Design and Fabrication of E-Glass /carbon/graphite epoxy hybrid composite leaf spring

Abstract

The Automobile Industry has shown increase interest for replacement of steel leaf spring with that of composite leaf spring. Substituting composite materials for conventional metallic materials has many advantages because of higher specific stiffness, strength and fatigue resistance etc. This work deals with the replacement of conventional steel leaf spring with a hybrid Composite leaf spring using E -Glass/Carbon/Graphite/Epoxy. The hybrid composite is obtained by introducing more than one fiber in the reinforcement phase. The hybrid composite is fabricated by the vacuum bag technique. The result shows that introduction of carbon and graphite fiber in the reinforcement phase increases the stiffness of the composite.