03/01/2024

Types of Spring

Springs
Mechanical springs are
mechanical components of
immense importance used
in effecting motion,
improving shock-absorbing
capabilities, etc., in many
products.

Flat Spiral

Applications of Spring:

Used to control Employed to control Used for storing Employed to

forces due to impact motions and to energy, for example measure force, as in
or shock loading apply forces to in clocks, starters. scales.
and to control member. (ex. Valve
vibration. (ex. spring in internal
Springs for railways combustion engine)
car and
automobiles)

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• Helical compression spring

Types of • Helical tension spring
mechanical • Torsion
springs • Spiral
• Leaf spring

Helical Springs
• are made of elastic material and are
formed into a helix shape, which is used
to store energy and subsequently
release it when needed, absorb shock
or maintain force between two
contacting surfaces.

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Tabulated Data of Springs

Types of coil end Actual no. of coil Solid length Free length

Plain n (n + 1) d np + d

Ground n nd np

Squared n+2 (n + 3) d np + 3d

Squared & Ground n+2 (n + 2) d np + 2d

Types of coil end

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Number of coils
• With compression springs, active coils are the coils
Active Coils that have pitch that deflect when the load is placed
on the spring.

• Total coils of a compression spring are all of the

Total Coils coils including the closed coils without pitch.

The use of compression springs requires an understanding of the

number of total and active coils. Ones with closed and square ends
or ground ends have one closed coil at each end, which are inactive.
With open end compression springs, all of the coils in the spring are
active and carry the load.

To improve squareness and reduce buckling during operation, a bearing surface of

at least 270° is required.
Squared and ground springs are normally supplied with a bearing surface of 270° to
330°.
Additional grinding results in thin sections.
"Squared ends only" are preferred on springs with small wire diameters (less than
0.5 mm or 0.020"), a large index (greater than 12) or low spring rates.
Squared ends cost less to manufacture than squared and ground ends.

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Compression Spring nomenclature

Free Length
• is overall spring length in the free or unloaded
position. If loads are not critical, free length
should be specified. When definite loads are
required, free length should be a reference
dimension that can be varied to meet load
requirements. Pitch is the distance between
centers of adjacent coils and is related to free
length and number of coils.

Compression Spring nomenclature

Solid Length/Height
• is the length of a spring with all coils closed. For ground
springs, solid height is the number of coils multiplied by wire
diameter. For unground springs, solid height is the number of
coils plus one, multiplied by wire diameter. If critical, solid
height should be specified as a maximum dimension. After
allowances are made for plating or other coatings, it is good
practice to add one-half of the wire diameter to determine
maximum solid height. With larger wire sizes and fewer coils,
this allowance can be decreased. Solid height is often
measured by applying a force equal to 110 to 150% of the
calculated load at solid. If solid height is not critical, this
dimension should be omitted.

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Direction of Coiling
A helical compression spring can be either left or right-hand coiled. If the index finger
of the right hand can be bent to simulate direction of coil, so that the fingernail and
coil tip are approximately at the same angular position, the spring is right-hand wound
(Figure S-3, below). If the index finger of the left hand simulates the coil direction, the
spring is left-hand wound. If direction of coiling is not specified, springs may be coiled
in either direction. Nested springs with small diametral clearances should be coiled in
opposite directions.

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Spring rate
Spring rate for helical compression springs is defined as the change
in load per unit deflection and is expressed as shown

𝐹 𝐹𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑘 = = = = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝛿 𝛿𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝛿𝑚𝑎𝑥

Stress on spring material

Where:
8𝐾𝑤 𝐹𝐷𝑚
𝑆𝑠 = 𝐾𝑤 = stress factor
𝜋𝑑 3 𝐹 = axial load
𝐷𝑚 = mean diameter of coil
𝑑 = wire diameter

𝐷𝑜 + 𝐷𝑖
𝐷𝑚 = 𝐷𝑚 = 𝐷𝑜 - d 𝐷𝑚 = 𝐷𝑖 + d
2

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Stress factor
where:
• Wahl Factor 𝑐 = spring index
4𝑐 −1 0.615 𝑐 =
𝐷𝑚
𝐾𝑤 = + 𝑑
4𝑐−4 𝑐

• Bergstrasser factor
Note:
4𝑐+2 If the shear in transverse direction of the spring is of
𝐾𝑤 = significance, multiply the Wahl factor, Kw by the stress-
4𝑐−3 concentration factor, Ksc which takes care of the stress in
transverse direction of the spring.

