Method of manufacturing hybrid composite leaf springs

摘要

A hybrid composite automotive leaf spring comprises parallel glass and polyethylene terephthalate fibers distributed in a pattern replicated throughout a resin matrix. A method of producing the hybrid composite leaf spring comprises winding various proportions of glass and polyethylene terephthalate or nylon fibers together into a homogeneous mass in an epoxy matrix in a mold to form a blank, which is then compressed and cured into a leaf spring having a predetermined homogeneous mixture of parallel fibers distributed throughout the cross-section of the spring. The unitary spring has a spring rate that is a composite of the resin-bonded glass and other fibers. Different spring rates are obtained by varying the percentage content of the glass and other fibers, while maintaining the homogeneity of the resultant leaf spring.