The effects of contamination on commercial trucks rear suspension springs durability 2019-36-0083

On current competitive scenario for road load transportation in Brazilian market, the operational costs should be reduced as much as possible. The suspension system commonly used on road commercial trucks is based on leaf spring use and Hotchkiss concept for axle locating devices. The use of leaf springs without bolt attachment eyelets are still common for rear suspension systems. When using the leaf spring with direct contact to the brackets, wear plates are placed between them to work as wear elements due to the friction between the parts. The friction will cause wear on the parts, and the wear plate is designed to suffer the damages of this friction instead of the leaf spring, being the cheapest element and can be easily replaced. When the system works on a severe contamination environment with high levels of grit and dirt, the degradation of the parts are accelerated. With a considerable amount of grit between the wear plate and the leaf spring, the damage caused on the leaf surface is increased and lead to a spring failure with breakage. This paper will present the study of this accelerated degradation on suspension parts caused by contamination and the results on maintenance costs for the customer. A simple manner to avoid such maintenance cost is discussed during the study presentation, such as the evidences that can indicate that the correct maintenance is not being conducted properly.