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Traditionally coil springs were used for applications to exert one-dimensional force along a given spring coil axis. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing trend in using coil springs to provide forces in a multi-dimensional space. In this paper, an approach to construct a model of a coil spring for suspension systems using a spatial six degree-of-freedom parallel mechanism is presented. In kinematics and dynamics simulation, the use of a parallel mechanism to model a coil spring allows a designer to simulate six degrees of freedom spring characteristics with vehicle kinematics without using FEA feature embedded in the simulation software. This requires a significant amount of computational load and maybe a file format converter.

The automotive industry has recently increased emphasis on the control of a coil spring's load axis to reduce sideforce in a suspension system. Reduced sideforce improves ride comfort. A coil spring's shape, or profile, is the main contributing factor in sideforce control. After a spring's final profile is designed, a coiling profile must be determined which accounts for the setting process of the spring. Setting of helical coil springs is a common practice for inducing beneficial residual stresses in a spring cross section. This reduces later sag and settling of the spring. Finite element methods for the prediction of coil profiles are not suitable because of manufacturing process complexity and difficulty in practice. A new approach utilizing system engineering is proposed. The development of the approach and its application to stress and profile prediction are presented. An example demonstrates the attractiveness and accuracy of coil profile prediction with this new approach.