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NHK Spring Developing Lighter-Weight Suspension Coils
10 February 2008
Nikkei. NHK Spring Co. has developed new suspension coil springs that are 20% lighter than conventional products and are also stronger. The company ultimately is targeting a 30% weight reduction, and plans to have samples ready for shipping in 2010 for both cars and motorcycles.
Its new spring is made by boring out a steel bar to create a tube that is then wound into shape. The material itself is made from an alloy of iron mixed with nickel, vanadium and other rare metals, just like conventional suspension coils.
By carefully adjusting the mixture, NHK Spring obtained a material that when shaped as a tube has a tensile strength of 2,000 megapascals, or roughly double that of conventional piping. The material is then further strengthened by subjecting the interior of the tube to a procedure known as shot peening.
The new coil costs twice as much to manufacture as conventional products; NHK Spring is working on ways to mass-produce the new coil with reduced costs.
February 10, 2008 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (2)
Comments
Posted by: Arnold | February 10, 2008 at 08:38 PM
Springs are surprisingly heavy. As long as they don't lose reliability this is great news.
Posted by: Elliot | February 11, 2008 at 07:48 PM
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Like the water passage inside a jackhammer point?,
Tapered and or progressively wound please.