title: Effect of Assembly Stresses on Fatigue Life of Symmetrical 65Si7 Leaf Springs.
abstract: The maximum stress induced plays vital role in fatigue life improvement of leaf springs. To reduce this maximum stress, leaves with different unassembled cambers are assembled by pulling against each other and a common curvature is established. This causes stress concentration or sets assembly stress in the assembled leaf springs which is subtractive from load stress in master leaf while it is additive to load stress for short leaves. By suitable combination of assembly stresses and stepping, it is possible to distribute the stress and improve the fatigue life of the leaf spring. The effect of assembly stresses on fatigue life of the leaf spring of a light commercial vehicle (LCV) has been studied. A proper combination of stepping and camber has been proposed by taking the design parameters into consideration, so that the stress in the leaves does not exceed maximum design stress. The theoretical fatigue life of the leaf springs with and without considering the assembly stresses is determined and compared with experimental life. The numbers of specimens are manufactured with proposed parameters and tested for load rate, fatigue life on a full scale leaf springs testing machine. The effect of stress range, maximum stress, and initial stress is also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, ITM University, Sector 23A, Gurgaon, Haryana 122017, India.
authors.forename: Vinkel Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana 136019, India.
authors.forename: Gian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bhushan
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, YMCA University of Science &Technology, Faridabad, Haryana 121006, India.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Aggarwal