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CH#10 Springs

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Types of Springs

• Springs may be classified as wire springs, flat

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

springs, or special shaped springs and there

are variations within these divisions
• Wire springs include helical springs of round or
square wire, made to resist and deflect under
tensile, compressive, and torsional loads
• Flat springs include cantilever or elliptical
types, wound motor- or clock-type power
springs and flat spring washers usually called
Belleville springs

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Types of Springs…

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Wire Springs

Flat Springs

Special Shaped Springs

Types of Springs…
Torsional Spring
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Helical springs used to apply torque or

store rotational energy are commonly
referred to as torsion or double torsion

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Types of Springs…

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

A Belleville spring is a piece of
curved steel with an extremely high
tensile strength.

Types of Springs…
Miscellaneous Spring
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Constant-
force
spring

Volute
spring

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Manufacturing of Springs

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

A diagram depicting spring coiling done by a CNC machine.

Show video

Helical Compression Spring

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

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Helical Compression Spring…

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

F
F

Design Parameters
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Free Length (Lo) - The length

of the unloaded spring.

Wire Diameter (d) - The

diameter of the wire that is
wound into a helix.

Coil Diameter (D) - The mean

diameter of the helix, i.e.,
(Douter + Dinner)/2.

Total Coils (Nt) - The number

of coils or turns in the spring.

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10-1 Stresses in Helical Springs

• D is the mean dia. of the spring and d is the

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

dia. of the wire.
• The spring wire is subjected to • 𝑇 𝐹
• 𝑟
– direct shear stress 𝜏 and
• 𝐴 𝑑
– torsional shear stress 𝜏 • 𝐽 𝑑

• The maximum stress is the addition of the two

8𝐹𝐷 4𝐹 𝐶
𝐷
4 𝐶 12
𝜏 , 𝑑
𝜋𝑑 𝜋𝑑
and
8𝐹𝐷 2𝐶 1
𝜏 𝐾 , 𝐾
𝜋𝑑 2𝐶

10-2 The Curvature Effect

• The curvature of the wire increases the

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

stresses on the inside and decreases only

slightly on the outside
• To account for this, Ks is modified as
4𝐶 2
𝐾
4𝐶 3
• KB is determined by Bergstrasser, and is called
Bergstrasser factor
• The equation for the largest shear stress
becomes
8𝐹𝐷
𝜏 𝐾
𝜋𝑑

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10-3 Deflection of Helical Springs

• For deflection, use Castigliano’s theorem

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

𝜕𝑈
𝑦 → 1
𝜕𝐹
• U for the spring is given by • 𝑇 𝐹
• 𝐴 𝑑
𝑇 𝑙 𝐹 𝑙
𝑈 • 𝐽 𝑑
2𝐽𝐺 2𝐴𝐺 • 𝑙 𝜋𝑑𝑁
• Put for U in (1) to get
8𝐷 𝑁 1 8𝐷 𝑁
𝑦 𝐹 1 𝐹
𝑑 𝐺 2𝐶 𝑑 𝐺 𝐷
• and 𝐶
𝑑
𝑑 𝐺
𝑘
8𝐷 𝑁

10-4 Compression Springs

• The design of compression spring

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

normally consists of four different types

of ends;
1. Closed ends, not ground OR Squared,
not ground
2. Closed ends, ground OR Squared,
ground
3. Open ends, not ground OR Plain end,
not ground
4. Open ends, ground OR Plain ends,
ground

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Formulae for compression spring

dimensions (Table 10-1)
• Where Na is the number of active coils

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Set Removal or Presetting

• A process used in the manufacture of

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

compression spring to induce useful residual

stresses
• It is done by making the spring longer than
needed and then compressing it to its solid
height
• Springs to be pre-set should be designed so
that 10 to 30% of the initial free length is
removed during the operation
• If the stress at the solid height is greater than
1.3 times the torsional yield strength, distortion
may occur

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Set Removal or Presetting…

• If this stress is much less than 1.1 times, it is

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

difficult to control the resulting free length
• Set removal increases the strength of the
spring and so is specially useful when the
spring is used for energy-storage purposes
• However, set removal should not be used
when springs are subjected to fatigue

10-6 Spring materials

• Springs are manufactured either
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

by hot- or cold-working
processes, depending upon the
size of the material, the spring
index, and the properties desired
• In general, prehardened wire
should not be used if D/d < 4 or if
d >1/4 in.

