Mechanical Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 About Spring

• 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.

• Applications:

Springs in clutches, brakes, spring loaded valves, toys,

clocks, vehicle suspension systems.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Types Of Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 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
as shown in Fig. (a) and tension helical spring as shown
in Fig.(b).
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
The helical springs have the following advantages

1) Easy to manufacture.
2) Available in wide range.
3) Reliable.

4) Constant spring rate.

5) Performance can be predicted more accurately.

6) Characteristics can be varied by changing dimensions.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 CONICAL AND VOLUTE SPRINGS
1. The conical spring, is wound with a uniform pitch.
2. The volute springs, are wound in the form of paraboloid
with constant pitch and lead angles.
3. Used in special applications where a telescoping spring or a
spring with a spring rate that increases with the load is
desired.
4. The major stresses produced in conical and volute springs
are also shear stresses due to twisting

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Conical and volute springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 TYPES OF SPRINGS-TORSION SPRINGS

• 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.
• The major stresses produced in torsion springs are tensile
and compressive due to bending.
• Door hinges, automobile starters ,watches ,clocks
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Helical and Spiral torsion springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 LAMINATED OR LEAF 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.

• The major stresses produced in leaf springs are

tensile and compressive stresses
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Laminated Or Leaf Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 DISC OR BELLEVILE SPRINGS
• These springs consist of a number of conical discs
held together against slipping by a central bolt or
tube.
• These springs are used in applications where high
spring rates and compact spring units are required.
• The major stresses produced in disc or bellevile
springs are tensile and compressive stresses.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Disc Or Bellevile Springs .

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 TERMS USED IN COMPRESSION SPRINGS…

1.Solid Length (Ls):

When the spring is compressed until the coils touch each other.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

2. Free Length (Lf) :

A free length is the length when spring is in uncompressed condition.

3. Active Coils : Which contributes to the spring action

4. Inactive Coils : When the ends coils which are in contact with
seat do not contribute spring action
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
5. Spring index. The spring index is defined as the ratio of the mean
diameter of the coil to the diameter of the wire.
Mathematically,
C=D/d
Where D = Mean diameter of the coil, and
d = Diameter of the wire.
6. Spring rate :The spring rate (or stiffness or spring constant) is
defined as the load required per unit deflection of the spring.
Mathematically, k=W/δ
where W = Load
δ = Deflection of the spring.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

7.Pitch: The pitch of the coil is defined as the axial distance between
adjacent coils in uncompressed state. Mathematically,
• Pitch of the coil, p = Free length / n′ – 1
• The pitch of the coil may also be obtained by using the following
relation, i.e.

where Lf = Free length of the spring,

LS = Solid length of the spring,
n' = Total number of coils, and
d = Diameter of the wire.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Types Of Ends of Helical Compression Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Types Of Ends of Helical Compression Springs
Let, n’ = Total no of coils or turns
n = no of active coils or turns p = pitch , mm d = wire diameter.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Material For Helical Springs
1. The springs are mostly made from oil-tempered carbon steel
wires containing 0.60 to 0.70 per cent carbon and 0.60 to 1.0
per cent manganese.
2. Music wire is used for small springs. Non-ferrous materials like
phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, monel metal, brass etc.,
may be used in special cases to increase fatigue resistance,
temperature resistance and corrosion resistance.
3. The helical springs are either cold formed or hot formed
depending upon the size of the wire.
4. Wires of small sizes (less than 10 mm diameter) are usually
wound cold whereas larger size wires are wound hot.
5. The strength of the wires varies with size, smaller size wires
have greater strength and less ductility, due to the greater
degree of cold working.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 Material Properties For Helical Springs…

A. The material of the spring should have high fatigue strength,

high ductility, high resilience and it should be creep resistant. It
largely depends upon the service for which they are used i.e.
severe service, average service or light service.
 Severe service

 Average service
 Light service

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Material Properties For Helical Springs…

A. Severe service means rapid continuous loading where the

ratio of minimum to maximum load (or stress) is one-half
or less, as in automotive valve springs.
B. Average service includes the same stress range as in severe
service but with only intermittent operation, as in engine
governor springs and automobile suspension springs.
C. Light service includes springs subjected to loads that are
static or very infrequently varied, as in safety valve
springs.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 Material For Helical Springs…
• The values of allowable shear stress, modulus of rigidity and
modulus of elasticity for various materials used for springs.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 STRESSES IN HELICAL SPRINGS OF CIRCULAR WIRE

• Consider a helical compression spring made of circular wire and

subjected to an axial load W.

