Design and experimental study of carbon fiber composite multi-leaf springs for heavy truck suspension

doi:10.19936/j.cnki.2096-8000.20250828.014

Abstract

Abstract: This paper introduces carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) into the design of heavy truck leaf springs and propose a CFRP multi-leaf spring structure. Using finite element simulation analysis to coordinate and match the strength and stiffness of CFRP multi-leaf springs, which yields a lay-up angle of [0₃₃/±75]₅ for the CFRP single leaf spring, and optimize the simulation model by bench test, used ABAQUS software to establish the optimized finite element simulation model and CAE to predict the stiffness and fatigue life of CFRP multi-leaf springs under the conditions of working load, ultimate load and fatigue loading, and carry out reliability analysis of CFRP multi-leaf springs. Reliability analysis is carried out to predict the stiffness and fatigue life of CFRP multi-leaf springs, and bench tests are carried out on CFRP multi-leaf spring test pieces. The results show that the mass of the CFRP multi-leaf spring is 34.4 kg, achieving a weight reduction of over 45%. Additionally, the stiffness of the CFRP multi-leaf spring does not decrease after 150 000 cycles of cyclic loading, and it can still withstand a load of 20 tons without damage.

Key words: CFRP, leaf spring, finite element simulation analysis, bench test

CLC Number:

TB332

WANG Yi, HU Yefa, WANG Baokun, WU Shuihua, FU Kai, WEN Xianglong, ZHANG Jinguang. Design and experimental study of carbon fiber composite multi-leaf springs for heavy truck suspension[J]. COMPOSITES SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, 2025, 0(8): 118-124.

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