Why nipping is provided in leaf spring?
When the central bolt holding the leaves is tightened, the full length leaf bend back as shown by dotted line. And will have an initial stress in opposite direction. The graduated leaves will have an initial stress in the same direction as that of normal load. When the load is applied, the full length leaf gets relieved first, consequently the full length leaf will be stressed less than graduated leaf. The initial leaf between leaves may be so adjusted that under maximum load conditions, all the leaves are equally stressed. So for this reason nipping is provided in leaf spring.