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An investigation of automotive springs: ageing effects

Perez Hernandez, Alejandro

[Thesis]. Manchester, UK: The University of Manchester; 2017.

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Abstract

This work aims to simulate and compare the spring performance before and after corrosion. The microstructure of a material commonly used by the spring automotive industry, 54SiCr6 alloy steel is analysed. A finite element model was created to simulate a spring performance under design conditions, a 16 millimeters (mm) coil diameter and a static load of 2255 N; which represents the proportional weight of an automobile in a stationary condition. Based on the analysis of corroded samples and observing how the corrosion progress affecting the material, a second model was created with a coil diameter reduction of 1 mm, with the objective to compare the performance between the models.It was observed the reduction on the coil diameter increased the stress of the material by 25% at the highest value, and the deflection has an increased by almost 20 mm under the same load; diminishing the spring performance as expected