general automotive suspension spring material question
general automotive suspension spring material question
(OP)
Forgive the amateurish question, but could someone tell me why automotive suspension springs are generally silicon steels?
It seems to me that higher tensile steels would increase fatigue life.
My only guess was that heat build up in the spring required a more heat tolerant material? I would be interested in any insight.
It seems to me that higher tensile steels would increase fatigue life.
My only guess was that heat build up in the spring required a more heat tolerant material? I would be interested in any insight.





RE: general automotive suspension spring material question
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RE: general automotive suspension spring material question
"Music Wire - This is the most widely used of all spring materials for small springs because it is the toughest. It has the highest strength tensile and can withstand higher stresses under repeated loading conditions than any other spring material. It can be obtained in diameters from 0,12 to 3mm. It has a usable temperature range from 0 to 120C"
And this is where I likely went astray... My reasoning went if music wire has a higher tensile, but lower temperature tolerance perhaps they use silicon steels because the thicker springs build up heat and pass the 120C internally.
I did notice in the first article you posted that there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to hardness and fatigue resistance. This is slight confusing because of the reference to nitriding the surface of that springs.
So it appearing to me that tensile is part of the equation, but after a certain point grain structure becomes more complicated. Or am I off track and the issue is related to wire size?
RE: general automotive suspension spring material question
RE: general automotive suspension spring material question
RE: general automotive suspension spring material question
I also hadn't properly considered the issue of sag as an independent from a fatigue fracture. With suspension springs you have a lot of geometry to play with (relatively speaking) so you can design a high tolerance to fracture failure, but you still have to deal with the car riding lower and lower as the springs 'wear'.
I guess that leads me to the next question as inspired by the articles provided by TVP. The first article makes a comment about spring fatigue resistance plateau'ing about 1800 MPa.
I am inferring that is specifically for wire relevant to valve springs. I was of the understanding that for the straight carbon steel wires (of smaller diameter) there is advantage up to considerable higher numbers. Again, if I am misunderstanding I would welcome any education folks care to provide.