Journal of Materials Processing Technology 118 (2001) 5861

Automobile leaf springs from composite materials

H.A. Al-Qureshi*
IEM, Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica, C.T.A., Caixa Postal 6011, 12228-900, Sao Jose dos Campos, SP Brazil

Abstract
The automobile industry has shown increased interest in the replacement of steel springs with berglass reinforced composite leaf
springs. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present a general study on the analysis, design and fabrication of composite springs. From this
viewpoint, the suspension spring of a compact car, ``a jeep'' was selected as a prototype.
A single leaf, variable thickness spring of glassber reinforced plastic (GFRP) with similar mechanical and geometrical properties to the
multileaf steel spring, was designed, fabricated (molded and hoop wound) and tested. The testing was performed experimentally in the
laboratory and was followed by the road test. Comparison between the performance of the GFRP and the multileaf steel springs is
presented. In addition, other relevant parameters will be discussed. # 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Keywords: Composite materials; Leaf springs; Automobile parts

1. Introduction
There are different types of materials for metallic springs
depending on the application. The materials used for such
springs are principally, SAE-1080, 1095, 5155-60, 6150-60
and 9250-60. These are initially pre-stressed so as to
increase the carrying capacity of the springs.
It is well known that springs, in general, are designed to
absorb and store energy and then release it. Hence, the strain
energy of the material becomes a major factor in designing
the springs. The relationship of the specic strain energy can
be expressed as
U

s2
rE

(1)

where s is the strength, r the density and E the Young's

modulus of the spring material. It can be easily observed that
material having lower modulus and density will have a greater
specific strain energy capacity. Hence, composite material
becomes a very strong candidate for such applications. However, during the last two decades, and particularly in recent
years, great effort has been made by the automotive industries
in the application of leaf springs made from composite
materials [14]. Needless to say, for such application, graphite/epoxy composite demonstrates its superiority over
other composites. However, due to the availability and cost
limitation, the present work was restricted to the study of leaf
springs made from fiberglass/epoxy (glassfiber reinforced
*
Tel.: 55-012-340-5900; fax: 55-012-340-5801.
E-mail address: hazim@mec.ita.cta.br (H.A. Al-Qureshi).

0924-0136/01/$ see front matter # 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 8 6 3 - 9

plastic, GFRP). It presents advantages over graphite/epoxy

such as lower sensitivity to cracks, impact and wear damage.
In other words, fiberglass/epoxy leaf springs are almost
similar to metallic springs with regards to life requirements,
since they have sufficient impact strength, and their mechanical properties are not greatly influenced by the typical vehicle
working conditions.
Therefore, the main objective of the present work is to
manufacture, and analyse the experimental results of berglass/epoxy leaf springs for a moderately heavy vehicle,
such as ``a jeep''.
2. The design concept
Generally, simple replacement of steel parts by composite
materials yields signicant weight savings, but as with many
new materials, design, and manufacturing problems arise.
The change from relatively isotropic-homogeneous steel
alloys to anisotropic-inhomogeneous ber reinforced plastic
(FRP) material causes these problems. As a result, it is not an
easy task to replace steel by composite materials.
In the present work, the leaf spring model was considered
to be a parabolically tapered, constant width beam carrying a
concentrated load and assumed to be symmetrical with
different cord lengths for the two limbs of the spring. In
addition, due to the geometrical restriction of the vehicle, a
constant width was assumed. A nite element program was
used to model this behavior and the approximate leaf spring
radius was found to be equal to 94 cm, having a thickness
varying from 4.5 cm at the centre to 2.45 cm at the ends,

H.A. Al-Qureshi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 118 (2001) 5861

Fig. 1. Thickness distribution of composite leaf spring.

using composite materials made from woven fabric berglass/epoxy.

