INVESTIGATION OF HYBRID AND DIFFERENT CROSS-SECTION COMPOSITE DISC

SPRINGS USING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Skr Karakaya
Afyon Kocatepe University, Technical Education Faculty, ANS Campus, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
E-mail: skarakaya@aku.edu.tr
Received May 2012, Accepted November 2012
No. 12-CSME-62, E.I.C. Accession 3382

ABSTRACT
In this study the effectiveness of composite disc springs with different cross-section and hybrid type are
determined by taking into account load capacities, masses, hybridization characteristics and costs of com-
posite disc springs. The disc springs are analyzed with ABAQUS finite elements program by compressing
between two rigid plates. The load-deflection characteristics obtained as a result of the analysis are com-
pared with the analytic and experimental studies. Then different cross-section and hybrid composite disc
springs were modeled. The trapeze A disc spring were confirmed to be more advantageous in terms of
load capacity and mass by investigating the modeled disc springs. The effect of hybridization on hybrid
disc springs with standard cross-section was investigated and optimum hybrid disc spring was determined
according to cost and maximum loading capacity. Consequently, it is determined that carbon/epoxy plies
used for outer layers are more advantageous. But the outer ply subjected to force was damaged thus this
layer should be particularly reinforced.

Keywords: disc spring; hybridization; FEM; carbon fiber.

TUDE DE RONDELLES RESSORTS EN MATRIAUX COMPOSITES HYBRIDES ET DE

DIFFRENTES SECTIONS CROISES UTILISANT LA MTHODE DES LMENTS FINIS

RSUM
Dans cette tude, lefficacit des rondelles ressorts en matriaux composites de type diffrent en section
crois et hybride est dtermine, en prenant en considration la capacit de charge, la masse, les caract-
ristiques dhybridation et le cot. Les rondelles ressorts sont analyses laide de ABAQUS, progiciel de
calcul des lments finis, en compressant deux plaques rigides. Les caractristiques de flexion en charge
obtenues sont compares avec les tudes analytiques et exprimentales. En outre, les rondelles optimales
sont dtermines selon le cot et la capacit de charge maximale.

Mots-cls : rondelle ressort ; hybridation ; FEM ; fibre de carbone.

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012 399
1. INTRODUCTION
The use of composite materials in advanced engineering applications has been gradually increasing due to
high strength and stable material characteristics. The composite materials, which have better light-weight,
rigidity and several special characteristics, are preferred for aerospace, automotive and maritime vehicles.
This applies to springs made up of metal alloys. There materials are replaced with composite springs man-
ufactured with synthetic fibers or natural fibers. The applications frequently included in the literature for
composite springs are leaf, helical and disc spring applications.
One of the significant advantages of composite leaf springs is that composite leaf springs have better
strength and elastic energy, in comparison to leaf springs made of steel. Besides, strength/weight ratio
of composite leaf springs is more than the steel springs. The researchers design and analyze composite
springs, rather than metal leaf springs used in the past [1]. The studies conducted by researchers managed
to significantly reduce the stress on spring and structure weight. The leaf springs produced with reinforced
glass fiber used on different road conditions and achieved significant reduction in noise in the cabin and
spring stiffness, in comparison to leaf spring made of metal [2]. Mahdi et al. developed an elliptic composite
spring in order to lighten the suspension systems of heavy trucks which are heavy. The effect of elliptic ratio
on composite spring was examined experimentally and numerically. Besides, it was determined that elliptic
ratio has significant impact on spring constant and failure condition [3]. In hybrid leaf spring study, glass
and other fibers were homogenously distributed in a certain cell and composite leaf springs were produced
without laminating, by using glass and other fibers. A uniform stress distribution was achieved on the
leaf spring produced [4]. Another application related to production of springs from composite materials is
helical spring application. The study compared helical springs produced in different types and as a result,
increase in spring constant and reduction in compression failure were ensured. Sancaktar and Goweishanger
conducted another study on helical springs. Spring rigidity of helical springs produced in glass, carbon and
hybrid form was determined experimentally. The effects of coil diameter, wire diameter and coil number
on spring rigidity were determined and also feasibility of replacing standard steel spring with composite
helical spring were examined [57]. The characteristics of steel disc springs were examined analytically
and experimentally studies related to disc springs which are compression springs. Besides, the weight of
disc spring was reduced by using woven carbon/epoxy. Another study targeted reducing weight. The goal
was to achieve a force-deflection curve, like that of a steel spring, with a lighter disc [8,9].
The main purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of hybrid and different sectional disc
springs. Load capacities, masses, hybridization characteristics and costs of the composite disc springs were
taken into consideration on this study. In this study has three main parts. First, disc springs subjected to
compression load were modeled by ABAQUS finite elements program. The load-deflection characteristics
achieved as a result of compression analysis were compared with analytical and experimental studies. Then
disc springs having different cross-section geometry were modeled. These disc springs were compared with
each other according to their low mass high load capacity. Finally, the standard cross-section hybrid
disc springs made up of carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy plies were modeled. The hybrid disc springs were
compared in terms of load capacity and costs and the disc spring was confirmed to be the optimum. Failure
condition of optimum hybrid disc spring was determined and results associated with this condition were
obtained.

2. DISC SPRING AND THEORY

Conical disc springs are axial compression spring (see Fig. 1). They are used machines where large forces
are required and small deflections are desired. Also machines transmitting mechanic power, turbines, jet
motors and space applications are other areas to use disc springs [4,9]. Disc springs have several advantages
distinguishing them from standard springs. These advantages can be listed as follows:

400 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012
 Offers high load in small spaces.

Offers any desired spring length or spring characteristics by adding or removing any number in a
stack.

Offers longer service life under dynamic loads with a suitable sizing.

Various application opportunities due to load / deflection characteristics.

No undesired loosening that that might incur excessive stress stress.

As for standard disc springs, Almen and Laszlo conducted a substantial study on disc springs. They ex-
pressed effects of basic geometric characteristics, such as conic height, thickness, in spring characteristics
with analytical equations and experimentally [8]. Dharan and Bauman conducted compression test on com-
posite disc springs made up of woven carbon/epoxy material having quasi-isotropic plies. The study exam-
ined the feasibility of replacing standard steel springs with composite disc springs. The experiment samples
with different ho heights were produced and load-deflection curves of those were obtained. The study de-
termined that significant mass saving will be achieved by using composite disc springs [9]. Another study
realized on disc springs examined disc springs having standard cross-section and different cross-section
geometry by using finite elements method. The study carried out non-linear compression analysis on disc
springs. Stress characteristics of disc spring section were examined. Another study conducted on disc
springs having different cross-section examined anisotropic disc springs. Load-deflection curves of disc
springs achieved with different laminating were compared. The anisotropic cross-section study confirmed
that the load-deflection curve is approximately 50 % better than the glass/epoxy disc spring with standard
section [10,11].

Fig. 1. Disc spring and section characteristics.

Disc spring and section characteristics are given in Fig. 1. Here, ho is the maximum conic height of
deflection, Do is the outside diameter, Di is the inside diameter, h is the total height, t is the thickness of disc
spring and Dr is the centre of rotation of the disc springs section.
Figure 2 shows the spring characteristics obtained depending on the deflection/conic height and conic
height/thickness (s/ho and ho /t) values of disc springs [12]. In high ho /t ratios, the disc spring reaches up
to a certain peak point and then is subjected to a negative trend. In case of ho /t = 1.4 and subsequent values,
disc spring displays instable characteristics after a certain deflection. If linear load-deflection is required,
then ho /t ratio should be 1 or less.
The compression force of disc springs are expressed with the Eq. (1). This formula was suggested by
Almen and Laszlo. In the equation, E is elasticity module of the material, v is the Poisson ratio, t is

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012 401
thickness of disc spring, s is applied deflection value, ho is conic height of disc spring, Do is outer diameter
of the disc spring and is the ratio of outer diameter to the inside diameter. K1 is a constant and calculated
by using Eq. (2). The equation in question considers that deflection of disc cross-section will be minimum
after load is applied, there will be no damages to the section and the load applied will be homogeneously
distributed [8].
t4 s
   
4E ho s ho s
F= +1 , (1)
1 2 K1 D2o t t t t 2t
 2
1
1 D
K1 =   , = o. (2)
+1 2 Di
1 ln

Fig. 2. Characteristics curves of disc spring based on ho/t and s/ho ratios [12].

3. FINITE ELEMENT MODELING

The studies were carried out in three ways. First, a steel disc was subject to compression analysis by
using finite elements method. The load-deflection curve obtained as a result of the analysis was compared
against the results obtained with analytical studies and experimental studies. Then a composite disc spring
in the literature was modeled and a compression analysis was conducted. The load deflection curves were
compared with the literature. In the second part, compression analysis was conducted on composite disc
springs having different cross-section and the disc springs were evaluated by taking into consideration the
maximum load capacity and masses. In the third part, rectangular section (standard) disc springs, commonly
used in the industry, was modeled as a hybrid structure and the optimum hybrid disc spring was determined
by taking into consideration maximum load capacity and cost.
The materials properties are given in Table 1. Composite disc spring analysis considered that composite
material quasi-isotropic laminating would be [0/ 45/90]ns (the quasi-isotropic lay up can be seen Fig. 13).
Plain-woven E-glass/epoxy material is E1 = 20000 MPa, E2 = 20000 MPa, G12 = 460 MPa, 12 = 0.25
[9,14]. The E-glass/epoxy material properties are obtained by using classical laminate theory (CLT), are
given on Table 1.

402 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012
 Materials E1 = E2 (MPa) 12 (kg/m3)
Carbon/epoxy 48 000 0.30 1450
E-Glass/epoxy* 17 850 0.38 1800
Steel 210 000 0.30 7800
*Used formulas in the Appendix.

Table 1 Table 1. Disc spring material properties [9,14].

Mechanical properties Glass/epoxy T3000, carbon/epoxy 94 gsm

3.1. Disc spring analysis
InLongitudinal modulu,
the study realised = E2elements
E1finite
with (MPa) methods, disc 20 000 56 000 6.9.1 program.
springs are modeled by ABAQUS
Poissons ratio, 12
In order to obtain load-deflection curve, deflection in the direction
0.25 of compression was applied to the disc
0.05
spring. Three parts were modeled for the analysis. These were bottom plate, top plate and 3D modeled
disc springShear
(see modulu,
Fig. 3). G 12 (MPa)
The 461 two plates and deflection
disc spring was placed between 3000
in the direction of
compression was applied on
+ the+ top plate and deflection473curve was obtained with 650 force of the disc
reactive
Tensile strength, S L , ST (MPa)
spring.
Compressive strength, S , S (MPa) 473 670
L T

Shear strength, S LT (MPa) 85 111

Table 2

Fig. 3. Disc spring model and mesh.

Bottom and top plates were modeled as non-deformed rigid parts. Reference point (RP1 and RP2) was
designated to the geometric centers of bottom and top plate (see Fig. 3). Boundary condition values of plates
referred to these reference points. Fixed boundary condition was required for reference point of the bottom
plate and deflection in z direction was applied to the reference point of top plate; other directions and
rotations were limited. The nonlinear static analyses are performed to simulate the compression analyses.
The automatic stabilization is determined to be 2e107 in order to have converged solution. Surface-surface
interaction was defined frictionless between the plates and disc spring. C3D8R octagonal element was used
as mesh element. Mesh size was adjusted as 1 mm and intensive mesh was used for disc section.. The disc
springs are made of plain woven carbon fibre/epoxy, which has an quasi-isotropic lamination (see Table 1).

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012 403
The lamination has not been applied the 3D to model for sections 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3. The plain woven carbon
fibre/epoxy plies are layered [XZ] plane. The dimensions of the composite disc spring are as following:
Do = 51.4 mm, Di = 24.3 mm, ho = 6.7 mm, t = 3.4 mm [9].
Load-deflection curves obtained by using experimental, analytical and finite element methods are com-
pared with each other on Fig. 4. The dimensions of steel disc spring used in the study were as follows; outer
diameter 50 mm, inside diameter 25 mm, conic height 1.3 mm and thickness 2 mm. Instron 8800 test device
was used for the experimental study. The disc springs are tested with cross head speed of 2 mm/minute.
Eqs. (1,2) was used for the analytical study. Load-deflection curves obtained with analytical and finite ele-
ment method approximately coincide with each other. It is seen that the curve achieved with experimental
study, at the same deflection value, has up to 4 to 6 % more load capacity in comparison to the analytical
and finite elements method. The load-deflection curves of a composite disc spring compared with analytical,
finite elements and experimental methods appear in Fig. 5. The load-deflection curve obtained experimen-
tally was performed by Dharan and Bauman, but an error, made in the units of citied paper, was detected
and units were corrected as N-mm for Fig. 5.

Fig. 4. Load-deflection curves of steel disc spring.

Fig. 5. Load-deflection curves of composite disc spring.

404 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012
 The disc springs are made of plain woven carbon fibre/epoxy, which has an quasi-isotropic laminates
(see Table 1). The dimensions of the composite disc spring are as follows: Do = 51.4 mm, Di = 24.3 mm,
ho = 6.7 mm, t = 3.4 mm [9]. The load-deflection curve of the study conducted with finite elements method
is different from the analytical study and non-linearity has increased. There is a 8 to 10 % difference between
the experimental study and finite elements method. As seen on Fig. 2, the non-linearity of load-deflection
curve increases in parallel to the increase of conic height of disc springs.

3.2. Disc springs with different cross-section

In this stage of the study, The disc springs are modeled with different cross-section. The cross-section
characteristics of disc springs are shown in Fig. 6. Here te remained constant (2 mm) on disc spring
having Trapeze A section whereas ti value was changed. Likewise, te remained constant (2 mm) on disc
spring having Trapeze B section whereas ti value was changed. Rd = 36 mm (radius) remained constant
on disc spring having concave section whereas Ri value was increased. Do , Di and ho values of the disc
spring were not altered. The values of modeled composite disc springs were as follows: Do = 50 mm,
Di = 25 mm and ho = 4 mm. Deflection value was given as 2 mm. The aim was to achieve approximately
equal composite disc spring masses with determined thickness values. The composite disc springs were sub-
ject to compression load and load-deflection characteristics were obtained. The carbon/epoxy (T300/934)
was used as material in Table 1.

Fig. 6. Cross-section view of composite disc springs.

Figure 7 shows the load-deflection curves of composite disc springs in trapeze form. The Trapeze A
section has a better performance than the Trapeze B. Figure 8 shows the force-deflection curves of standard
section composite disc spring and the concave disc spring. In terms of force-deflection curve, standard
section disc spring seems to be more advantage in comparison to the concave disc spring section.
As seen in Fig. 9, the composite disc springs having different sections are compared with each other by
taking into account maximum load capacity and masses. The Trapeze A section disc spring has approxi-
mately 90 % more maximum load capacity in comparison to the Trapeze B having the same mass whereas
it has up to 40 % and 70 % more maximum capacity in comparison to the standard section disc spring and
concave section disc spring, respectively.

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012 405
 (a) (b)

Fig. 7. (a) Load-deflection curves of Trapeze A and (b) Trapeze B disc springs.

(a) (b)

Fig. 8. (a) Load-deflection curves of Standard section and (b) Concave disc springs.

Fig. 9. Maximum load-mass curves of different cross-section disc springs.

406 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012
3.3. Hybrid composite disc spring
In this section, four different hybrid composite disc springs were taken into consideration with finite
element method. The geometric properties of disc spring were Do = 50 mm, Di = 25 mm, ho = 4 mm,
t = 2 mm. Carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy material properties given on Table 1, were used for the analysis
studies. Figure 10 shows the schematic lamination characteristics of hybrid composite disc springs. Here t
is the total thickness, tg and tc are respectively the thickness of glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy materials. The
lamination characteristics of composite disc springs are symmetric expect for H4. These symmetric models
considered using glass/epoxy material for inside plies and carbon/epoxy material for outer plies.

Fig. 10. Schematic lamination characteristics of hybrid disc spring.

Equations (35) were used in order to evaluate cost of disc spring. For this purpose, the cost ratio of
Pcarbon
Pglass= 7.3 was used for carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy [13].
Looking at Eqs. (35), Vtotal is the total volume of disc spring, is the density of composite materials,
Ls is the hypotenuse length of disc spring cross-section, Dr is the rotation center distance of disc spring
cross-section, is the conic angle of the spring. Equation (3) was used to calculate cost of each disc spring
(Dc ). The following equations were used for calculating the total volume (Eqs. 4 and 5):
  
t 
g t tg
Dc = Vtotal Pglass glass + Pcarbon carbon , (3)
t t

Vtotal = 2Lst rs , (4)

ho Do Di Dr
Ls = , Dr = , rs = . (5)
sin( ) ln(Do Di ) 2
Both maximum load capacity and cost increase directly as the number of carbon plies. In order to ensure
optimum evaluation of these two circumstances, the maximum load capacity of hybrid composite disc spring
was calculated by dividing by cost of disc spring (Eq. 3) and defined with a constant as K:
Fmax
K= . (6)
Dc
The load-deflection curves of hybrid and non-hybrid disc springs are shown in Fig. 11. There is a dif-
ference of over 100 % between the non-hybrid glass and carbon/epoxy disc springs, in terms of maximum
load capacity. Although H4 hybrid disc springs have more carbon/epoxy plies, in comparison to H2, H2
has greater maximum load capacity. Here, the positive effect of using rigid carbon/epoxy for outer plies and
symmetric lamination are clearly seen [16].

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012 407
 As seen in Fig. 12, if we take into consideration the cost and maximum load capacity of disc springs, the
marginal advantages decrease directly as to the increased number of carbon/epoxy plies outer plies. In other
words, H1 disc spring using lesser number of carbon plies is optimum, in comparison to H2 and H3 disc
springs using 2 and 3 as many carbon plies.

Fig. 11. Load-deflection curves of hybrid disc springs.

Fig. 12. Comparison of hybrid disc springs according to the value of K.

408 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012
3.3.1. Determination of failure condition of the H1 disc spring
Once it was confirmed that H1 disc spring is optimum in comparison to other disc springs, failure condi-
tion determination was performed for this disc spring. The glass/epoxy layer thickness of the H1 disc spring
was 1.6 mm and the carbon/epoxy layer thickness was 0.4 mm since the total thickness was 2 mm. The 3D
model was created in the manner where each ply was 0.1 mm (see Fig. 13).

Materials E = E (MPa)
1 2 12 (kg/m3)
Fig. 13. Schematic lamination characteristics of H1 disc spring.
Carbon/epoxy 48 000 0.30 1450
TheE-Glass/epoxy* 17 850
disc spring lamination characteristic would be [0/90/45 0.38 2s
45] for glass/epoxy and [0/90/45 45]
1800
Steel (the quasi-isotropic
for carbon/epoxy 210 000 can be seen Fig. 13).
lay-up 0.30Table 2 shows the mechanical
7800 strength
of*Used
glass/epoxy and carbon
formulas in the Appendix.
epoxy materials [14,15]. These characteristics apply to one ply plain woven
composite material. In this section, the disc spring is defined as composite and modeled as continuum shell.
Table 1

Mechanical properties Glass/epoxy T300, carbon/epoxy (94 gsm)

Longitudinal modulu, E1 = E2 (MPa) 20 000 56 000
Poissons ratio, 12 0.25 0.05
Shear modulu, G12 (MPa) 461 3000

Tensile strength, S L+ , ST+ (MPa) 473 650

Compressive strength, S L , ST (MPa) 473 670

Shear strength, S LT (MPa) 85 111

Table 2. Mechanical properties and strengths of one ply woven composites [14,15].
Table 2
Failure conditions of plies were determined after the analysis. According to Tsai-Wu failure criteria,
failure condition on composite was investigated using the Eq. 7:

F11 12 + F22 22 + F66 62 + F1 1 + F2 2 + 2F12 1 2 1 , (7)

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012 409
in which F11 = 1/(SL+ SL ), F22 = 1/(ST+ ST ), F1 = 1/SL+ 1/SL , F2 = 1/ST+ 1/ST , F66 = 1/SLT 2 ve,

F12 = (F11 F22 )0.5 /2 and 6 = 12 , where SL+ and SL are strength of longitudinal tensile and compression.
ST+ and ST are also strength of transverse tensile and compression. Longitudinal and transverse strength are
taken to be positively.
Failure condition of H1 disc spring was determined after the analysis. According to Tsai-Wu failure
criteria, there was failure on the first ply as seen on Fig. 14. Multilayered composite disc springs are
subjected to large compressive loads. Therefore, the top side of composite disc springs fail. Figure 15
shows the maximum failure criteria values on each ply. Accordingly, there is not failure on plies, apart from
the first ply. The failure criteria value varies from 0 to 0.25 on plies where a 45 ply angle is used whereas
the failure criteria value of plies varies 0.45 to 0.70 where a 0 ply angle is used.

Fig. 14. Failure condition on the first ply.

Fig. 15. Tsai-Wu failure criteria values of plies.

410 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012
4. CONCLUSIONS
Basically, the study examined disc springs with different section geometry and hybrid composite disc
springs with finite elements method. Initially, it was determined whether or not analytical study and exper-
imental study were compatible with the study conducted with finite elements method. Then disc springs
with different cross-section were modeled and the disc spring having the lowest mass-highest load capacity
was determined. Finally, standard section hybrid disc springs made up of carbon/epoxy and glass/epoxy
plies were modeled and these disc springs were evaluated in terms of load capacity and costs. Then failure
condition of optimum disc spring was determined.
The results of the studies conducted can be listed as follows:

Disc modeled with finite elements method is in conformity with both analytical and experimental
studies, if we taken into consideration load-deflection curve.

Trapeze A section disc spring, a different section disc spring, has advantages in term of load capac-
ity and mass, in comparison to standard section disc springs and certain other different section disc
springs.

Hybrid disc springs made with symmetric lamination offer advantages in terms of maximum load
capacity and cost.

Selecting a material that is more rigid (carbon/epoxy for outer plies of hybrid disc springs offers load
capacity and cost advantages. The cost of disc spring increases directly as the increased number of
carbon plies in the outside plies and the marginal advantage in terms of load capacity decreases.

In case of composite disc springs, ply on the surface, where compression force is applied, is damaged.
The disc spring top side subjected to force should be some other material in order to prevent such
crushing damage.

REFERENCES
1. Mahmood, M. S. and Davood, R., Analysis and optimization of a composite leaf spring, Composite Structures,
Vol. 60, No. 3, pp. 317325, 2003.
2. Al-Qureshi, H. A., Automobile springs from composite materials, Journal Of Materials Prosessing Technol-
ogy, Vol. 118, Nos. 13, pp. 5861, 2001.
3. Mahdi, E, Alkoles, O. M. S., Hamauda, A. M. S., Sahari, B. B., Yonus, R. and Goudah, G., Light composite
elliptic springs for vehicle suspension, Composite Structures, Vol. 75, Nos. 14, pp. 2428, 2006.
4. Chang, J., Method of manufacturing hybrid composite leaf spring, US Patent, Patent number: 5,425,829, 1995.
5. Chang, H.C., Chung, L. H., Han, S.T. and Wei, P. L., An experimental investigation into the mechanical behav-
iors of helical composite springs, Composite Structures, Vol. 77, No. 3, pp. 331340, 2007.
6. Sancaktar, E. and Gowrishangar, S., Durability of Analysis of Composite Systems, Swets & Zellinger Lisse,
ISBN 90 5809 3824, 2002.
7. Sancaktar, E. and Gowrishangar S., Fiber reinforced composite springs, US Patent Application Publication,
No. US 2004/0195744-A1, 2004.
8. Almen, J. O. and Laszlo, A., The uniform-section disc spring, Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 58, pp. 30514,
1936.
9. Dharan, C. K .H. and Bauman J. A., Composite disc springs, Composites: Part A, Vol. 38, No. 12,
pp. 25112516, 2007.
10. Pedersen, N. L. and Pedersen, P., Stiffness and design for strength of trapezoidal Belleville springs, Journal of
Strain Analysis for Engineering Design, Vol. 46, No. 8, pp. 825836, 2011.
11. Greenwood, J. H. and Robichek, E., Reinforced Disk Springs, US Patent No. 4,027,865, 1975.
12. Schnorr Corporation, Handbook For Disc Spring, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, 2003.

Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012 411
13. Gay, D., Hoa, S.V. and Tsai, S.W., Composite Materials CRC Press, Washington D.C., USA, 2002.
14. Okutan, B., Aslan, Z. and Karakuzu, R., A study of the effects of various geometric parameters on the fail-
ure strength of pin-loaded woven-glass-fiber reinforced epoxy laminate, Composites Science and Technology,
Vol. 61, No. 10, pp. 14911497, 2001.
15. Gerngro, T., Folding of Thin-walled Composite Structures, Technical report No. TUM-MW 65/0331-SA,
University of Cambridge, England, UK, 2003.
16. Karakaya, S. and Soykasap, ., Natural frequency and buckling optimization of laminated hybrid composite
plates using genetic algorithm and simulated annealing, Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Vol. 43,
No. 1, pp. 6172, 2011.

A. APPENDIX

E1 12 E2
0

112 21 112 21

E E2

Q= 12 2
112 21 112 21 0
(A.1)

0 0 G12

Q11 = c4 Q11 + s4 Q22 + 2c2 s2 (Q12 + 2Q66 ) (A.2)

Q12 = c2 s2 (Q11 + Q22 4Q66 ) + (c4 + s4 )Q12 (A.3)

Zht
Ai j = Qi j dz (A.4)
hb

E1 = (A11 A22 A212 )/(tA22 )

(A.5)
E2 = (A11 A22 A212 )/(tA11 )

G12 = A66 /t (A.6)

12 = 21 = A12 /A22 (A.7)

412 Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2012