• Winding of the springs induces

residual stresses through
bending, however they are
relieved after winding, by a mild
thermal treatment

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10-6 Spring materials…

• Graph b/w tensile strength and wire diameter

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

is a straight line for some material. Then

Sut = A/dm

• Use Table 10-4 to find m and A.

Selection of Spring Material…..

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

The torsional yield strength can be obtained by assuming that the

tensile yield strength is between 60% and 90% of the tensile
strength. According to the distortion-energy theory, the torsional
yield strength for steels is

0.35Sut  Ssy  0.52Sut

𝑆 0.45𝑆

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Example 10.1
A helical compression spring is made of no. 16 music wire. The

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

outside diameter of the spring 11mm. The ends are squared and
there are 12.5 total turns.
a) Estimate the torsional yield strength (Ssy) of the wire.
b) Estimate the static load (F) corresponding to the torsional
yield strength of part a.
c) Estimate the scale (k) of the spring.
d) Estimate the deflection (y) that would be caused by the
load in part (b).
e) Estimate the solid length (Ls) of the spring.
f) What length should the spring be to ensure that when it is
compressed solid and then released, there will be no
permanent change in the free length (L0)?
g) Buckling (Not included)
h) What is the pitch (p) of the body coil?

Solution
a 𝑆 0.45𝑆
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

b 𝐹 ,𝐾

c 𝑘

d 𝑦
e 𝐿 𝑁 1 𝑑
f 𝐿 𝑦 𝐿
g Not included
h 𝑝

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10-7 Helical Spring Design for Static

Service
• Static service means light service (frequency

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

of loading less than 1000 cycles)
• The preferred range of spring index is
4 ≤ C ≤ 12
• The recommended range of active turns is
3 ≤ Na ≤ 15
• To maintain linearity when a spring is about to
close, it is necessary to avoid the gradual
touching of coils (due to non perfect pitch)
• A helical coil spring force-deflection
characteristic is ideally linear, although
practically not (Due to non-uniform “Ls”)

10-7 Helical Spring Design for Static

Service…
• Non-linear behaviour at closure.
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

• The designer confines the spring’s operating

point to central 75% of the curve between no
load, F = 0 and closure, F = Fs
• Thus the maximum operating force should be
limited to Fmax≤ 7/8 Fs
• Defining the Fractional overrun to closure as ,
where Fs = (1 + )Fmax
•   0.15
• Fs is 15% larger than Fmax
• The FOS of the solid height (ns) should be 
1.2

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10-7 Helical Spring Design for Static

Service…
• To design a spring, the designer should check

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

4 ≤ C ≤ 12
3 ≤ Na ≤ 15
ns  1.2
• Along with other conditions such as the spring lengths
and diameter
• Normally   0.15
• When considering designing a spring for high volume
production, the figure of merit (fom) can be the cost of the
wire from which the spring is wound
• The fom would be proportional to the relative material
cost, weight density, and volume
For comparison between
steels, the specific weight 
can be omitted

Design flow chart

for static loading
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Use MatLab or Excel for

calculations…

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Problem 10.21
A static service music wire helical compression spring is

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

needed to support a 90N load after being compressed 50 mm.
The solid height of the spring cannot exceed 38mm. The free
length must not exceed 100mm. The static factor of safety
must equal or exceed 1.2. For robust linearity use a fractional
overrun to closure ξ of 0.15. There are two springs to be
designed. Start with a wire diameter of 1.9mm.
(a) The spring must operate over a 20mm rod. A 0.1mm
diametral clearance allowance should be adequate to
avoid interference between the rod and the spring due to
out-of-round coils. Design the spring.
(b) The spring must operate in a 25mm diameter hole. A
0.1mm diametral clearance allowance should be adequate
to avoid interference between the spring and the hole due
to swelling of the spring diameter as the spring is
compressed and out-of-round coils. Design the spring.

Example 10-3
• Design a compression spring with plain ends using hard-
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

drawn wire. The deflection is to be 57 mm when the force

is 80 N and to close solid when the force is 107 N. Upon
closure, use a design factor of 1.2 guarding against
yielding. Select the smallest gauge W&M (Washburn &
Moen) steel wire.

