A composite structure includes a thermoplastic material and axial fibers and radial fibers arranged within the thermoplastic material. The thermoplastic material can define a substructure of the composite structure. The fibers can be continuous and/or discontinuous fibers. The substructure can be a first substructure and the composite structure can further include a second substructure. Opposing ends of the first substructure and the second substructure are bonded with one another to form a tubular structure. The composite structure can exhibit enhanced damping characteristics such as having a damping coefficient greater than 0.5 lbf s/in. In some cases, this can limit vibrations of the tubular structure to less than 5.0 m/s2.

A composite spring made of a wire of a longitudinal axis curved around a spring axis in a winding direction and a method of fabrication thereof, the spring, the wire comprising a core; and fibers layers wound around the core, and an angular positioning, relative to the spring axis, of each one of the fiber layers being selected, along a length of the core, depending on the winding direction of the wire about the spring axis, to adjust at least one of: high natural frequency of the spring, resistance to buckling and resistance to tensile and compressive stress components induced by a compressive load on the spring.

An air spring includes a top plate, a bottom plate disposed with a distance in a main load direction from the top plate, and a diaphragm made of elastically deformable rubber and connected to the top plate and the bottom plate to form a closed space therebetween. A modulus of elasticity of a material constituting a connection section which is disposed in the top plate and the bottom plate and connected to the diaphragm is greater than a modulus of elasticity of the rubber constituting the diaphragm and smaller than a modulus of elasticity of aluminum.

A vibration damper for a vehicle is provided. The vibration damper includes at least one damping cylinder made from a fiber composite material; a guiding element for guiding a piston rod of a piston movably arranged in the damping cylinder. The guiding element is located in a guiding end region at one end of the damping cylinder. A fastening element for use in attaching the at least one damping cylinder to a vehicle is located at a fastening end of the cylinder. At least one of the two end regions of the damping cylinder is conical or wedge-shaped and its element has a corresponding external form that is conical or wedge-shaped. A conical or wedge-shaped clamping sleeve located around the conical or wedge-shaped end regions of the damping cylinder.

In a shock absorber 100, 200, an inner case 1 is biased in the axial direction relative to an outer case 2 made of resin by a spring 5, and the inner case 1 and the outer case 2 abut each other in the radial direction via ribs 2g, 8c.

A bearing bush and a method for producing a bearing bush are provided. The bearing bush includes a core element, an elastomer element, a cage element and a sleeve element. The cage element is at least partially embedded in the elastomer element. The elastomer element elastically connects the cage element and the core element to each other. The core element, the cage element and the elastomer element form a pre-assembly element. One of the sleeve element and the cage element includes a protrusion. The other of the sleeve element and the cage element includes a groove, which is engageable with the protrusion, in an assembled state of the bearing bush. The pre-assembly element is fixed in the sleeve element. The protrusion and the groove form a two-point contact in a cross-section.

A flexible spring element is made of a fiber-plastic composite material and has a cover layer made of a first fiber-plastic composite material on each of two outer sides lying opposite one another. Fibers are aligned parallel relative to one another at least in bundles within the cover layers and run parallel to the outer side associated with the respective cover layer. A curved portion extends where a center plane of the unloaded flexible spring element runs in a curved manner in a longitudinal direction of the flexible spring element. At least one longitudinal portion extends where the center plane of the unloaded flexible spring element has no significant curvature or has a reversal of curvature. In the curved portion the flexible spring element has a spacing extending element arranged between the two cover layers that is made of a different material than the two cover layers.

A leaf spring may include: an upper plate provided with arc-shaped portions which are integrally formed on both end portions thereof, respectively, for forming spring eyes; a lower plate disposed to overlap a lower side of the upper plate and provided with arc-shaped portions which are integrally formed on both end portions thereof, respectively, and face the arc-shaped portions of the upper plate to form the spring eyes; clamping units installed to restrain the both end portions of the overlapped upper and lower plates from being separated from each other; and a central fastening unit configured to fasten central portions of the overlapped upper and lower plates.

A composite coil spring includes a coil body that extends along a coiled axis. The coil body includes a polymer matrix and, disposed in the polymer matrix, a carbon fiber core and a plurality of fiber layers wrapped around the carbon fiber core in alternating oblique fiber angles to the coiled axis. The fiber layers include, from inside-out starting from the carbon fiber core, at least two consecutive carbon fiber intermediate fiber layers of alternating oblique fiber angles to the coiled axis, immediately followed by at least two consecutive glass fiber intermediate fiber layers of alternating oblique fiber angles to the coiled axis, and immediately followed by a carbon fiber outermost fiber layer.

An energy absorption member (21) includes a hollow cylindrical fiber-reinforced composite material including reinforcement fibers (22), in which tensile strength S (GPa), tensile modulus of elasticity M (GPa), and elongation rate E (%) satisfy the following expression (1), and a curable resin composition with which the reinforcement fibers (22) are impregnated. The volume content of the reinforcement fibers (22) in the fiber-reinforced composite material is 30 to 80%.
11.0≤S.sup.2×M.sup.1/8/E.sup.1/2≤22.0  (1)