the steel leaf spring, composite material multi-leaf spring has
shown much lower bending stresses and deflections.
KEYWORDS: Computer Aided Engineering (CAE); Leaf Spring; SUP 9 Static loading.

I. 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 unsprung weight. This achieves the
vehicle with more fuel efficiency and improved
riding qualities. Composite materials are now used
extensively in the automotive industry to take the
place of metal parts. Several papers were devoted to
the application of composite materials for
automobiles. Multi-leaf springs are usually formed by
stacking leafs of steel, in progressively longer lengths
on top of each other, so that the spring is thick in the
mid-span. The studies made, point out that 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
1.1 Existing steel leaf spring
Design parameters of the existing seven-leaf steel
spring used in this work includes: total length (eyeto-eye), 1150 mm; arc height at axle seat (camber),
175 mm; spring rate 20 N/mm; number of full length
leaves 2; number of graduated leaves 5; width of the
leaves 34 mm; thickness 142 mm; full bump loading,
3250 N; spring weight 13.5 kg.

2 ANALYSIS
2.1 Analytical calculations of conventional steel
leaf spring:
Analysed assuming total weight acting on one of the
leaf Spring of trolley is 6.154 tonnes

2.2 Experimental analysis

For experimental testing of the leaf spring, the
sample spring has been tested on the full load testing
machine in the workshop and the deflection has been
recorded.

Fig.2.2.1 : Experimental Setup-Multi-leaf spring tested

on load Testing Machine

For the load 5.192 tones (kerb weight of Tata sumo),

deflection has been measured and calculated the
corresponding bending stress.
Table No.2.2: Experimental Results

2.3 Finite element analysis of conventional steel

leaf spring
A stress analysis has been performed by finite
element methods using ANSYS (7.1). 2-D finite
analysis has been carried out considering the plane
strain condition due the high ratio of width to
thickness of a leaf. The SOLID 42 element was
selected and for interface CONTA174 and
TARGE170 are used. Finite element stress analysis is
performed under full bump loading. Maximum
normal stress 11 from finite element analysis is
compared to the experimental solution under full
bump loading and has 8.63 % error.

b = 6 * W * L/ (nf + ng) * b * t
= 6 * 45278.055 * (860/2) / (2+7) * 70 *13
b = 1097.185 N/mm
= 6 * W * L/ (nf + ng) * E * b * t
= 6 * 45278 * (430) / (9) * 210 * 10 * 70 * 13
= 74.31 mm
Table No. 2.1 : Showing summary of analytical results
Fig2.3.1: Imported leaf spring from PRO-E
Int. J. Adv. Engg. Res. Studies/IV/I/Oct.-Dec,2014/15-16

Burande et al, International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Studies

E-ISSN22498974

Also, at the time of experiment it was found that the

material may reach the plastic stage if it is loaded
beyond 90556N.
The safety of the spring for given loading condition
can be assured by observing the Ansys analysis stress
pattern.
It can also be stated that use of SOLID 45 mesh
element for FEA analysis gives the results which are
in good agreement to the experimental results.
REFERENCES
1.

Fig2.3.2.:deformed shape of the model

3. TESTING AND RESULTS DISCUSSION

The behavior of the leaf spring has been studied
under static conditions with all the three approaches
i.e. Analytical, Experimental and FEA .The results
from each section are taken for the comparison
purpose. The experimental results are tabulated as
below
Table No. 3.1 : results of experimental and analytical
approach

FEA analysis has been performed and results are

tabulated.
Table No.3.2: results of analytical computational and
approach

Experimental results from testing the steel leaf spring

under full bump loading
Table No.3.3: results of experimental and analytical
approach

FEA results and Experimental Results are tabulated

together and compared.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Table No.3.5: Results comparison of experimental &

computational approach
10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Fig. : Showing the Von Mises stresses of leaf spring

CONCLUSION
When the leaf spring is loaded with 6.154 tonnes
(90556 N) of load, a variation of 0.86% in deflection
is observed among the Experimental & FEA value,
which proves the validation of our model and
analysis. The bending stress obtained in CAE
solution, is decreased by 10.59 % in comparison with
experimental result. This can be avoided by more
precise meshing of the model in Ansys.
Int. J. Adv. Engg. Res. Studies/IV/I/Oct.-Dec,2014/15-16

Mr. V. K. Aher, Mr. P. M. Sonawane / International

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