Solution
• Instead of starting with a trial wire diameter, we will start
with an acceptable spring index C = 10.

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10-8 Critical frequency of Helical Springs

• When helical springs are used in applications requiring a

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

rapid reciprocating motion, the designer must be certain
that the physical dimensions of the spring are not such as
to create a natural frequency close to the frequency of the
applied force; otherwise, resonance may occur.
• The harmonic, natural, frequencies for a spring placed
between two flat and parallel plates, in Hertz is,

𝑓
• Where W is the weight of the active part of the helical
spring and is given by:
𝜋 𝑑 𝐷𝑁 𝛾
𝑊 𝐴𝐿𝛾
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• 𝛾 is the specific weight of the spring.

10-8 Critical frequency of Helical Springs…

• The natural frequency should be greater than 15 to 20

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

times the frequency of the force or motion of the spring in

order to avoid resonance.

• If the frequency is not high enough, the spring should be

redesigned to increase k or decrease W.

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10-9 Fatigue loading of Helical

Compression Springs
• Springs are always subjected to Fatigue

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

loading
• Life of springs vary from thousands to millions
cycles
• Toggle switch spring life is finite and that of
engine valve spring is infinite
• Zimmerli discovered that size, material, and
tensile strength have no effect on the
endurance limit (infinite life only) of spring
steels under size 10mm

10-9 Fatigue loading of Helical

Compression Springs…
• Helical springs are never used as both
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

compression and extension springs. This is

because they are usually assembled with a
preload so that the working load is additional.
Thus, the spring application fall under the
condition of fluctuating loads. Thus,

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10-9 Fatigue loading of Helical

Compression Springs…
• The amplitude and midrange stresses are;

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

• Endurance limits for infinite life are (determined
experimentally by Zimmerli)
Un peened: Ssa= 241 MPa
Ssm= 379 MPa
Peened: Ssa= 398 MPa
Ssm= 534 MPa

10-9 Fatigue loading of Helical

Compression Springs…
• For example, using Goodman failure criteria, the
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

ordinate intercept Sse for the Zimmerli data is;

• Where the shearing ultimate strength

𝑆𝑠𝑢 0.67𝑆𝑢𝑡
• The fatigue factor of safety nf is calculated as;
𝑆
𝑛
𝜏
• Where 𝑆 is the alternating component of strength
of the spring and is calculated using Table 6-6 to
6-8 for different failure criteria (refer to section 6-12)

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10-9 Fatigue loading of Helical

Compression Springs…
• 𝜏𝑎is the alternate stress component

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

Table 6-7. Gerber failure criterion

Example 10-4
An as-wound helical compression spring, made of music
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

wire, has a wire size of 2.3mm, an outside coil diameter of

14mm, a free length of 98mm, 21 active coils, and both
ends squared and ground. The spring is un-peened. This
spring is to be assembled with a preload of 22 N and will
operate with a maximum load of 156 N during use.
a) Estimate the factor of safety guarding against fatigue
failure using a torsional Gerber fatigue failure criterion
with Zimmerli data.
b) Repeat part (a) using the Sines torsional fatigue
criterion (steady stress component has no effect), with
Zimmerli data.
c) Repeat using a torsional Goodman failure criterion with
Zimmerli data.
d) Estimate the critical frequency of the spring.

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Example 10-5
• A music wire helical compression spring with infinite life is

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

needed to resist a dynamic load that varies from 12 to 50
N at 5 Hz while the end deflection varies from 12 to 50
mm. Because of assembly considerations, the solid
height cannot exceed 25 mm and the free length cannot
be more than 100 mm. The spring maker has the
following wire sizes in stock: 1.7, 1.8, 2.0, 2.15, 2.3, 2.4,
2.6 and 2.8 mm.

Solution…
Priority Decisions are;
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

• Surface treatment: un-peened

• End treatment: squared and ground
• Robust linearity: ξ = 0.15
• Set: use in as-wound condition
• Fatigue-safe: nf = 1.5 using the Sines-Zimmerli fatigue-failure criterion
• Spring operates free (no rod or hole)
• Decision variable: wire size d

None of the “d” satisfy the

condition. The 2.6 mm wire is
closest to satisfy most of the
conditions with C = 13.4 and Ls
= 24.3. The selection is still
debatable.

