Can the plastic trailer plate spring bear weight?

Trailer lightweight is one of the more popular words in the industry, and it is also an important trend in the development of vehicles. For commercial vehicles, the weight of the vehicle is reduced, which can not only save energy and reduce consumption, but also comply with the international situation of environmental protection, and also increase the load of goods under the standard load regulations and allow the owner to get more freight.

As a result, from the body to the girder to the plate spring, trailer axle, tires and other components, are sparing no effort to pursue the ultimate weight reduction, such as replacing raw materials, changing the appearance of the structure, improving the internal stress structure and so on. This is not, a new leaf spring suspension came out - plastic leaf spring.

The owners all know that the plate spring is installed in the suspension, which is both the elastic unit of the suspension and the guide device of the suspension, which can transmit various forces and moments, and determine the beating trajectory of the wheel, and has a certain friction damping effect.

As a medium and heavy transport vehicle, the trailer has very high requirements for the strength of the plate spring, and the plate spring is made of plastic, which can be used to pull goods.

Objectively speaking, the reason why there is such an idea is because everyone's cognition of plastic has been preconceived, and the thought of plastic is associated with the plastic POTS and bottles that are often used in ordinary times. In fact, this plastic is not that plastic.

The plastic spring is a composite material, which is obtained by the combination of a variety of high-strength materials, also known as polyurethane matrix resin glass fiber spring, which is a reinforced composite material, its strength can reach a very high level, and its application in foreign markets is also good.

As for why the plastic plate spring is chosen to replace the steel plate spring, the reasons are nothing more than the following:

1. Lighter weight.

According to the relevant data, the weight of the plastic spring is only about 50%-65% of the steel spring, that is, the vehicle installed with the plastic spring can greatly reduce the weight of the body, free up more weight space for loading goods, and this weight reduction effect is simpler and more direct than the use of aluminum alloy mailboxes and aluminum alloy wheels.

2. Better shock absorption effect.

The plastic leaf spring has uniform load distribution and damping characteristics, which can accelerate the attenuation of vibration and provide better driving comfort. The traditional steel plate spring will produce a certain abnormal sound due to the friction between the reed, which almost does not appear on the plastic plate spring.

3, better durability.

Plastic plate spring has a better stress intensity coefficient, which is generally said to be very high toughness, in the case of full load, high toughness means better fatigue resistance, which can greatly extend the service life.

4. Higher intensity.

Although the plastic spring sounds as if it is vulnerable, according to experimental data, the strength of the plastic spring is not only no less than that of the steel spring, but even better. For example, the composite fiber in the plastic spring is like the steel bar inside the prefabricated board, which is responsible for providing strength and tensile properties, and the resin matrix outside is equivalent to the cement outside the prefabricated board, providing more solid protection.

In this way, the plastic plate spring seems to have a good future. But can it be applied on a large scale in domestic commercial vehicles? Bottom line: A long way to go.

1, after-sales and maintenance is not convenient.

Compared with the leaf springs that can be replaced anywhere, the after-sales service of plastic leaf springs is too scarce. Once there is a problem in subsequent use, maintenance will be relatively troublesome. What's more, "things are rare and expensive", and the price will probably be higher.

2, monolithic structure is more troublesome.

The traditional steel spring is generally a multi-piece spring design, one of which can be replaced when it breaks due to heavy load. Plastic leaf springs generally use a single sheet structure, once the fracture due to insufficient durability, I am afraid that all the leaf springs have to be replaced, and the price is expensive and troublesome.

3. There are differences between experimental data and practical application.

Although the experimental data of the plastic leaf spring look very beautiful, if it is applied to the actual transportation, whether it can still maintain such data, I am afraid it is not too hard to say. After all, China's transport road conditions vary greatly, especially the transport road conditions of medium and heavy vehicles are more complex, and whether the plastic leaf spring can withstand such sensitive use scenarios, at least at present, it has not been perfect actual data support.

In addition, the experimental data are strictly based on the load conditions, that is, no overload. If the owner wants to choose a plastic leaf spring, it must be noted that it must not be overloaded, otherwise it will still be broken.

Although lightweight is a general trend in the field of vehicle manufacturing, whether it is suitable for themselves also need to consider the actual situation, especially those medium and heavy transport vehicles, the choice of any part must be from a safety point of view, the strength of the spectrum of load-bearing is the most important, must not simply for the sake of lightweight to lose safety and stability. Just like DARO low flat trailer axle, specially tailored for low flat, shaft beam, brake drum, brake pads, etc. have taken special thickening treatment, higher strength, toughness and fatigue resistance are also fully up to standard, bearing with high rigidity, high precision bearing special steel, higher rotation, more uniform, can provide owners with higher and more stable safety protection.