2019-28-0130 Published 11 Oct 2019
© 2019 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
Modeling and Analysis of Helical and Wave Spring
Behavior for Automobile Suspension
Soundararajan Ranganathan, Sathishkumar Kuppuraj, Girish Vishnu Rajaram Ganesan,
and Jayasuriya Nandhagopal Sri Krishna College of Engg. and Tech.
Citation: Ranganathan, S., Kuppuraj, S., Rajaram Ganesan, G.V., and Nandhagopal, J., “Modeling and Analysis of Helical and Wave
Spring Behavior for Automobile Suspension,” SAE Technical Paper 2019-28-0130, 2019, doi:10.4271/2019-28-0130.
Abstract
T
he suspension is an indispensable element of automobiles
which plays a crucial role in maintaining stability and
the ride comfort. Helical springs are used in automobile
suspension for many decades. Te stifness of the spring and
presence of shock absorber plays a major role while negotiating
a huge amount of load. Terefore, the cost of the suspension
increases proportionally in commercial vehicles. In this present
work, a helical and wave spring is designed and static cum
dynamic analysis is done by using ANSYS 18.1 for comparing
their performance and to eliminate the downside of the suspen-
sion. Te geometry of the helical spring is designed using the
helix curve and wave spring is designed using Sinusoidal
equation. Modeling of both the springs is done using Solid
works 2018. Chrome silicon and music wire are chosen as a
spring material. Te responses like stress and defection of
helical spring and wave spring for both the materials under
static loads of 3000 N, 3500 N, 4000 N is obtained. Further, the
dynamic analysis is conducted on both the springs under tran-
sient load conditions to obtain their responses. Output results
such as total deformation and von-misses are taken in each
loading condition, and the responses are compared. Te results
show that wave spring of chrome silicon has better properties
in both static and dynamic load conditions. From the analysis,
it is concluded that the use of helical spring with shock absorber
system can be replaced by the newly developed chrome silicon
wave spring suspension system. Due to this system incorpora-
tion in the vehicles, the free length is reduced.
Introduction
T
he automobile suspension is the primary absorber of
shocks and vibrations from the road without causing
discomfort to the passengers. Te suspension system is
an indispensable element in protecting the chassis of the vehicle
from being damaged due to irregularities on the road [1]. Te
suspension provides reactive force to ensure the contact of the
tires and road, in all surface conditions. Te suspension uses
springs as an elastic component [2]. Suspensions cut down the
amplitude of disturbances and enhance ride quality and ride
comfort [3]. Spring is elucidated as an elastic body which
deforms on the application of load and regains its primeval
shape on de-loading. Te diferent types of springs available in
the market are helical spring, conical springs, torsion spring,
and leaf spring. Out of these springs Helical springs are predom-
inantly used in automobile suspensions [4]. Te wire wound in
a helix pattern to take up compressive or tensile loads forms
helical springs. Te wires used to make helical springs have a
circular, square, or rectangular cross-section. [5].Te wave
spring considered in the analysis is a crest to crest wave spring
with multiple turns and no shim ends [6].
A large number of elastic materials are used to fabricate
springs and spring steel is more widely used. Pre-hardened
steel, annealed and hardened steel is also used to wound
helical springs. [7] In this present work wave spring and helical
spring made of two most widely used material such as ASTM
A401 and ASTM A228 respectively. Further automobile
suspension is designed using solid works 2016 sofware. Te
static analysis and dynamic analysis is performed on the
springs of diferent material to calculate the equivalent stress
and total deformation. Te best spring design and the type of
material for that spring are found from the analysis results.
Tis paper focuses on the reduction of material used for manu-
facturing spring and to improve the stability of the vehicle by
decreasing the ground clearance of the vehicle by using
wave spring.
Keywords
Helical spring, Wave spring, Von-mises stress, Total
Deformations ASTM A228, ASTM A401, Structural analysis
and Dynamic analysis.
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