Let D = Mean diameter of the spring coil,

d = Diameter of the spring wire,

n = Number of active coils,
G = Modulus of rigidity for the spring material,

F = Axial force on the spring

τ = Maximum shear stress induced in the wire,
C = Spring index = D/d, p = Pitch of the coils, and
δ = Deflection of the spring, as a result of an axial load F.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
STRESSES IN HELICAL SPRINGS OF CIRCULAR WIRE

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

STRESSES IN HELICAL SPRINGS OF CIRCULAR WIRE

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Stresses Induced In Spring Wire:
1)Torsional Shear Stress:
Torsional Shear Stress induced in a spring wire due
to torsional moment T=FD/2
D
16F
16T 2 8FD
τt  3  3

πd πd πd 3
2) Direct Shear Stress: Due to the direct shear force F

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Stresses In Spring Wire

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Stresses Induced In Spring Wire:
3) Resultant Shear Stresses
8FD 4F
τ 3
 2
  t  s
πd πd
8FD d
 3
[1  ]
πd 2D
8FD 0.5
 3
[1  ]
πd C
8FD 8FC
 3
Ks  Ks
πd πd 2
Where
Ks  shear stress correction factor
0.5
 [1  ]
C
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Stresses In Spring Wire

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

4. Result Shear Stress with Curvature Effect :
Curvature of wires increases the shear stress on inner surface of
spring and decreases it slightly on outer surface.
1. Wahl shear stress factor is used to consider effects of direct shear
stress and curvature effect stresses in addition to torsional shear
stress.

 The maximum shear stress induced in a spring wire is

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 Deflection Of Helical Springs
 Spring Stiffness is given by K = F / δ
where F = Load
δ = Deflection of the spring

According to castiglian os theorem

3
8FC n
δ
Gd
where n  number of active coils
G  modulus of rigidity
d  wire diameter
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 Spring Stiffness is given by K = F / δ

F
k
δ
F
k
8FC3 n
Gd
Gd
k 3
8C n

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Problem 1. Design a close coiled helical compression spring with
following data:
• Service load range = 2250 N to 2750 N
•Axial deflection of spring for load range= 6 mm
•Spring Index = 5
•Permissible shear stress for spring=420 N/mm2
•Modulus of rigidity for spring material = 84 KN/mm2
•Neglect the effect of stress concentration.( Assume Square and
Ground ends) Draw a dimensional sketch of spring.
Given Data: Fmin= 2250 N Fmax=2750 N G=84 KN/mm2 C=5

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Problem 1

Solution:
Wire diam. d= 9.58 mm Ls= ( n+2 ) d=112.32 mm
Mean coil diam. D=48 mm Max. Deflection=33 mm
Spring stiffness K=83.33N/mm Lf=Ls + Max Defle. + 0.15 Max Defle
No of turns n=9.7 turns =150.27 mm
Total no of turns n’= n+2 =11.7 turns Lf= pn +2d
p= 13.5 mm

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Problem 2. A safety valve of 60mm diameter is to blow off at a
pressure of 1.2 Mpa. It is held on its seat by closed coil 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 N/mm2 while the modulus of rigidity
of spring material is 80000 N/mm2.Calculate 1) diameter of spring
wire. 2) mean coil diameter 3) no of active turns 4) pitch of coil.
Assume Square and Ground ends.
Given Data: dv=60 mm Pmax= 1.2 N/mm2
Solution: d=11 mm D=55 mm n=11.67 turns p=15.42 mm
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 Springs In Series
 Consider two springs connected in series as shown in Fig.
W = Load carried by the springs,
δ1 = Deflection of spring 1,
δ2 = Deflection of spring 2,
k1 = Stiffness of spring 1 = W / δ1, and
k2 = Stiffness of spring 2 = W / δ2
 A little consideration will show that when the springs are
connected in series, then the total deflection produced by the
springs is equal to the sum of the deflections of the individual
springs.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Springs In Series

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Springs In Parallel

Consider two springs connected in parallel as shown in Fig

Let W = Load carried by the springs,

W1 = Load shared by spring 1,
W2 = Load shared by spring 2,
k1 = Stiffness of spring 1, and
k2 = Stiffness of spring 2.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Springs In Parallel
A little consideration will show that when the
springs are connected in parallel, then the total
deflection produced by the springs is same as the
deflection of the individual springs.
 We know that W = W1 + W2
or δ.k = δ.k1 + δ.k2
∴ k = k1 + k2
where k = Combined stiffness of the springs, and
δ = Deflection produced.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Concentric Or Composite Springs

