Fabrication and Testing of FRP Open Coil Springs

Abstract

Increasing competition and innovation in automobile sector tends to modify the existing products or replace old products by new and advanced material products. A suspension system of vehicle is also an area where these innovations are carried out regularly. Now days the automobile Industry has shown much interest in using Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) components replacing conventional steel components due to its “high strength to low weight” ratio. Therefore replacement the steel open coil suspension springs (in heavy automobiles) with Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) open coil springs with the main aim to reduce its weight and thereby reduce the fuel consumption to some extent. A semi mechanized pultrusion process (E –Glass and Epoxy Resin) and braiding process is selected for fabricating the GFRP open coil springs. It is then tested in lab to study some of the variable parameters. Keywords: Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) , Coil spring , Pultrusion