Design of

SPRINGS

By
Dr. R.N.Gupta
INTRODUCTION
• A spring is defined as an elastic body, whose function is to distort when loaded and to
recover its original shape when the load is removed.
• Spring act as a flexible joint in between two parts or bodies.

The various important applications of springs are as follows :

o To cushion, absorb or control energy due to either shock or vibration as in car springs,
railway buffers, air-craft landing gears, shock absorbers and vibration dampers.
o To apply forces, as in brakes, clutches and spring- loaded valves.
o To control motion by maintaining contact between two elements as in cams and
followers.
o To measure forces, as in spring balances and engine indicators.
o To store energy, as in watches, toys, etc.
MATERIALS FOR SPRING

• The material of the spring should have high fatigue strength, high ductility, high resilience and it
should be creep resistant.
• Hard-drawn wire: This is cold drawn, cheapest spring steel. Normally used for low stress and static
load. The material is not suitable at subzero temperatures or at temperatures above 120°C.
• Chrome Vanadium: This alloy spring steel is used for high stress conditions and at high temperature
up to 220°C. It is good for fatigue resistance and long endurance for shock and impact loads.
• Chrome Silicon: This material can be used for highly stressed springs. It offers excellent service for
long life, shock loading and for temperature up to 250°C.
• Stainless steel: Widely used alloy spring materials.
• Phosphor Bronze / Spring Brass: It has good corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity. That’s
the reason it is commonly used for contacts in electrical switches. Spring brass can be used at
subzero temperatures.
SPRING CLASSIFICATION
1. Helical Spring
2. Torsion Spring
3. Leaf or laminated spring

1. Helical springs:
✔ The helical springs are made up of a wire coiled in the form of a helix and is primarily intended for
compressive or tensile loads.
✔ The cross-section of the wire from which the spring is made may be circular, square or rectangular.
✔ The two forms of helical springs are compression helical spring and tension helical spring.

compression helical spring tension helical spring

✔ The helical springs are said to be closely coiled when the spring wire is coiled so close that the plane
containing each turn is nearly at right angles to the axis of the helix and the wire is subjected to torsion.
In other words, in a closely coiled helical spring, the helix angle is very small, it is usually less than 10°.
✔ In open coiled helical springs, the spring wire is coiled in such a way that there is a gap between the two
consecutive turns, as a result of which the helix angle is large.

2. Torsion springs: These springs may be of helical or spiral type. The helical type may be used only in
applications where the load tends to wind up the spring and are used in various electrical mechanisms.
The spiral type is also used where the load tends to increase the number of coils and when made of flat
strip are used in watches and clocks.
3. Leaf or laminated springs: The laminated or leaf spring (also known as flat spring or carriage
spring) consists of a number of flat plates (known as leaves) of varying lengths held together by means
of clamps and bolts. These are mostly used in automobiles.

Note: The major stresses produced in helical springs are shear stresses due to twisting, while in the torsion
springs are tensile and compressive due to bending.
TERMS USED IN COMPRESSION
SPRINGS

Solid length: When the compression spring is compressed until the coils come in contact with each
other, then the spring is said to be solid. The solid length of a spring is the product of total number
of coils and the diameter of the wire. Mathematically,
Solid length of the spring, LS = n'. d

Where, n' = Total number of coils, and d = Diameter of the wire.

Free length: The free length is the length of the spring in the free or unloaded condition. It is equal to the solid
length plus the maximum deflection or compression of the spring and the clearance between the adjacent coils
(when fully compressed). Mathematically,
 Free length of the spring,
LF = Solid length + Maximum compression + Clearance between adjacent coils (or clash allowance)
= n'.d + δmax + 0.15 δmax

The following relation may also be used to find the free length of the spring, i.e.
LF = n'.d + δmax + (n' – 1) × 1 mm
(In this expression, the clearance between the two adjacent coils is taken as 1 mm.)

