The analysis of thermoplastic polyolefin composite leaf spring for heavy commercial vehicle applications

In the automotive sector, leaf springs are common in heavy vehicles because they have the advantage of spreading the load more evenly across the chassis of the vehicle. Because of the high strength-to-weight ratio, the automobile industry is increasingly interested in replacing steel springs with composite leaf springs. The maximum deflection decreases at PP/EPDM as the polymer composite plays a vital role in plasticity. The greater decrement at higher filling of graphite content (30%) demonstrates that fillers harden composites, reducing their ductility. The percentage difference of maximum deflection between steel and PP/EPDM is 177.37% while for the PP/EPDM and PP/EPDM/GR (30%) percentage difference is 85.72%.