Compression Springs SPRINGS & THINGS General Data ‘A compression spring isan open-coil helical spring that offers resistance to a compressive force applied axially. Compression springs are usually coiled as a constant-diameter cylinder. Other ‘common forms of compression springs—such as conical, concave (barrel), convex (hourglass), or various combinations ofthese —are used as required by the application. While square, rectangular, or special-ection wire may have to be specified, round wire is predominant in compression springs because itis readily available and adaptable to standard coiler tooling, ‘The illustration on page 17 is recommended as a guide in specifying compression springs. The functional design characteris- tics of the spring should be given as mandatory specifications. Secondary characteristics, which may well be useful for reference, should be identified as advisory data. This practice controls the essential requirements, while providing as much design flexibility as possible to the spring manufacturer in meeting these require- ments. ‘Compression springs should be stress-elieved to remove residual forming stresses produced by the coiling operation. De~ pending on design and space limitations, compression springs may be categorized according to stress level as follows: 1. Springs which can be compressed solid without permanent set, So that an extra operation for removing set isnot needed, These springs are designed with torsional stress levels when com= pressed solid that do not exceed about 40 percent of the ‘minimum tensile strength of the materia. 2. Springs which can be compressed solid without further perma nent set after set has intially been removed. These may be pre-set by the spring manufacturer as an added operation, or they may be pre-set later by the user prior to or during the assembly operation. These are springs designed with torsional, stress levels when compressed solid that usually do not exceed 60 percent of the minimum tensile strength of the material. 3. Springs which cannot be compressed solid without some further permanent set taking place because set cannot be completely removed in advance. These springs involve torsional stress levels which exceed 60 percent ofthe minimum tensile strength of the material. The spring manufacturer will usually advise the user of the maximum allowable spring deflection without set whenever springs are specified in this category. In designing compression springs the space allotted governs the dimensional limits of a spring with regard to allowable solid height and outside and inside diameters. These dimensional limits, together with the load and deflection requirements, determine the stress level. It is extremely important to consider carefully the space allotted to insure that the spring will function properly to begin with, thereby avoiding costly design changes. Solid Height ‘The solid height of a compression spring is defined as the length ofthe spring when under sufficient load to bring all coils into ‘contact with the adjacent cols and additional load causes no further deflection. Solid height should be specified by the user as a maximum, with the actual number of coils in the spring to be determined by the spring manufacturer. AAs square or rectangular wire is coiled, the wire cross section deforms slightly into a keystone or trapezoidal shape, which increases the solid height considerably. This dimensional change is function ofthe spring index and the thickness ofthe material. It ‘may be determined approximately by the following formula: ) where t" equals new thickness of inner edge (in the axial direction) after coiling and t equals thickness before coiling. When calculating ‘maximum solid height, allowance must be made forall the factors ‘hich apply, such as material, finish, and manufacturing tolerances. D © = oat ( How to Determine Rate Rate, whichis the change in lod per unit deflection, may be determined bythe following procedure: 1. Deflct spring to approximately 20 percent of avaiable dele: tion and measure load (P) and spring length L. 2, Deflect spring not more than 80 percent of availble dfction and measure load (P) and spring length (L3). Be certain that no Coie (ther than closed ends) are touching at Lo 8. Caleulate rate (R) Ibn, (N/mm) R= (2 ~ PM, ~ Ld) (SMI:Spring Ends “There ae four basic types of compression spring ends, as shown on page 17. The particular type of ends specified affect the pitch, solid height, total coils, free length, and seating characteris- ‘tics of the spring. The type of ends and the pitch determine to a large extent the amount of tangling that occurs when the springs ae handed in blk, “The table below gives formulas for calculating mensional characteristics for various types of ends on compression springs. In applying the given data to solid height, it should be remembered that there are several factors which the formulas do not consider. ‘The actual solid height may not be the same as the calculated value ‘due to improper seating of coils, normal variation in wire size, and 4) can buckle in some applications, depending on the ratio of deflection to free length. Mounting the spring in a tube, over a rod andjor on parallel fixed plates are methods commonly used to reduce the tendency for ‘buckling. Unground springs are more susceptible to bucking than are ground springs and may buckle at (L/D) ratios less than 4 Since springs are flexible and external forces tend to tilt the ends, grinding to extreme squareness is difficult. Squareness of 3° can normally be maintained by standard manufacturing methods on ‘ground springs. Tolerances closer than 3° require special tech- niques and added operations, which increase manufacturing costs. [Aspring may be specified for grinding square in the unloaded condition or square under load, but notin both conditions with any degree of accuracy. When squareness at a specific load or height is required, it should be specified. Well proportioned, high-quality compression springs which are specified with closed and ground ends should have the spring wire at the ends uniformly taper from the full wire diameter to the tip. A slight gap, which occasionally opens during grinding, is permissible between the closed end coil and the adjacent coil. The bearing surface provided by