Spring index: The spring index is defined as the ratio of the mean diameter of the coil to the diameter of the
wire. Mathematically,
Spring index, C = D / d
Where, D = Mean diameter of the coil, and
d = Diameter of the wire.
Spring rate: The spring rate (or stiffness or spring constant) is defined as the load required per unit
deflection of the spring. Mathematically,
Spring rate, k = W / δ
where,W = Load, and δ = Deflection of the spring
STRESSES IN HELICAL SPRINGS OF CIRCULAR WIRE
• The load W tends to rotate the wire due to the twisting moment (T) set up in the wire.
Thus torsional shear stress is induced in the wire.
• A little consideration will show that part of the spring is in equilibrium under the action
of two forces W and the twisting moment T.
We know that the twisting moment
• The effect of wire curvature is neglected in equation (iii). However, by considering the
effects of both direct shear and curvature of the wire, a Wahl’s stress factor (K) may be
used (introduced by A.M. Wahl.)
• The Wahl’s stress factor (K) may be considered as composed of two sub-factors, KS and
KC , such that K = KS × KC
where KS = Stress factor due to shear, and
KC = Stress concentration factor due to curvature.
The values of K for a given spring index (C) may be obtained from the graph. From graph,
Wahl’s stress factor increases very rapidly as the spring index decreases. The spring mostly
used in machinery have spring index above 3.
Deflection of Helical Springs of Circular Wire
 Eccentric Loading of Springs
• Sometimes, the load on the springs does not coincide with the axis of the spring, i.e. the
spring is subjected to an eccentric load.
• In such cases, not only the safe load for the spring reduces, the stiffness of the spring is
also affected.
•When the load is offset by a distance e from the spring axis, then the safe load on the
spring may be obtained by multiplying the axial load by the factor .
 ENERGY STORED IN HELICAL SPRINGS OF CIRCULAR WIRE
• The springs are used for storing energy which is equal to the work done on it by some external load.
 STRESS AND DEFLECTION IN HELICAL SPRINGS OF NON-CIRCULAR WIRE
• The helical springs may be made of non-circular wire such as rectangular or square wire,
in order to provide greater resilience in a given space.
For springs made of rectangular wire

The maximum shear stress is given by

This expression is applicable when the longer side (i.e. t > b) is parallel to the axis
of the spring.

when the shorter side (i.e. t < b) is parallel to the axis of the spring, then maximum shear stress.
For springs made of square wire
HELICAL SPRINGS SUBJECTED TO FATIGUE LOADING
• The helical springs subjected to fatigue loading are designed by using the Soderberg line
method.
• The spring materials are usually tested for torsional endurance strength under a repeated
stress that varies from zero to a maximum.
• Since the springs are ordinarily loaded in one direction only (the load in springs is never
reversed in nature), therefore a modified Soderberg diagram is used for springs.
• The endurance limit for reversed loading is shown at point A where the mean shear stress is
equal to τe/ 2 and the variable shear stress is also equal to τe /2.
• A line drawn from A to B (the yield point in shear, τy) gives the Soderberg’s failure stress line.
• If a suitable factor of safety (F.S.) is applied to the yield strength (τy), a safe stress line CD
may be drawn parallel to the line AB. Consider a design point P on the line CD.
 HELICAL TORSION SPRINGS (CIRCULAR)
• Similar to helical compression or tension springs but the ends have bend shape to
transmit torque.
• The primary stress in helical torsion springs is bending stress whereas in compression or
tension springs, the stresses are torsional shear stresses.
• The radius of curvature of the coils changes when the
twisting moment is applied to the spring. Thus, the wire is
under pure bending. According to A.M. Wahl, the bending
stress in a helical torsion spring made of round wire is
 SURGE IN SPRINGS
• When one end of a helical spring is resting on a rigid support and the other end is loaded
suddenly, then all the coils of the spring will not suddenly deflect equally, because some
time is required for the propagation of stress along the spring wire.
• In the beginning, the end coils of the spring in contact with the applied load takes up whole
of the deflection and then it transmits a large part of its deflection to the adjacent coils.
• In this way, a wave of compression propagates through the coils to the supported end from
where it is reflected back to the deflected end. This wave of compression travels along the
spring indefinitely.
• If the applied load is of fluctuating type as in the case of valve spring in internal combustion
engines and if the time interval between the load applications is equal to the time required
for the wave to travel from one end to the other end, then resonance will occur.

• This results in very large deflections of the coils and correspondingly very high stresses.
Under these conditions, it is just possible that the spring may fail. This phenomenon is
called surge.
The natural frequency for springs clamped between two plates is given by
Annexure : Different End Style of the springs
 Numerical Problem
Q.1. A safety valve of 60 mm diameter is to blow off at a pressure of 1.2 N/mm 2. It
is
held on its seat by a close coiled helical spring. The maximum lift of the valve is 10
mm. Design a suitable compression spring of spring index 5 and providing an initial
compression of 35 mm. The maximum shear stress in the material of the wire is
limited to 500 MPa. The modulus of rigidity for the spring material is 80 kN/mm 2.
Calculate :
1. Diameter of the spring wire,
2. Mean coil diameter,
3. Number of active turns, and
4. Pitch of the coil.
Sol. :