Experimental investigation of basalt fiber/epoxy composite for automobile leaf spring

Abstract

The introduction of composite materials has made it possible to decrease the weight of a leaf spring without any reduction on the load carrying capacity and the stiffness. FRP springs have significant fatigue resistance and durability. But the weight reduction of leaf spring is achieved not only by the material replacement but also by the optimization in design. To determine the material properties, different mechanical tests were carried out and optimized parameters were obtained by minimizing the weight of composite mono leaf spring. Based on the optimization results, the composite material mono leaf spring with 35:65 volume fraction showed better mechanical properties. Static load testing and FFT analyzer testing were carried out to obtain flexural strength and natural frequency of Baslt fiber composite mono leaf spring. The results obtained from the experimental testing are validated using ANSYS software. The design optimization also showed noteworthy potential improvement in the performance of mono leaf spring.