Chapter 6

Analysis of Close-coiled Springs

A spring is an elastic object used to

store mechanical energy. Springs are
elastic bodies (generally metal) that
can be twisted, pulled, or stretched
by some force. They can return to
their original shape when the force
is released. In other words it is also
termed as a resilient member.
 Spring  To absorb shock or
• A spring is defined as an elastic member whose function is to distort when loaded impact loading as
and to recover its original shape when the load is removed
in carriage springs
• A spring is a machine member capable of providing large elastic deformation
• Functions of a spring
• Absorb shocks and vibrations (Car springs or railway buffers)
• Store energy (In clocks or starters-The clock has spiral type of spring which is wound  To Store energy as
to coil and then the stored energy helps gradual recoil of the spring when in in clock springs
operation. Nowadays we do not find much use of the winding clocks.
• Measure force (Spring balances, gages )
• Apply force and control motion:
• Maintaining contact between two elements (cam and its follower). Here a spring  To apply force to
maintains contact between the two elements to control the motion. and to control
motion in brakes
• Creation of the necessary pressure in a friction device (a brake or a clutch) : A
and clutches
person driving a car uses a brake or a clutch for controlling the car motion. A spring
system keep the brake in disengaged position until applied to stop the car. The
clutch has also got a spring system (single springs or multiple springs) which
engages and disengages the engine with the transmission system.  To measure force
as in spring
• Restoration of a machine part to its normal position when the applied force is balance
withdrawn (a governor or valve) : A typical example is a governor for turbine speed
control. A governor system uses a spring controlled valve to regulate flow of fluid
through the turbine, thereby controlling the turbine speed.
Types of springs
Helical springs:
Made up of a wire coiled in the form of a
helix

Can be of circular, square and rectangular

section
Primarily intended for tensile and
compressive loads
Types of helical springs
• Close coiled helical spring: helix angle is
Helical (a) compression and (b) tension spring
usually less than 10 degrees
The external force acts along the axis
• Open coiled helical spring: helix angle is of the spring and induces torsional
shear stress in the spring wire.
usually more than 10 degrees
SPRINGS
CLOSE COILED HELICAL SPRING UNDER AXIAL LOAD
Let
Let
D= mean coil diameter W = axial load ,
wire diameter D = mean coil diameter,
number of turns d = diameter of spring wire,
n = number of active coils ,
spring stiffness l = length of spring wire,
G = modulus of rigidity,
X = deflection of spring
From Torsion Equation = Angle of twist

Note: ,
Find θ and L by considering the Fig Substituting, we get

Spring Rate: The change in load per unit

deflection, generally given in pounds per
inch or Newtons per millimetre
Types of Springs 6.1 Introduction
Helical springs Springs are directly concerned with theories of torsion, bending and strain
energy.
Compression helical springs Springs are incorporated in almost all machines to assist in their operation.
Tension helical springs
Torsion helical springs The principle function of a spring is to absorb energy , store it for a long or short
period of time, and then release it to the surrounding material. For example,
Leaf springs springs in a watch store energy for a long time, while springs in engine valves
store energy for a very short time.
Conical springs The force required to produce a unit deformation is called the stiffness of the
spring.
Disk (Belleville) springs
Helical springs are widely used in engineering and are manufactured in two
Ring springs categories;

Spiral springs 1. Close-coiled springs - The helix angle is very small and the coils almost touch
each. These are tension helical springs and are designed to resist stretching.
Torsion bear spring 2. Open-coiled springs - The helix angle is large and coils are spaced further
apart. These are compression helical springs and are designed to resist being
Air springs
compressed. A typical use for compression coil springs is in car suspension
Liquid springs systems.

Rubber springs NOTE: For more information on springs, a supplement reading material will be
provided.
 6.2 Axial load (W) on a close coiled spring
Since the obliquity of the wire of a close coiled spring is small, then such a spring under axial load may be assumed to be
subjected to torsion only, the effects of bending and direct shear being negligible.
Figure 6.1 shows a close-coiled spring under an axial load W.

