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Static Design and Finite Element Analysis of Innovative CFRP Transverse Leaf Spring

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Abstract

This paper describes the design and the numerical modelization of a novel transverse Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) leaf-spring prototype for a multilink suspension. The most significant innovation is in the functional integration where the leaf spring has been designed to work as spring, anti-roll bar, lower and longitudinal arms at the same time. In particular, the adopted work flow maintains a very close correlation between virtual simulations and experimental tests. Firstly, several tests have been conducted on the CFRP specimen to characterize the material property. Secondly, a virtual card fitting has been carried out in order to set up the leaf-spring Finite Element (FE) model using CRASURV formulation as material law and RADIOSS as solver. Finally, extensive tests have been done on the manufactured component for validation. The results obtained show a good agreement between virtual simulation and experimental tests. Moreover, this solution enabled the suspension to reduce about 75% of the total mass without losing performance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank for the helpful and continuous support Altair Engineering Srl for FEM simulation and SFC compositi Srl for leaf-spring manufacturing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

    M. Carello, A. G. Airale, A. Ferraris, A. Messana & L. Sisca

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  1. M. Carello
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  2. A. G. Airale
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  3. A. Ferraris
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  4. A. Messana
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  5. L. Sisca
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Messana.

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This research is the final work of the different Research Programs, in particular of the Regional Automotive Platform “CARVOUR” 2014, and the Regional Feasibility Study “ACTL” 2015. In addition, the IEHV (Innovative Electric and Hybrid Vehicles) Research Group of Politecnico di Torino - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department has found and support the research with its own resources.

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Carello, M., Airale, A.G., Ferraris, A. et al. Static Design and Finite Element Analysis of Innovative CFRP Transverse Leaf Spring. Appl Compos Mater 24, 1493–1508 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-017-9596-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-017-9596-6

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