1. Introduction
The term composite material means a material that is made up of two or
more constituent materials. The basic material can be organic, metal or
ceramics. The reinforcing material may be in the form of the fibers,
particles or flakes. The component of the composite material is
separately manufactured as they do not occur naturally and combined
mechanically and metallurgical. Composite material with different
mechanical and thermal properties when reinforced with a second
material, produce a material with different properties from the base and
reinforce the material, sometimes superior. The main advantage of the
composite material is high stiffness to weight and strength to weight
ratio, increase in fatigue strength and improvement in surface
smoothness and appearance. The new material can be used with the
objective of high strength, lighter and corrosion resistance when
compared to traditional materials.
Nanomaterial reinforced in the metal matrix composites based matrix used
to find the fatigue life under amplitude cyclic tension fatigue loading
whilst controls the surrounding temperature and maximum load was given
to the specimen. The S-N curve for three temperatures ranges to
determine the effects of high temperature on aluminum and analyze the
reason for this cause. [1] The coil springs used in the auto
industry and also investigated the fundamental properties of the coil
spring by finite element analysis. The coil spring can be designed at
higher levels of stress and more than complex stress levels. The
materials with a high range of stress and strain come from themselves
were the main disadvantage. [2] The joint-life of the suspension
system was very important. The servo-hydraulic test facility with a
suitable fixture was used to investigate leaf spring joint performance
under static and dynamic conditions. [3] The finite element based
software to investigate the composite driveshaft. The composite material
of the drive shaft was carbon, glass fiber, and epoxy resin. The main
objective of the investigation was to enhance the torque and strength of
the fiber-reinforced composite shaft. [4] The major issue in the
automobile sector is to reduce the weight of the leaf spring and
maintain high strength. The steel leaf spring was used in the Maruti 800
car which was taken as a practical application for analysis and
optimization of a composite steel mono leaf spring. The three composite
materials i.e. E-glass/Epoxy, S-glass/Epoxy, and Carbon/Epoxy were used
to perform experiments under the same load as performed on a steel
spring. [5] The fatigue life of a vehicle suspension system used in
the trucks by finite element analysis based software ANSYS under the
condition of non-constant amplitude loading. This investigation aimed to
find out the non-constant loading used for fatigue life analysis.
[6] The stir casting method to produce discontinuous particle
reinforced based metal matrix composites material. [7].The finite
element analysis used to find the deflection of cantilever beams,
properties of the material with a load of transverse at the free end and
investigate the displacement response of leaf springs. [8] The
different properties of the composite materials for the special
requirement so that these materials can be used for applications such as
in the aerospace sector, automobile sector (pistons linear, cylinder
liners, brakes) and structural components.[9]In automobile industry
steel leaf spring material was used in automobile vehicles that can be
replaced by lightweight composite material due to light in weight and
high strength and the composite materials have properties like good
strength and more elastic strain energy. [10]. A composite material
means it has two or more material that has better mechanical
characteristics than those individual components. Usually, the
reinforcing component was distributed in the continuous or matrix
component. Metal matrix composite is known as a metal matrix when the
matrix was metal.[11] The automobile industry had great interest to
make a fuel-efficient vehicle for this industry interested in replacing
steel leaf spring other components with composite materials.[12]
Finite element analysis based software used to find out the dimension
and mechanical properties of composite material. It has observed that
for different microstructures and interphase tensile strength, shear
strength investigate under different loads by finite element
simulations. The finite element based software abacus used for the
analysis of mechanical properties, fracture, and failure analysis of the
composite material. [13]The composite materials for the requirement
and used in a variety of applications such as aerospace, automotive and
structural components to save the material, energy, and fuel.[14]
CATIA and ANSYS 14.0 were used modeling and finite element analysis. It
was concluded that composite material aluminum-silicon carbide was
material used for power transmission. [15] The conventional stir
casting method to fabricate 11wt% boron carbide as reinforced material
with aluminum 6061 Al matrix to make new composites material. The whole
process to produce composite material was carried out at a temperature
of 750˚C. [16] ANSYS 12.0 finite element software used for the
analysis of leaf spring. In this investigation, a comparative analysis
of carbon-epoxy composite leaf spring and steel leaf spring was
performed by analytical, finite element analysis software using ANSYS
12. The result of the finite element analysis was compared with
experimental results. [17] Four-leaf spring assembly used n light
commercial vehicle was the design and analyzed by Ansys 14 software. The
CREO software was used for the design and modeling of leaf spring. The
finite element result show stresses and deflection verified the existing
analytical. The dynamic load experiment of laminated spring also
performed using Ansys 14 software. [18] the fabrication of 5,10,15
wt % of boron carbide reinforced with aluminum alloy LM4 metal matrix
composite by using liquid stir casting technique was performed and
fabricated under ASTM standard B557M for finding its tensile strength,
Hardness and Impact tests were carried out and compared with the base
metal and the metallographic structure of its every proportion were
characterized by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM ) Energy
Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX ) and the combination of B4C and
Aluminum alloy LM4 improved its mechanical properties of the base
Aluminum alloy.[19] The finite element analysis was also carried out
to analyze the connecting rod. The solid works and hyper mesh used to
design and meshing of the connecting rod and ANSYS workbench 14.0
software used to analyze purpose. The results showed that the composite
material of the connecting rod more suitable than the conventional
connecting rod. [20] The static and dynamic analyses were conducted
with the help of ANSYS 16 analysis software. The performance results
were compared with steel leaf spring. Finally, it was concluded that the
composite leaf spring, which was 70% less in weight, was performing
better than conventional steel leaf spring. The modeling software CATIA
modeling and for finite element analysis was utilizing ANSYS 16.0
software for Aluminum (Al-B4C). [21].The finite element based
software such as CATIA, PRO-Engineer; ANSYS can be used for designing,
analyses and shape optimization of composite leaf springs. The study
also included the analysis of leaf spring made from composite and its
comparison with steel leaf spring. [22]
This paper aims to investigate the stress develop in composite leaf
spring and find the possibilities to use it in automobile vehicles in
place of steel spring. Metal matrix-based leaf spring has manufactured
by the stir casting method. Investigation of stress develop in composite
leaf spring is important for the study of fatigue strength of leaf
spring. According to the Society of automobile India, the stress of leaf
spring should be less than 400 MPa. If the stress range is more than 400
MPa than it means is the failure of fatigue life of leaf spring. So to
know the fatigue life of leaf spring, it is important first to know the
stress develop in the leaf spring.