Leaf Springs
A leaf spring is a suspension element that uses one or more leaves to support the sprung mass of the vehicle. In your template-based product, this is modeled as a series of parts connected by beam elements. Contact between the leaves is modeled with vector forces. You provide data on the leaf spring in unloaded configuration, then a preprocessor performs a static analysis to load the leaf spring to a specified ride height.
For more information on the Preprocessor used to model leaf springs, see
Leaf Spring Editor section.
In order to connect the leaf spring to the rest of the vehicle, two mount parts are created where the leaf spring connects to the chassis. The body subsystem should contain output communicators with the following names:
■co[lr]_leaf_to_frame or co[lr]_leaf_front
■co[lr]_shackle_to_frame or co[lr]_leaf_rear
To connect the leaf spring to the axle, two options are supported:
■If the leaf spring is part of a suspension template (role=suspension), you are prompted for the axle part. The preprocessor will automatically update the connection.
■If the leaf spring is a standalone template (role=leaf_spring), you can either include or exclude axle connection.
■If you selects "Include Axle Connection" then a mount part ("mt[lr]_axle") and input communicator (ci[lr]_axle) will be created. This mount part is connected to leafseat through a bushing or fixed joint. You need to create an output communicator named co[lr]_axle of type mount in the suspension template.
■If you toggle "Include Axle Connection" off then an output communicator ("co[lr]_leaf_to_axle") of type mount will be created in the template and you need to create an input communicator named ci[lr]_leaf_to_axle in the suspension template. The connection will be in the suspension template.
The creation of multiple leaf springs in the same template is not supported in the current version. You can create leaf spring in different templates. The multiple templates can be used to construct multiple leaf springs by using communicators and mount parts. For example, you can refer to _msc_truck_leaf_tandem_susp_fore.tpl and _msc_truck_leaf_tandem_susp_aft.tpl templates in the atruck_shared database.
To create or modify a leaf spring:
1. From the Build menu, point to Leaf Spring, and then select New/Modify.
3. Select OK.