6.1.17 Carriage spring
Carriage spring is the simplest and oldest version of springing element in car suspensions. What is easier: take several steel sheets, connect them together and hang suspension elements on them. In addition, carriage spring has the property of damping vibrations due to friction between the sheets. The leaf suspension is good for heavy SUVs and pickups, that have no special requirements for ride comfort, but there are high requirements for carrying capacity.
Until recently, carriage spring was also used in such a car as Chevrolet Corvette. However, there it was located transversely and was made of composite material.
Figure 6.15 Chevrolet Corvette with transverse carbon-plastic carriage spring.
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