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In order to study the effects of different factors on the static and dynamic characteristics of air springs, three models were established to calculate the static and dynamic characteristics of air springs, including modeling at the design position, modeling only considering the straight state, and modeling considering the thickness of the bellows in the straight state. Static stiffness of air springs is calculated using three different models and are compared with experiments. In the straight state model considering the thickness of the bellow, the influence of aluminum tube and bellows thickness on the static stiffness are considered, and the modeling with the straight state solved the problem of the change in cord angle after the air spring was inflated and expanded. The established model is then used to calculate static and dynamic characteristics of air springs, such as static stiffness, hysteresis loop, and dynamic stiffness.

The fatigue prediction model of an air spring based on the crack initiation method is established in this study. Taking a rolling lobe air spring with an aluminum casing as the studying example, a finite element model for analyzing force versus displacement is developed. The static stiffness and dimensional parameters of limit positions are calculated and analyzed. The influence of different modeling methods of air springs bellow are compared and analyzed. Static stiffness measurement of an air spring is conducted, and the calculation results and the measured results of the static stiffness are compared. It is shown that the relative error of the measured stiffness and calculated stiffness is within 1%. The Abaqus post-processing stage is redeveloped in Python language.