This is Abhijeet Mitra. I am a designer of suspension systems in India.
Can somebody help me find the calculation method to find out stage stiffness of progressive/rate leaf spring ( Considering the length and camber of leaves in the spring system )
My basis of design calculations is SAE J 788. But in actual samples it is always observed that stage 1 stiffness is greater than calculated. For example if required stiffness values are 6 and 13 kgf/mm, then observation is 8.8 and 13 kgf/mm. Snapshot for concerned spring system is attached.
As stated in SAE J 788 1982 page 53 2nd column regarding the load deflection diagram "It has been drawn without considering such details as the change in moment arm length when the spring is deflected from positive camber to flat to negative camber". Add to this friction in eyelets, friction between leaves, etc., You also have to put tolerances for the rate value it should be at least +/- 15% due to the complexity of multi leaf spring compared to single leaf horizontal beam spring.
If you really want to get the rates right then there is no substitute for a crude beam element model. This will account for the influence of shackle angle, and the camber effect.
I'd use matlab, but here's an examplf ro a single leaf I did in Smath