TITLE:
Analysis of the Material Properties of Vehicle Suspension Coil Spring
AUTHORS:
Issifu Imoro, Jacob Kwaku Nkrumah, Baba Ziblim, Abdul-Hamid Mohammed
KEYWORDS:
Suspension Spring, Unsprung Mass, Fatigue Analysis, Structural Analysis, Ride Comfort, Vehicle Stability
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Engineering and Technology,
Vol.11 No.4,
November
22,
2023
ABSTRACT: The suspension coil spring is one of the most
important components in a vehicle suspension system. Its primary function is to
absorb the vibrational shocks that are occasioned by irregular road surface to
provide the vehicle with stability and ride
comfort. The main objective of this study is to design a suspension coil spring made of
structural steel for light duty vehicles with the aim of weight and cost
reduction. This study was motivated by the government of Ghana’s actions to industrialise the automotive sector of
the country through government policies and programs. The study made use of
high carbon steel and low carbon steel as the control materials and structural
steel as the implementing material. This was done to determine the suitability
of structural steel for vehicle suspension coil spring. The study analysed
parameters such as total deformation, equivalent Von Mises stress, maximum
shear stress, and safety factor in the static structural analysis. The fatigue
analysis also analysed parameters such as fatigue life and fatigue alternating
stress. The results of the study revealed that the suspension spring made of
structural steel has superior properties against all the parameters set for
this study apart from deformation. The two control materials that are known for suspension coil spring design and
manufacture have better properties to withstand deformation than the
implementing material.