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10-11 Extension springs

An Extension Spring resists a ‘pulling force’

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

exerted against it through energy stored.
Normally made from round wire, the coils are
‘close-wound’, with some ‘initial tension’
included

10-11 Extension springs…

• Extension springs differ from compression
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

springs in that they carry tensile loading, they

require some means of transferring the load
from the support to the body of the spring, and
the spring body is wound with an initial tension
• The load transfer can be done with a threaded
plug or a swivel hook; both of these add to the
cost of the finished product
• Stresses in the body of the extension spring
are handled the same as compression springs
• In designing a spring with a hook end, bending
and torsion in the hook must be included in the
analysis

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ME 305 (Machine Design II) ME 305 (Machine Design II)
10-11 Extension springs…
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10-11 Extension Springs…

• The maximum tensile stress at A, due to bending and

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

axial loading, is given by

• Where (K)A is a bending stress correction factor for

curvature, given by

• The maximum torsional stress at point B is given by

• Where the stress correction factor for curvature, (K)B is

10-11 Extension Springs…

• When extension springs are made with their coils in contact with one another, they
are said to be close-wound
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

• Some manufacturers prefer some initial tension in close-wound springs in order to

hold the free length more accurately
• The corresponding load-deflection curve is shown, where y is the extension beyond
the free length Lo and Fi is the initial tension in the spring that must be exceeded
before the spring deflects

Coil length
(D-d) d(Nb+1) (D-d)

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10-11 Extension Springs…

• The load-deflection relation is then

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

F = Fi + ky
• Where k is the spring rate. The free length Lo of a spring
measured inside the end loops or hook can be expressed
as
Lo = (2C – 1 + Nb)d
• Where D is the mean coil diameter, Nb is the number of
body coils, and C is the spring index
• With ordinary twisted end loops, to account for the
deflection of the loops in determining the spring rate k, the
equivalent number of active helical turns Na is
𝑁 𝑁 (How? See Problem #10-38)
• Where G and E are the shear and tensile moduli of
elasticity, respectively

10-11 Extension Springs…

• The initial tension in an extension spring is created in the
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

winding process by twisting the wire as it is wound onto

the mandrel
• When the spring is completed and removed from the
mandrel, the initial tension is locked in because the
spring cannot get any shorted
• The preferred range of the initial tension can be
expressed as (in terms of torsional stress).

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10-11 Extension Springs…

• Guidelines for the maximum allowable

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

corrected stresses for static applications of
extension springs are given

Example 10.6
A hard-drawn steel wire extension spring has a wire
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

diameter of 0.9mm, an outside coil diameter of

6.3mm, hook radii of r1 = 2.7mm and r2 = 2.3mm and
an initial tension of 5N. The number of body turns is
12.17. From the given information:
a) Determine the physical parameters of the spring
i.e. C, KB, Na, k, L0, L
b) Check the initial preload stress conditions i.e. i
should be in the preferred range.
c) Find the factors of safety under a static load of
23N for the
1- Spring
2- Hook at A
3- Hook at B

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Solution

(a) (b)

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

– 𝐶 ₋ 𝜏

– 𝐾 ₋ 𝜏
.

– 𝑁 𝑁 6.9 4
.
C Hook “at A”
– 𝑘
– 𝑛
– 𝐿 2𝐶 1 𝑁 𝑑
– 𝐿 𝐿 𝑦 – 𝑆 0.75𝑆

– 𝑦 – 𝜎 𝐹 𝐾

– 𝐾

Extension Spring Design for Fatigue

loading - Example 10.7
The helical coil extension spring of Ex.
ME 305 (Machine Design II)

10–6 is subjected to a dynamic loading

from 6.5 to 20 N. Estimate the factors of
safety using the Gerber failure criterion
for
a) Coil fatigue using ,
b) Coil yielding,
c) End-hook bending fatigue at point A
of Fig. 10–6a , and
d) End-hook torsional fatigue at point B
of Fig. 10–6b .

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Problems

Problems

ME 305 (Machine Design II)

• 3 (part d omit), 5, 6, 7 (part e omit), 8, 9, 11, 16, 20,
26, 30, 31, 33, 37.

From
Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design, 9th SI
Ed.

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