Leaf Spring - History

History

There were a variety of leaf springs, usually employing the word "elliptical". "Elliptical" or "full elliptical" leaf springs referred to two circular arcs linked at their tips. This was joined to the frame at the top center of the upper arc, the bottom center was joined to the "live" suspension components, such as a solid front axle. Additional suspension components, such as trailing arms, would be needed for this design, but not for "semi-elliptical" leaf springs as used in the Hotchkiss drive. That employed the lower arc, hence its name. "Quarter-elliptic" springs often had the thickest part of the stack of leaves stuck into the rear end of the side pieces of a short ladder frame, with the free end attached to the differential, as in the Austin Seven of the 1920s. As an example of non-elliptic leaf springs, the Ford Model T had multiple leaf springs over its differential that were curved in the shape of a yoke. As a substitute for dampers (shock absorbers), some manufacturers laid non-metallic sheets in between the metal leaves, such as wood.

Leaf springs were very common on automobiles, right up to the 1970s in Europe and Japan and late 70's in America when the move to front-wheel drive, and more sophisticated suspension designs saw automobile manufacturers use coil springs instead. Today leaf springs are still used in heavy commercial vehicles such as vans and trucks, SUVs, and railway carriages. For heavy vehicles, they have the advantage of spreading the load more widely over the vehicle's chassis, whereas coil springs transfer it to a single point. Unlike coil springs, leaf springs also locate the rear axle, eliminating the need for trailing arms and a Panhard rod, thereby saving cost and weight in a simple live axle rear suspension.

A more modern implementation is the parabolic leaf spring. This design is characterised by fewer leaves whose thickness varies from centre to ends following a parabolic curve. In this design, inter-leaf friction is unwanted, and therefore there is only contact between the springs at the ends and at the centre where the axle is connected. Spacers prevent contact at other points. Aside from a weight saving, the main advantage of parabolic springs is their greater flexibility, which translates into vehicle ride quality that approaches that of coil springs. There is a trade-off in the form of reduced load carrying capability, however. The characteristic of parabolic springs is better riding comfort and not as "stiff" as conventional "multi-leaf springs". It is widely used on buses for better comfort. A further development by the British GKN company and by Chevrolet with the Corvette amongst others, is the move to composite plastic leaf springs.

Typically when used in automobile suspension the leaf both supports an axle and locates/ partially locates the axle. This can lead to handling issues (such as 'axle tramp'), as the flexible nature of the spring makes precise control of the unsprung mass of the axle difficult. Some suspension designs which use leaf springs do not use the leaf to locate the axle and do not have this drawback. The Fiat 128's rear suspension is an example.