Stress Analysis on an Automotive Coil Spring Driven on Flat, Uphill, and Downhill Road Surfaces

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the stress that occurred on the automotive coil spring made of SAE 5160 carbon steel due to various types of road surfaces. The 60-second strain signals measured on a coil spring of a car being driven on a flat, uphill, and downhill road surface were used as the loads in these dynamic analyses. The analysis results showed that the maximum stress occurred on the inside of the spring in the second coil from the top. The results of this dynamic analysis also showed that the three types of road surfaces provided almost the same stress. The downhill road surface gave the highest stress, which was 0.622 GPa, followed by flat road (0.621 GPa) and uphill road (0.62 GPa). The reasons for this are the shifting of the vehicle load to the front wheels together with the braking effect when driving downhill.