In addition, analytical analysis can be used to develop an
expression which is a function of thickness and position
along the spring. This could be manipulated by introducing
the bending and shear stresses developed during bending of a
simple beam into the Tsai-Hill failure criterion of composite
which yields the following equation:


 
3Px 2
P 2

0:3
(2)
bh2 X
bhS
where P is the applied load per wheel, x the position along
the horizontal axis, b the width, h the thickness at any x, X
and S are the average longitudinal and shear strengths of laminate, respectively. Then the boundary conditions can be included, such as the design load carrying capacity which is taken
here as 1600 kg, factor of safety equals 3, width 4:5 cm,
and the mechanical properties of the glassfiber/epoxy layer
(X 640 MPa, S 31 MPa, using 25% unidirectional and
75% woven fabric of glassfiber/epoxy). The variation of
thickness (h) as a function of position from the spring centre
(x) can be expressed by the following empirical equation:
h 2:192 4:805 0:091x2 1=2 1=2

(3)

The above equation can be plotted to produce the thickness

distribution as a function of position along the horizontal
axis of the spring, and is shown in Fig. 1. Both mandrels and
the various cuts of glassfiber can be prepared beforehand
based on the distribution.
3. Fabrication procedure
Many techniques can be suggested for the fabrication of
composite leaf spring from GFRP. However, in the present
work, the hand lay-up vacuum bag process was initially

59

employed, and the mandrels (male and female) were made

from plywood according to the desired prole obtained from
the present analysis. The glassber fabric was cut to the
desired lengths, so that when deposited on the mandrel,
would give the calculated thickness according to Eq. (3).
In the conventional hand lay-up/vacuum bag technique, a
releasing agent was applied uniformly to the molds which
had good surface nish. This was followed by the uniform
application of the epoxy resin throughout the layer (0/908).
Other layers were arranged, and a roller was used to remove
all the trapped air. The impregnated fabric was then pressed
between the two half-mandrels until the desired thickness
was attained, and then cured at room temperature in moderate vacuum pressure for 12 h. Finally, the cured laminate
was removed from the molds and band saw cut and polished
to produce a single leaf with molded and attached eyeholes,
Fig. 2.
Care must be taken during the individual lay-up of the
layers to eliminate the ber distortion, which could result in
lowering the strength and rigidity of the spring as a whole.
Also, special modication of tools is necessary to prevent
the emigration of the ber/resin assembly from the extremity
to the centre of the spring during the fabrication process.
Special steel-bearing plates were attached to the ends of
the composite leaf spring by means of nuts and screws. The
eyeholes were already welded to the bearing plates. Finally,
the whole spring assembly was tape-wrapped with berglass
tapes impregnated with epoxy resin, and then cured at room
temperature, Fig. 2. Needless to say, this eliminated premature delamination of the spring layers during service. A
number of springs were also made where the eyeholes at
both ends of the spring were integrally molded, Fig. 2. The
difference between the two types will be discussed later.
Several composite springs were made, so that laboratory and
road tests could be carried out to evaluate the performance of
such springs for this type of vehicle.
It is worth mentioning here, that the use of pre-preg would
denitely give better exibility in deposition of the tapes and
also on the operation speed. Another process, such as RTM,
could be considered, providing it is a cost-effective process.
Whereas lament winding technique is very effective for
constant spring thickness, it may also present operational
problems since the contour of the leaf spring is variable.
Despite this disadvantage, the operation can be used for high
volume production by curing at higher temperature and
under pressure. The duration of such procedure may take
up to 30 min.
In the present work, a simple mandrel was made for the
winding purpose and was attached by a connecting rod to the
winding machine. The operation was simply performed by
depositing impregnated glassber with epoxy resin over the
rotating mandrel in a hoop pattern. After the curing cycle was
completed, a complete parabolic composite ring could be
manufactured. This ring was halved to produce the constant
width and thickness composite leaf springs, as demonstrated
together with assembled wood mandrel in Fig. 3.

60

H.A. Al-Qureshi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 118 (2001) 5861

Fig. 2. GFRP springs with integrally and attached eyeholes.

Fig. 3. Hoop filament wound GFRP spring together with the mandrel.

4. Test procedures
The performance of an existing multileaf steel spring was
compared with the fabricated prototype berglass/epoxy
single leaf spring, Fig. 4. The springs were subjected to a
series of laboratory static loading tests. The test consists of
mounting the spring on a beam which is attached to the lower
platen of a hydraulic testing machine. A specially designed
punch was attached to the upper platen of the machine. The
test simulated a three-point bending test which was monitored continuously throughout the experiment.
A summary of the specications and performance of the
steel and the prototype berglass/epoxy leaf springs under
static loading are enumerated in Table 1. It can be observed
that the most outstanding feature is the impressive weight
saving of the GFRP spring over the conventional multileaf
steel spring. On the other hand, better rigidity of the steel

Fig. 4. Comparison of stiffness between multileaf steel and single GFRP

springs.

