MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed.

Example 14-5-1

EXAMPLE 14-5

Design of a Helical Extension Spring for Cyclic Loading

Problem: Design an extension spring for a dynamic load over a given deflection.
1
Units: cpm  min
Given: Minimum force Fmin  50 lbf Maximum force Fmax  85 lbf
Working deflection Δy  0.50 in Forcing frequency ff  500  cpm
Life L  ∞
Assumptions: Standard hooks will be used at each end. Music wire (ASTM A228) will be used since the
loads are dynamic. Setting and peening cannot be used to obtain a higher endurance
strength in an extension spring.
6
Shear modulus G  11.5 10  psi

Solution: See Figure 14-24, Table 14-14, and Mathcad file EX1405.
1. Assume a trial wire diameter from the available sizes in Table 14-2. Assume a spring index of 9 and calculate
the mean coil diameter D from equation 14.5.
Wire diameter d  0.177  in
Spring index C  9
Mean coil diameter D  C d D  1.593  in (a)
2. Use the assumed value of C to find an appropriate value of initial coil stress i from equations 14.22:

 3 2
τi1  4.231  C  181.5  C  3387 C  28640  psi τi1  9774 psi (b)

 3 2
τi2  2.987  C  139.7  C  3427 C  38404  psi τi2  16699  psi (c)

τi1  τi2
τi  τi  13237  psi (d)
2
3. Find the direct shear factor Ks :
0.5
Direct shear factor Ks  1  Ks  1.056 (e)
C
4. Use the value of i from (c) in equation 14.8 to find the corresponding initial coil- tension force Fi:
3
π d  τi
Fi  Fi  17.1 lbf (f)
8  K s D
Check that this force is less than the required minimum applied force Fmin, which in this case, it is. Any applied
force smaller than Fi will not deflect the spring.
5. Find the the mean and alternating forces from equation 14.16a:
Fmax  Fmin
Alternating force Fa  Fa  17.5 lbf
2
(g)
Fmax  Fmin
Mean force Fm  Fm  67.5 lbf
2
6. Use the direct shear factor Ks and previously assumed values to find the mean stress m:

8  Fm D
Stress at Fm τm  Ks τm  52.1 ksi (h)
3
π d

EX1405.xmcd
MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 14-5-2

7. Find the Wahl factor Kw and use it to calculate the alternating shear stress a in the coil.
4 C  1 0.615
Wahl factor Kw   Kw  1.162 (i)
4 C  4 C
8  F a D
Alternating stress τa  Kw τa  14.9 ksi (j)
3
π d
8. Find the ultimate tensile strength of this wire material from equation 14.3 and Table 14-4 and use it to find the
ultimate shear strength from equation 14.4 and the torsional yield strength for the coil body from Table 14-12,
assuming no set removal.

From Table 14-4, for A228 music wire A  184.649  ksi b  0.1625
b
S ut  A   
Ultimate tensile d
strength  S ut  244.7  ksi
 in 
Shear yield
strength S ys  0.45 S ut S ys  110.1  ksi (k)

Ultimate shear
strength S us  0.667  S ut S us  163.2  ksi (l)

9. Find the wire endurance limit for unpeened springs from equation 14.14 and convert it to fully reversed
endurance strength with equation 14.17c.
Wire endurance limit S ew  45.0 ksi (m)
S ew S us
Fully reversed S es  0.5 S es  26.1 ksi (n)
endurance limit S us  0.5 S ew

10. The fatigue safety factor for the coils in torsion is calculated from equation 14.17b.
Minimum
stress τmin  τm  τa τmin  37.2 ksi

Fatigue factor S es  S us  τmin

Nfs  Nfs  1.17 (o)
of safety S es  τm  τmin  S us τa

Note that the minimum stress due to force Fmin is used in this calculation, not the coil-winding stress from (d).
11. The stresses in the end hooks also need to be determined. The bending stresses in the hook are found from
equation 14.24:

2  R1 2 D
C1 = = =C C1  C C1  9
d 2 d
2
4 C1  C1  1
Kb  Kb  1.09 (p)
4  C1  C1  1 

16 D Fa 4  Fa
σa  Kb  σa  28.63  ksi
3 2
π d π d (q)

16 D Fm 4  Fm
σm  Kb  σm  110.4  ksi
3 2
π d π d

EX1405.xmcd
MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 14-5-3

16 D Fmin 4  Fmin

σmin  Kb  σmin  81.79  ksi (r)
3 2
π d π d
12. Convert the torsional endurance strength to a tensile endurance strength with the von Mises relationship
and use it and the ultimate tensile strength in equation 14.17 to find a fatigue safety factor for the hook in
bending:
S es
S e  S e  38.95  ksi
0.67
S e  S ut  σmin
Nfb  Nfb  0.78 (s)
S e  σm  σmin  S ut σa

13. The torsional stresses in the hook are found from equation 14.25 using an assumed value of C2  5.

C2 d
R2  R2  0.442  in
2
4  C2  1
Kw2  Kw2  1.188 (t)
4  C2  4

8  Fa D
τBa  Kw2 τBa  15.2 ksi
3
π d
8  Fm D
τBm  Kw2 τBm  58.6 ksi (u)
3
π d
8  Fmin D
τBmin  Kw2 τBmin  43.4 ksi
3
π d
14. The fatigue safety factor for the hook in torsion is calculated from equation 14.17b.