1. To obtain greater spring force within a given space.

2. To insure the operation of a mechanism in the event of failure
of one of the springs.

3. The concentric springs for the above two purposes may have
two or more springs and have the same free lengths as and are
compressed equally.
4. Such springs are used in automobile clutches, valve springs in
aircraft, heavy duty diesel engines and rail-road car
suspension systems.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Concentric Or Composite Springs

4. Sometimes concentric springs are used to obtain a

spring force which does not increase in a direct
relation to the deflection but increases faster.
5. Such springs are made of different lengths .The shorter
spring begins to act only after the longer spring is
compressed to a certain amount.
6.These springs are used in governors of variable speed
engines to take care of the variable centrifugal force.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
A Carriage Suspension System Showing The Use Of Concentric Springs
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Concentric Or Composite Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Concentric Or Composite Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Concentric Or Composite Springs
 Consider a concentric spring as .
W = Axial load,
W 1 = Load shared by outer spring
W2 = Load shared by inner spring
d1 = Diameter of outer spring,
d2 = Diameter of inner spring,
D1 = Mean diameter of outer spring,
D2 = Mean diameter of inner spring
δ1 = Deflection of outer spring,
δ2 = Deflection of inner spring,
n1 = Number of active turns of outer spring
n2 = Number of active turns of inner spring.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Problem 3: A concentric spring consists of two helical compression
springs one inside the other. The free length of the outer spring is 15
mm greater than the inner spring. The wire diameter and mean coil
diameter of inner spring are 5 mm and 30 mm respectively, while
wire diameter and mean coil diameter of outer spring are 8 mm and
52 mm resp. Assume same material for two spring and modulus of
rigidity of spring is 81370 N/mm2. If the composite spring is
subjected to maximum axial force of 1000 N. The inner spring and
outer spring has 8 and 10 active coils. calculate
i. The compression of each spring
ii. The force transmitted by each spring; and
iii. The maximum torsional shear stress induced in each spring.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Problem 4: Two helical springs are arranged in a concentric
manner with one inside each other. Both the springs have same
free length and carry a total load of 2000 N. The outer spring has
8 active coils with mean coil diam. Of 80 mm and wire diam. Of
10 mm. The inner spring has 12 active coils with mean coil diam.
Of 64 mm and wire diam of 8mm .G=81370 N/mm2. determine
i) Max. load carried by each spring.
ii) Total deflection of each spring.
iii) Max. stresses in each spring.
Solution: i)F1= 1304.3 N F2=695.7 N ii)def.=52.33 iii)314.6 and
262.19 N/mm2 Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 Leaf Springs…
• Leaf springs (also known as flat springs) are made
out of flat plates.
• The advantage of leaf spring over helical spring is
that the ends of the spring may be guided along a
definite path as it deflects to act as a structural
member in addition to energy absorbing device.
• Thus the leaf springs may carry lateral loads, brake
torque, driving torque etc., in addition to shocks.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Leaf Springs…

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Nipping of Leaf Springs…
• Nipping: Process of pre stressing by giving different
radii of curvature before assembly .
• The Gap C between the full length leaf and the
graduated leaf before assembly is called Nip.
• Nip is adjusted so that under maximum load
condition the stresses in all leaves are equal.
• Nip is adjusted to give stress in full length leaves
slightly less than the graduated leaves.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Nipping Of Leaf Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 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.
• A little consideration will show that 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. Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
 Surge In Springs
• 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.
Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept
Failure Of Valve Spring Due To Surge In Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Shot Peening…
• Under fatigue loading of springs the poor surface finish
reduces the endurance strength.
• So spring surface becomes irregular which acts as source
for stress concentration. The fatigue cracks begins at
such points and propogates leading to failure of springs.
• In order to reduce the chances of failure due to surface
cracks , a residual compressive stress is induced in the
surface of spring wire.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Shot Peening In Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

Shot Peening In Springs

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

 Shot Peening…
• Shot peening is used for inducing the residual
compressive stress.
• The surface is bombarded with high velocity iron or steel
shots (balls) discharged from a rotating wheel or
pneumatic nozzle.
• It increases the area of exposed surface which creates a
layer of residual compressive stress on the surface.
• Shot peening improves the fatigue strength.

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

InSem QP Backlog 2015

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept

InSem QP Backlog 2015

Prof.Sachin P Dhavane Mech Engg Dept