H.A. Al-Qureshi / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 118 (2001) 5861

Table 1
Comparison between steel and GFRP springs
Specification

Steel

GFRP

Average thickness (mm)

Transverse area (mm2)
Modulus (kgf/mm2)
Spring constant K (kgf/mm)
Total weight (kg)
No. of leaves/layer
Width (mm)
Collapse load (kgf)

38.0
1634
1250
6.4
18.7
7
45

29.5
1386
1100
3.16.1
3.5
88
45
720

Fig. 5. Road test in jeep with GFRP springs.

spring was evident. However, this could be improved by

hybridization, in which various amounts of carbon and glass
bers are combined to enhance this and the fatigue behavior.
Also, increasing the thickness of the GFRP spring would
result in an increase in the spring constant thereof.
In addition, two types of GFRP springs were fabricated. In
the rst group, the eyeholes were integral parts of the mold
(Fig. 2), whereas in the second group, the eyeholes were
molded separately after the curing of the laminate leaf spring
(Fig. 2). The present experiment demonstrated that the latter
seemed to improve strength and productivity.
Field testings to determine the ride characteristics were
also carried out on a number of GFRP springs which were
mounted in place of the conventional steel springs on a jeep.
These tests were limited to ride quality and sound observation on different road conditions, as shown in Fig. 5. It was
observed that the GFRP springs were more exible than steel
springs. Also, during the test ride, noise and harshness were
signicantly reduced. These observations have been carried
out regularly since the springs were mounted on the jeep in
1988.
It is known that hybridization is indeed a powerful method
for improving performance and sometimes cost reduction.
Therefore, the incorporation of carbon ber/epoxy which
has a high specic strength and rigidity, would yield greater
spring constant equal to or above the conventional spring
materials. This can be performed by adding small amounts

61

of carbon bers (15 wt.%), located near the neutral axis

where they will not suffer a great deal of deformation. The
present experimental results of static loading have shown an
increase of about 10% of the spring constant over the allberglass/epoxy, with no signicant weight reduction, but
with slight increase in the cost. Needless to say, the increase
of the percentage of carbon ber would improve creep and
fatigue as well as increase the stability temperature.
5. Conclusions
The development of a GFRP single leaf spring having
constant width, where the stress level at any station in the
leaf spring is considered constant due to the parabolic tape of
the thickness of the spring, has proved to be very effective.
Such a spring normally has lower exure stress but higher
nominal shear stress. In general, this study demonstrated that
composites can be used for leaf springs for light trucks
(jeeps) and meet the requirements, together with substantial
weight saving. However, in the case of automobiles, the
signicant weight reduction may not cause the technological
impact that it would for aircraft.
Other work has shown that composite leaf springs have
better fatigue behavior than steel springs. Needless to say,
the hybridization technique can be used effectively to
improve weight saving and performance in the automotive
industry.
It is worth mentioning that additional eld testing is
needed to dene correctly the secondary design loads such
as torsion, thrust, creep, fatigue and other operational
restrictions. These tests should provide correlation with
the existing laboratory data.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank CNPq and FAPESP for
partially nancing this project. Also thanks are extended to
ITA for support throughout the execution of the experimental work.
References
[1] R.L. Daugherty, Composite leaf springs in heavy truck applications,
in: K. Kawata, T. Akasaka (Eds.), Composite Materials, Proceedings
of JapanUS Conference, Tokyo, 1981, pp. 529538.
[2] S. Shimammura, Some Problems Arising in the Structural Application
of FRP to Automobile, Annual Technical Conference, Reinforced
Plastics/Composites, Society of Plastic Industry, Section 7-D, 1970,
pp. 112.
[3] D.R. Linsenmann, Hybridization for Cost-effective Design, The
ASME Winter Annual Meeting, San Francisco, December 1015,
1978, pp. 4350.
[4] C.K. Dharam, Composite Materials Design and Processes for
Automotive Applications, The ASME Winter Annual Meeting, San
Francisco, December 1015, 1978, pp. 1930.