A stress factor that is caused by the changes and direct shear in

coil curvature is called Wahl's Factor. It is used to measure the
compression in the spring. It is also used to derive an equation for
all type of stress and these are: Torsional shear stress.

Curvature effect together with shear-stress augmentation factor

can be defined by Wahl factor or Bergsträsser factor. Because the
results of these factors differ by less than 1%, Bergsträsser factor
is preferred. Stresses in the hook ends of tension springs are
usually higher than stresses in the coils of the spring.

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Deflection
• Deflection of spring where:
𝐹𝐿 = free length
8𝐹𝑐 3 𝑛 𝑆𝐿 = solid length
𝛿= 𝐺𝑑

• Deflection of spring at solid force

𝛿𝑠 = 𝐹𝐿 − 𝑆𝐿

Impact Load on spring:

𝐹
𝑊 ℎ+𝛿 = 𝛿
2

where:
𝑊 = weight of the object
𝛿 = deflection of spring
ℎ = height of the object
𝐹 = maximum force acting on the spring

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For parallel connected spring:

𝛿 = 𝛿1 = 𝛿2 = 𝛿3

𝐹1 𝐹2 𝐹3
𝛿 = 𝑘1
= 𝑘2
= 𝑘3

𝐹 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑

𝐹 = 𝐹1 + 𝐹2 + 𝐹3

For series connected spring:

𝛿 = 𝛿1 + 𝛿2 + 𝛿3

𝐹1 𝐹2 𝐹3
𝛿 = + +
𝑘1 𝑘2 𝑘3

𝐹 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
𝐹 = 𝐹1 = 𝐹2 = 𝐹3

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Example
A safety valve spring as shown has a total number of
coils of 8.5 has ends squared and ground and the
free length is 210 mm. If the outside diameter of the
coil is 120 mm and wire diameter is 12 mm, calculate
the following:
(a) the length at which spring must be initially
compressed to hold a pressure of 1.50 Mpa on a
valve seat of 30 mm in diameter.
(b) The maximum stress in which the spring will be
compressed to its solid height.

Given:
Total number of coils = 8.5
Type of ends = squared and ground
𝐹𝐿 = 210 𝑚𝑚
𝐷𝑜 = 120 𝑚𝑚
𝑑𝑤 = 12 𝑚𝑚
𝑃𝑖 = 1.50 Mpa
𝑑𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑡 = 30 𝑚𝑚

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Solution:
(a) Solving for the length at which spring must be initially compressed to hold a pressure of 1.50
Mpa on a valve seat of 30 mm in diameter.

𝐶𝐿 = 𝐹𝐿 − 𝛿

8 𝐹 𝑐3𝑛
𝛿 =
𝐺𝑑

Solution:
(b) Solving for the maximum stress in which the spring will be compressed to its solid height.

8𝐾𝑤 𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐷𝑚
𝑆𝑠 = 𝜋𝑑3

4𝑐 −1 0.615
𝐾𝑤 = 4𝑐 −4
+ 𝑐

𝐹 𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥 = ? 𝑘𝑠 =
𝛿
=
𝛿𝑚𝑎𝑥
= 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡

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Solution:
(b) Solving for the maximum stress in which the spring will be compressed to its solid height.

𝐹 1060.2875 𝑁
𝑘𝑠 = = = 25,323.3222 𝑁/𝑚
𝛿 0.04187 𝑚

𝛿𝑚𝑎𝑥 = FL - SL

SL = (n + 2) d

𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑘𝑠 =
𝛿𝑚𝑎𝑥

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