Fatigue Design of Automotive Suspension Coil Springs 2002-01-0656

Due to environmental factors and fuel economy, most cars are now required to undergo weight reduction. For this purpose, Allevard Rejna Autosuspensions has undertaken a broad research program based upon numerical and experimental approaches in order to increase the fatigue life of their automotive suspension coil springs.

The aim is to predict the performance of the coil spring and the damage introduced, either in the spring manufacturing processes or during service, by other factors than fatigue tests.

For the present, our attention will be restricted to illustrating an application using a finite element simulation and a multiaxial fatigue analysis, correlating fatigue life, surface defects and residual stresses.