The riding comfort of an automobile is greatly affected by the suspension system. Springs are crucial suspension elements, necessary to minimize the vertical vibrations, impacts and pumps due to road irregularities, vertical vibrations and impacts are buffered by variations is the spring deflection so that the potential energy is stored in spring as strain energy and then released slowly. Composite leaf spring made of Eglass/Epoxy is the best alternate to steel spring for having excellent higher strength-to-weight ratio, high energy spring capacity, excellent corrosion resistance and higher natural frequency.In the present paper, shape optimization of mono composite leaf spring was carried out with design constraints as stress and displacements. Through finite element technique, structural parameters are computed for both steel and optimized composite leaf springs. Experimental validations were done on steel and composite leaf spring for both static and dynamic conditions. The dynamic analysis is computed through Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and MATLAB code is developed to determine the natural frequencies of the leaf springs. Composite leaf spring is found to have low deflections, less stress, weight, high natural frequency and high damping property compared to steel leaf springs. This results in fuel savings and better riding comfort in automobiles.

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Experimental Investigations on Natural Frequencies of a Mono Composite and Steel Leaf Springs using Fast Fourier Transforms

J. Kandasamy*, B. Ravikumar**, M. Madhavi***
*_**_*** Department of Mechanical Engineering, M.V.S.R Engineering College, Nadergul, Hyderabad, Andhrapradesh, India.
Periodicity:July - September'2013
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jms.1.2.2452

Abstract

The riding comfort of an automobile is greatly affected by the suspension system. Springs are crucial suspension elements, necessary to minimize the vertical vibrations, impacts and pumps due to road irregularities, vertical vibrations and impacts are buffered by variations is the spring deflection so that the potential energy is stored in spring as strain energy and then released slowly. Composite leaf spring made of Eglass/Epoxy is the best alternate to steel spring for having excellent higher strength-to-weight ratio, high energy spring capacity, excellent corrosion resistance and higher natural frequency.In the present paper, shape optimization of mono composite leaf spring was carried out with design constraints as stress and displacements. Through finite element technique, structural parameters are computed for both steel and optimized composite leaf springs. Experimental validations were done on steel and composite leaf spring for both static and dynamic conditions. The dynamic analysis is computed through Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and MATLAB code is developed to determine the natural frequencies of the leaf springs. Composite leaf spring is found to have low deflections, less stress, weight, high natural frequency and high damping property compared to steel leaf springs. This results in fuel savings and better riding comfort in automobiles.

Keywords

Leaf Spring, Steel, Monocomposite Uniform and Variable Thickness, Static and Dynamic Analysis

How to Cite this Article?

Kandasamy, J., Ravikumar, B., & Madhav, M. (2013). Experimental Investigations on Natural Frequencies of a Mono Composite and Steel Leaf Springs Using Fast Fourier Transforms. i-manager's Journal on Material Science, 1(2), 13-19. https://doi.org/10.26634/jms.1.2.2452

References

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