grinding should extend over a mini- ‘mum of 240° of the end coils. Results will vary considerably from these nominal attainable values with springs in smaller wire sizes or with higher indexes. In genera, itis impractical to adhere to a general rule regarding “degree of bearing,” since process capabili ties depend so much on the individual configuration of the spring. SMEDesign Method: Load ‘The design method for helical compression springs is mainly process of manipulating the formulas for spring rate and torsional stress (see p. 8). How these formulas are applied depends on what spring characteristics the engineer needs to calculate, These include 1) those spring characteristics which are not fixed by application requirements but must be recorded to specify a complete spring and 2) those characteristics which are fixed by the application and are used to determine whether the spring being designed fulfils the requirements. The logic of the design method (not the detailed steps involved in reaching a solution) follows. The examples in this ‘ection involve the same design logic and can be solved entirely with the data given here ‘The most common specifications given in designing a com- pression spring are one load and a deflection from the free position ‘or two Toads and a deflection between these loads, dimensions of available space, types of ends, and any factors which govern selection of the spring material. The basic method is to design the spring for maximum economy (of space, weight, and dollars) by ‘calculating the wire diameter (4) corresponding to the maximum allowable stress in formula 2 and then using formula 1 to determine the number of active coils (ng). To determine d the designer solves formula 2 using trial values for stress (S,), mean diameter (D), and load (P) or load at solid (Ps). Unless the mean diameter (D) is given, the designer makes D = OD to get a trial value of d. The trial value of torsional stress (S,) in formula 2is determined by multiplying atrial value of minimum tensile strength (not critical, select values from Table 1, page 7, or from tables on pages 44 to 46) by the appropriate percentage from the materials table on pages 41 and 42. Since this trial value of stress is usually the maximum allowable design stress, the Pin formula 2 must be the maximum load that will be applied to the spring, either at solid height, P, = R(L — H), or at maximum deflection (F). If nether the maximum deflection nor solid height, are specified, assume that P, is equal to 1.25 times the maximum specified load. If the tensile strength of the estimated wire size is slightly Jarger then the tensile strength used forthe trial value of stress, the estimated wire siz (d) may temporarily be assumed as an accepta- bile value of d, However, ifthe two values of tensile strength are far apart, the calculated dis used in turn to determine an approximate value of D from D = OD — d and an approximate value of stress from the appropriate tables on pages 44 to 46 adjusted by the percentages from Table I on pages 41 and 42. These new trial values are substituted into formula 2 to calculate a revised wire diameter (d. If this value of d is quite close to the fist, it can be assumed acceptable and the next larger standard wire size selected, If not, iis necessary to repeat the calculation in formula 2 once again, With the acceptable value of d, the number of active coils (ng) are calculated from formula 1 for rate (R). Solid height (H) is then determined from the appropriate formula given for the total coils (4) and wire diameter (4) (Table 1, p. 14) to verify that space limitations are being met. Stress ‘Stress at solid height (S,) and stress at load 1 (S,) are then calculated in formula 2, using P, and Py, respectively. ‘The Wahl curvature-stress correction factor (K) is deter- ‘mined from the formula given (page 8) with C = D/d, and corrected values Syx and $3) ofS, and S; are then calculated. These figures are compared to the maximum allowable design stress, which is a product of tensile strength of the wire (S) for the accepted diameter and the appropriate percentages on pages 41 and 42. ‘Time may be saved in design by first calculating S,. alone and then, Si only if Sq is found to be too high. Comparison of corrected stress with maximum allowable stress indicates one of three conditions: 1, S1j and Sy, both below the maximum allowable. —Stress is acceptable and the spring will not set in application. If Sy. is quite far below the maximum, it is likely to be a somewhat ineficient design. It might then be worthwhile to recalculate using a smaller wire diameter, a smaller coil diameter, andor fewer active cols. 2. Siy below 8, above the maximum allowable.—The spring will not set at Ly, but wil do so at some larger deflection, between Ly and solid height. If the spring is likely to be deflected beyond Ly in use or assembly, n, should be increased, (or even D if space can be made available) along with a corresponding increase in wire size to reduce stress. Otherwise, this spring can be preset. If deflection will never exceed Li, the original design may be acceptable. 3. Both Sy, and S,y above the maximum allowable.—The spring is highly stressed and will set before it reaches the specified load (P;). Although it is sometimes possible by resetting to achieve acceptable values of Sy and Sy, the most ‘common solution is to reduce the stress by increasing the amount of wir in the spring. Presetting is only an option when, the maximum stress (S,) is less than 60 percent of the tensile strength. Increasing n, and D results in a larger din formula 1 and then a smaller Sin formula 2. This approach is limited both, bby maximum available space and by the fact that H must be less than Ly While the actual step-by-step procedure depends on the Particular needs ofthe design problem, the basic method described above is used in designing most common compression springs. The specifications are somewhat diferent for springs in which the user is interested primarily in load per unit deflection. Designers usually specify rate (R) and rate tolerance, free length (L), solid height (H), ‘and any space limitations. The only difference in procedure, how ever, isto calculate the maximum load (Pray) 2S Pe = RCL — H) and use this value in formula 2 (WSIMIT |S