Application:
Lightweight technology:
Application of new materials: such as high-strength steel, alloy steel, composite materials, etc., are used to manufacture leaf springs, reducing the weight of leaf springs while ensuring performance. For example, the weight of BAIC Haihua's composite leaf springs is 72%-83% lower than that of steel leaf springs, which helps to reduce vehicle energy consumption and improve fuel economy, conforms to the development trend of lightweight automobiles, and is also of great significance to the improvement of the mileage of new energy vehicles. It can be applied to various types of models that pursue lightweight.
Structural optimization design: By optimizing the structure of leaf springs, such as adopting variable cross-section design, the leaf springs have different thicknesses and stiffnesses in different parts, reducing weight while ensuring the load-bearing capacity. Like a new type of variable cross-section passenger car leaf spring, the longitudinal thickness of its leaf spring leaves decreases from the middle to both sides, achieving lightweight, achieving energy conservation and emission reduction, and is suitable for large vehicles such as buses.
High-performance technology:
Improving fatigue life: Using advanced manufacturing processes and material processing technologies to improve the fatigue life of leaf springs. For example, the new leaf spring launched by Germany's ifc composite company can achieve a fatigue life of more than 200,000 times, which is much higher than the 160,000 times of ordinary leaf springs. It can be used in commercial vehicles and engineering vehicles with high reliability requirements.
Enhanced stiffness and elasticity: Research and develop leaf spring materials and structures with higher stiffness and elasticity to better adapt to different road conditions and vehicle load conditions, improve vehicle handling and driving stability, and have application potential in high-performance passenger cars, racing cars, and other fields.
Intelligent technology:
Sensor integration: Integrate sensors on leaf springs to monitor leaf spring stress, deformation, temperature, and other parameters in real time, and provide data support for the vehicle's intelligent control system. For example, by monitoring leaf spring stress, abnormal conditions such as overloading can be discovered in time, which can be applied to logistics and transportation vehicles, etc., and help realize intelligent management and fault warning of vehicles.
Interaction with vehicle control system: The intelligent system of leaf springs can communicate and interact with the vehicle's electronic control unit (ECU), etc., and automatically adjust the stiffness and other characteristics of leaf springs according to the vehicle's driving status and road conditions, improving the dynamic performance and comfort of the vehicle, which is a direction for the development of future smart cars.
Development prospects:
Market demand growth: With the continuous development of the automobile industry, especially the continuous expansion of the new energy vehicle market, the demand for high-performance and lightweight leaf springs will further increase. At the same time, due to the development of industries such as logistics and transportation and engineering infrastructure, the demand for leaf springs in the commercial vehicle field has also maintained steady growth, providing a broad market space for the application of new leaf spring technology.
Technological innovation drive: Continuous progress in fields such as materials science and manufacturing processes will continue to promote the innovative development of new leaf spring technology. For example, the research and development of new composite materials, more advanced molding processes, and the application of intelligent technologies will continuously improve the performance and function of leaf springs and expand their application scope.
Environmental protection regulations promote: Increasingly stringent environmental protection regulations around the world and the continuous improvement of energy conservation and emission reduction requirements for automobiles have prompted automobile manufacturers to pay more attention to lightweight technology, which will strongly promote the widespread application of new leaf spring technology in the automotive industry to meet environmental protection requirements and reduce vehicle energy consumption.
Industrial upgrading drive: The industrial upgrading trend of the automotive parts industry has prompted companies to increase the research and development and investment in new leaf spring technology to improve product quality and competitiveness. Some domestic companies have mastered advanced new leaf spring technologies through technology introduction and independent research and development. For example, BAIC Haihua moved the composite leaf spring production line from Germany to China and achieved mass production, which will drive technological progress and development of the entire industry.
