Design of a Mono-Leaf in Sandwich Structure for Application in Light-Load Vehicle Using Finite Element Method

This paper aims to present the design of a mono-leaf in steel/composite sandwich structure (epoxy/glass fiber). The automotive main challenges now-a-days are fuel economy and CO2 emission reduction. To achieve such goals, the usage of new materials and design optimization procedures are required. This research focuses on light-load commercial vehicles, in special, rear suspension. Leaf springs are the key components of such suspension. Therefore, the design optimization procedure developed is centered into leaf spring weight reduction. The design optimization procedure was bounded by industry regulatory standards and base on analytical and numerical experiments. Once the design phase is completed, a finite element analysis was performed using ANSYS Workbench^®. The finite element analysis not only provided a detailed mapping of stress and displacement fields, but it also allowed to identify possible regions of failures. Moreover, it is possible to make a comparison among all the cases studied. The final step is the fuel economy analysis.