S es  S us  τBmin
Nfs  Nfs  1.1 (v)
S es  τBm  τBmin  S us τBa

15. One of these safety factors is less than 1, making this an unacceptable design. To get some idea of what to
change to improve it, the model was solved for a list of values of the spring index from 4 to 14, keeping all
other parameters as defined above. The resulting values of coil diameter, free length, spring weight, and
fatigue safety factor are plotted in Figure 14-24.

The safety factor decreases with increasing spring index, so a reduction in our assumed value for C will
improve it even with no change in wire diameter. Note however that the spring free length shows a
minimum value at a spring index of about 7.5. The coil diameter increases linearly with the spring index for a
constant wire diameter. Spring weight decreases with increasing spring index.

If we decrease the spring index from 9 to 7.5, and increase the wire diameter one size to 0.192 in, keeping all
other parameters the same, we will obtain an acceptable design in this case with the smallest Nf = 1.2 for the
hook in bending. Using these new values of d and C, the new safety factors are calculated below as are the
calculations necessary to complete the design. A summary of the changed values is

Wire diameter d  0.192  in

Spring index C  7.5
Mean coil diameter D  C d D  1.44 in

EX1405.xmcd
MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 14-5-4

0.5
Direct shear factor Ks  1  Ks  1.067
C
Torsion in coil body:
8  Fmin D
Stress at Fmin τmin  Ks τmin  27.6 ksi
3
π d
8  Fm D
Stress at Fm τm  Ks τm  37.3 ksi
3
π d

4 C  1 0.615
Wahl factor Kw   Kw  1.197
4 C  4 C
8  F a D
Alternating stress τa  Kw τa  10.9 ksi
3
π d

Fatigue factor S es  S us  τmin

Nfs  Nfs  1.7 (w)
of safety for S es  τm  τmin  S us τa
coil body
Bending in end hooks: C1  C C1  7.5

2
4 C1  C1  1
Kb  Kb  1.11
4  C1  C1  1 

16 D Fa 4  Fa
σa  Kb  σa  20.74  ksi
3 2
π d π d

16 D Fm 4  Fm
σm  Kb  σm  80.0 ksi
3 2
π d π d
16 D Fmin 4  Fmin
σmin  Kb  σmin  59.25  ksi
3 2
π d π d
S e  S ut  σmin
Nfb  Nfb  1.2 (x)
S e  σm  σmin  S ut σa

Torsion in end hooks:

C2 d R2  0.442  in
R2 
2
4  C2  1 Kw2  1.188
Kw2 
4  C2  4

8  Fa D τBa  15.2 ksi

τBa  Kw2
3
π d

EX1405.xmcd
MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 14-5-5
8  Fm D τBm  58.6 ksi
τBm  Kw2
3
π d

8  Fmin D τBmin  43.4 ksi

τBmin  Kw2
3
π d
S es  S us  τBmin Nfs  1.7 (y)
Nfs 
S es  τBm  τBmin  S us τBa

16. The spring rate is defined from the two specified forces at their relative deflection.

Fmax  Fmin lbf

Spring rate k  k  70.0 (z)
Δy in
17. To get the defined spring rate, the number of active coils must satisfy equation 14.7, solving for Na yields:
4
Number of active d G
coils Na  Na  9.346 Na  9.25 (aa)
3
8 D  k
Note that we round it to the nearest 1/4 coil as the manufacturing tolerance cannot achieve better than that
accuracy. Having rounded the number of active coils, we must now calculate the spring rate using equation 14.

4
Corrected d G lbf
spring rate k  k  70.7 (ab)
3 in
8  D  Na

18. The total number of coils in the body and the body length are
Total coils Nt  Na  1 Nt  10.25
(ac)
Body length Lb  Nt d Lb  1.968  in
19. The free length can now be determined. The length of a standard hook is equal to the coil inside diameter:
Hook length Lhook  D  d Lhook  1.248  in

Free length Lf  Lb  2  Lhook Lf  4.464  in (ad)

20. The initial coil tension force must be found again in order to obtain the deflection to reach the larger of the
two loads.

 3 2 
τi1  4.231  C  181.5  C  3387 C  28640  psi τi1  11662  psi

  2.987  C  139.7  C  3427 C  38404   psi

3 2
τi2 τi2  19299  psi

τi1  τi2
τi  τi  15481  psi
2
3
π d  τi (ae)
Fi  Fi  28.0 lbf
8  K s D
Fmax  Fi (af)
ymax  ymax  0.806  in
k

21. The inside and outside coil diameters are

EX1405.xmcd
MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 14-5-6
Inside coil dia Di  D  d Di  1.248  in
(ag)
Outside coil dia Do  D  d Do  1.632  in

22. The weight of the spring's active coils is found from equation 14.12b and is
3
Weight density ρ  0.28 lbf  in
2 2
π  d  D Na ρ
Weight Wa  Wa  0.339  lbf (ah)
4
23. The natural frequency of this spring is found from equation 14.12a and is:

1 k g
Natural frequency fn   fn  141.9  Hz fn  8511 cpm (ai)
2 Wa

24. The ratio between the natural frequency and the forcing frequency is
fn
Frequency ratio  17.0 which is sufficiently high.
ff

25. We now have a complete design specification for this A228-wire spring:
Wire diameter d  0.192  in
Outside diameter Do  1.632  in
Total coils Nt  10.25
Free length Lf  4.464  in (aj)

EX1405.xmcd