FE simulation of vehicle leaf spring behavior under driving manoeuvres

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a FE based modeling procedure for describing the mechanical behavior of high‐performance leaf springs made of high‐strength steels under damaging driving manoeuvres.

Design/methodology/approach

The type and number of finite elements over the thickness of leaves, as well as the definition of contact, friction and clamping conditions, have been investigated to describe the mechanical behavior in an accurate and time‐effective manner. The proposed modeling procedure is applied on a multi‐leaf spring providing complex geometry and kinematics during operation. The calculation accuracy is verified based on experimental stress results.

Findings

A FE based modeling procedure is developed to describe the kinematics and mechanical behavior of high‐performance leaf springs subjected till up to extreme driving loads. Comparison of numerically determined stress distributions with corresponding experimental results for a serial front axle multi‐leaf spring providing complex geometry and subjected to vertical and braking loads confirms high calculation accuracy.

Research limitations/implications

The proposed FE based model is restricted to linear elastic material behavior, which is, however, reasonable for the high‐strength steels used for leaf spring applications.

Practical implications

The proposed FE procedure can be applied for the design and optimization of automotive leaf springs, especially for trucks.

Originality/value

The proposed procedure is simple and can be applied in a very early design stage. It is able to describe accurately the leaf behavior, especially the stiffness and stress response under the most significant driving events. It goes far beyond today's practice for leaf spring design, which is based on analytical methods not covering complex axle and steering kinematics, large deformations and non‐linearities.

Citation

Savaidis, G., Malikoutsakis, M. and Savaidis, A. (2013), "FE simulation of vehicle leaf spring behavior under driving manoeuvres", International Journal of Structural Integrity, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 23-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/17579861311303609