The Effect of Rubber Seats on Coil Spring Force Line

Finite element analysis of suspension coil springs is standard practice for investigating spring behavior during compression. One increasingly important aspect of spring behavior under recent demand is precise control of the spring's force line. Proper control reduces side loading on the damper assembly, which increases ride comfort. The force line is the reaction force axis produced by a coil spring and its interaction with the spring seats during compression. Not only does the geometric configuration of the spring and seats affect the force line, but it has also been seen experimentally that the spring seat material has an effect. Elastomeric materials such as rubber are used in spring assemblies to reduce noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), but their influence to spring force line axis has yet to be investigated. The construction and results of several finite element simulations will be presented, correlating various configurations and experimental data. The effect of using rubber in coil spring seats will be outlined.