Improved durability of leaf springs for electric heavy-duty vehicles

Purpose and goal:

Leaf springs are an important part of the suspension system on all heavy-duty road vehicles and are subjected to significant dynamic forces, requiring highly fatigue-resistant materials. The project aims to improve the durability of leaf springs for electrified heavy-duty vehicles. The approach is to introduce new advanced high-strength steels while optimizing the heat and surface treatment.

The goal of the project is to validate new materials and the manufacturing methods for the next generation of leaf springs for electric heavy vehicles. Expected results and effects:

The project will promote improved durability of leaf springs for electrified heavy-duty vehicles. This will enable weight reductions and increased payload in road transport and thus contribute to energy savings and better use of resources. Although the focus of this project is on leaf springs, advanced high strength steels are also used in a number of other applications in the automotive industry and the results are largely generic and should be fairly easy to use for other applications as well.

Approach and implementation: The project will be divided into 5 work packages WP1: Project coordination, dissemination of results and in-depth literature analysis WP2: Material supply, production of test materials, test rods and heat treatment WP3: Mechanical surface hardening processes and residual stress measurements

WP4: Evaluation of fatigue and fracture properties via laboratory tests WP5: Case study: Manufacturing of leaf spring demonstrators and component testing