PRODUCTION OF AUTOMOTIVE

COMPONENTS (OAT751)
Presented By:
Siddhartha Kar

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Saveetha Engineering College
Chennai - 602105, India

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 Unit II:

TRANSMISSION COMPONENTS

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 Leaf and Coil Spring

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Spring
 A spring is a device that changes its shape in response to an external force, returning
to its original shape when the force is removed.
 The energy expended in deforming the spring is stored in it and can be recovered
when the spring returns to its original shape.
 The amount of the shape change is directly related to the amount of force exerted. If
too large a force is applied, however, the spring will permanently deform and never
return to its original shape.
 Leaf spring: A leaf spring suspension is made of a series of relatively long strips of
steel attached at both ends to a frame and suspending the axle in the middle. It takes
the form of a slender arc-shaped length of spring steel of rectangular cross-section.
 Coil spring: This category of springs look exactly like how one imagines a spring to
look like. It sits on top of the axle or at the lower control arm and the chassis.

Leaf spring Coil spring

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Comparison of leaf and coil springs
 Leaf spring suspensions are much simpler in terms of functionality as the axle is suspended by
the spring, and does not require the difficult suspension geometry of the coil-spring set-up. Leaf
springs are also much sturdier as compared to the coil springs. They are capable of handling
much higher loads with less deflection than coils. Trucks with leaf springs are also easier to raise
or lower.

 The leaf springs’ simplicity is as much of a curse as a blessing. Since this spring is attached at
fixed points on the chassis, it leaves a minuscule room for adjustability and customization of the
suspension geometry. These springs also flex a great deal less than coil springs, resulting in a
loss of wheel-to-ground contact under extreme conditions.

 Coil spring suspensions offer more range of suspension movement, and allow the user a wider
tuning envelope through the suspension range than leaf springs. Practically all high performance
applications use coil springs where possible and if the budget permits.

 The two main drawbacks to a coil spring suspension are cost and load-bearing. Cost isn’t so
much an issue if the vehicle is originally equipped with coil springs, however the retro-fits can be
quite expensive and time consuming. Coils are not ordinarily preferred for very heavy vehicles, as
the coil on axle setup isn’t remotely as stable or strong as a proper leaf spring.

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Manufacturing of leaf spring
Manufacturing of leaf springs can be divided in to three broad areas:

 Preparing leaves: Leaves for multi-leaf springs are prepared by cutting and stamping
whilst parabolic leaves are hot rolled in a purpose-made rolling machine. The ends of
the main leaf are heated and the eyes are then hot rolled. The leaves are heated and
individually bent to the correct arc radius and, whilst still clamped between the
bending tool, each leaf is quenched in oil to receive high strength and the correct
shape. Parabolic leaves also have an arc radius but are however normally straight in
the thicker central section. The leaves are finally tempered for high material
toughness and strength.

 Bending - heat treatment - shot peening: After cooling, the shot peening process is
necessary for all parabolic leaves. For multi-leaf springs however, it is normally only
the two safety-critical leaves that require shot peening. The bushes are pressed into
the eyes and the stack of leaves assembled. Positive stresses are then introduced
into the spring by a pre-stressing process.

 Assembling - presetting - surface treatment: The multi leaf surfaces are protected
against corrosion by painting of the outer surfaces and by lubrication between each
leaf. Parabolic leaves are individually painted on all surfaces.

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Manufacturing of coil spring
Depending on the design, pre-heat treated (oil-quenched) or annealed (unquenched)
wire is used for manufacturing coil spring. When pre-heat treated wire is used all springs
are stress relieved directly in line after the coiling process. Springs manufactured from
annealed wire are hardened and tempered after the coiling operation, to give the required
high strength. In both cases the steel will have the same spring quality characteristics.

 Cold Coiling: The wire is cold formed to spring shape in computer controlled
automatic coiling machines. As opposed to hot coiling, which usually requires a
specific mandrel tool for each design, cold coiling gives good flexibility, without
mandrels, to easily vary the coil diameters, pitch and number of coils.

 Heat Treatment: During cold coiling, negative internal stresses are introduced in to
the spring material, and must be removed using a stress relieving heat treatment,
following the hardening and tempering processes.

 Grinding: Some chassis spring designs have one or both ends ground. This grinding
is done in special computer controlled spring grinding machines.

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Manufacturing of coil spring
 Shot Peening and Presetting: After heat treatment, it is very important to introduce
and control the level of positive residual stresses in the material. This is achieved via
shot peening and presetting operations. The positive residual stress reduces the
sheer stress in the spring during compression, raising spring performance to specified
levels. Whilst introducing positive residual stresses, shot peening also prepares the
spring material for the surface treatment processes of zinc phosphating and painting.
The presetting operation involves compressing the spring to implement a positive
residual stress.

 Coating: To prevent corrosion, the entire surface of the spring is protected by painting
it, dipping it in liquid rubber, or plating it with another metal such as zinc or chromium.
Processes such as mechanical plating, electroplating, etc., are generally used for
coating.

 Packaging: Desired quantities of springs may simply be bulk packaged in boxes or

plastic bags. However, other forms of packaging have been developed to minimize
damage or tangling of springs. For example, they may be individually bagged, strung
onto wires or rods, enclosed in tubes, or affixed to sticky paper.

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Composite leaf spring
 Composite Leaf Springs are lightweight, high-performance aftermarket suspension
springs used as an alternative to coil springs.
 Composites such as fiber reinforced plastic (FRP), glass fiber reinforced plastic
(GFRP), etc., are well suited for leaf-spring applications due to their high strength-to-
weight ratio, fatigue resistance and natural frequency.
 Internal damping in the composite material leads to better vibration energy absorption
within the material, resulting in reduced transmission of vibration noise to neighboring
structures.

Benefits of Composite Leaf Springs

 70% lighter than steel

 Retain their designed arch, preventing sagging and chassis inconsistency

 Corrosion resistant

 Provide more side bite off the corners

 More durable (5X times) than traditional ones

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Wrap forming of coil spring
 In wrap forming process, metal sheets or extrusions are stretched to exceed their
inherent elastic limit, and then wrapped and formed around contoured dies and
profiles to create the desired shape. This “wrapping” process results in an increased
material yield strength and a stronger finished part.

 Wrap forming can produce parts of varying complexity, from a simple curved part such
as an aircraft skin to one with intricate geometries consisting of non-uniform cross
sections. Most leading edge parts, joined structural sections, and contoured trim are
created using this process.

 In case of coil spring, wrap forming assists in aligning the wire into the desired pitch
(distance between successive coils) around a mandrel. A guiding mechanism (such as
the lead screw on a lathe) is compulsory to perform wrap forming of coil spring.

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 Thank You !

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