Graduation Semester and Year
2018
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
First Advisor
Andrey Beyle
Abstract
Composite materials are widely used in aeronautical, marine and automotive industries, because of their excellent mechanical properties, low density and ease of manufacture. Due to this increasing trend to utilize composite materials, it has become necessary to investigate the pros and cons of composites. Increasing competition and innovation in automobile sector tends to modify the existing products by new and advanced material products. A suspension system of vehicle is also an area where these innovations are carried out regularly. Leaf springs are one of the oldest suspension components that are being still used widely in automobiles. They contribute to 15-20% unsprung weight. Weight reduction is one of the utmost priority of all by automobile manufacturers. The automobile industry has shown increased interest in the use of composite leaf spring in the place of conventional steel leaf spring due to its high strength to weight ratio. This work deals with replacement of conventional steel leaf spring with composite leaf spring. Comparison of steel and composite leaf spring using ANSYS V17.2 software. Then the effect of change in design on stress, deformation, strain energy, fatigue life was studied using ANSYS V17.2. Anisotropic material properties are taken into account to observe resultant behavior. The leaf spring is modeled using SOLIDWORKS 2017 for the four materials, E glass epoxy, S glass Epoxy, Kevlar epoxy and Carbon epoxy.
Keywords
E glass epoxy, S glass epoxy, Carbon fiber epoxy, Kevlar epoxy
Disciplines
Aerospace Engineering | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Gaikwad, Prashik Sunil, "Comparison of steel and composite leaf springs using FEA" (2018). Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses. 979.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/mechaerospace_theses/979
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington