Mechanical properties of disc springs combined with PU

This study is focused on the mechanical properties of disc springs before and after adding polyurethane (PU) pieces. A static mechanical model of the disc springs combined with PU is established in this study by finite element method, which considers the effect of the friction between contact surfaces. Simulations and tests are carried out. The simulated static load-deformation characteristic curves match well with the experimental results, thus verifying the validity of the model. Simulation results reveal that PU piece has little influence on the static stiffness of disc springs. The dynamic load performance is also investigated through tests. Results from our experiments show that the PU piece is capable of lowering the dynamic stiffness of disc springs while keeping their static stiffness nearly constant. Our findings are supposed to provide theoretical basis for the reduction of the dynamic stiffness of disc springs as well as for the design of new combination isolators.