Terminology of Springs
Let;
D be the mean diameter of the spring coil
d be the spring wire diameter
N be the number of coils making the spring
L be the length of the wire and is given by L = πDN
δ be the axial deflection of the spring.
Do and Di be outer and inner dia of spring respectively
The torque on the wire at all sections is;

Maximum Shear Stress

The general torsion formula is given as;
Fig. close coiled helical
spring under axial load W
Terminology of Springs
• Spring index (C)
• Solid length
• Compressed length
• Free length
• Pitch
• Spring stiffness
• The spring index is defined as the ratio of mean coil diameter to wire diameter.
• The spring index indicates the relative sharpness of the curvature of the coil. A low
spring index means high sharpness of curvature.
C>15 Index spring is high (Buckling)
C<3 Index spring is low (Cracking)
Spring Index varies 4 to 12
C= 6 to 9 for close tolerances springs
Free, Compressed and Solid Length • Active and Inactive Coils
• Active coils: contribute to spring action,
support external load and deflect under
load

• Inactive coils: a portion of end coils in

contact with seat do not contribute to
spring action
• Inactive coils
• Where N= number of active coils
• Total Gap
• Solid length
• total number of coils
1.Free length: The overall length of a spring in the unloaded position.
2.Solid Height: Is length of a compression spring when under sufficient load to bring all coils into contact with adjacent coils
3.Pitch: The distance from centre to centre of the wire in adjacent active coils (recommended practice is to specify number of
active coils rather than pitch).
4.Active Coils: Those coils which are free to deflect under load.
 DESIGN OF HELICAL SPRINGS

There are three objectives for the design of the helical spring. They are as
follows:
(i) It should possess sufficient strength to withstand the external load.
(ii) It should have the required load-deflection characteristic.
(iii) It should not buckle under the external load.

The main dimensions to be calculated in the spring design are wire diameter,
mean coil diameter and the number of active coils. The first two are calculated
by the load-stress equation, while the third is calculated by the load-deflection
equation. It is convenient to use the load-stress equation, which contains spring
index as a parameter.

Factor of Safety: The factor of safety in the design of springs is usually

1.5 or less.
 Stresses in the helical spring wire
The maximum shear stress on the wire material occurs at the surface of the wire, that is .
Since the wire is of circular cross section then, . The maximum shear stress on the wire material can ve obtained
from the Torsion equation relationship;
(6.1)

In addition to the torsional shear stress, , in the wire, the direct shear stress due to the load W also act on the wire.
Resultant torsional shear and direct shear stress diagram is then obtained as shown in the Figure

+ =

The shear stress in the Average shear stress in the Resultant torsional shear and direct
spring wire due to torsion spring wire due to force F is shear stress diagram
 Stresses in the helical spring wire
Mathematically, the resultant torsional shear and direct shear stress is given as

The positive sign is used for the inner edge of the wire and the negative sign is
used for the outer edge of the wire. Since the stress is maximum at the inner
edge of the wire, therefore;

Maximum shear stress induced in the wire = Torsional shear stress+ Direct
shear stress

Substituting, (Spring index )

Figure 17.3: Shear stresses acting on wire

and coil. (a) Pure torsional loading; (b)
Shear stress factor transverse loading; (c) torsional and
transverse loading with no curvature effects;
(d) torsional and transverse loading with
curvature effects.
 Stresses in Helical Compression Spring Coils

Torsional shear stress Transverse Shear Stress

T * r T * d * 32 P 4* P
 t ,max    d , max  
J 2 * * d 4 A  *d2
16 * P * R 8 * P * D
 
 *d3  *d3 Resultant torsional shear, direct shear and curvature
shear stress diagram

8* P * D
 max  t , max   d , max  
4* P

8* P * D 
. 1 
d  8* D * P C  0.5
  max K d . Kd 
 *d3  *d2  *d3  2* D   *d3 C

In order to consider the effects of both direct shear as well as curvature of the wire, a Wahl’s
stress factor () introduced by A. M. Wahl may be used. The resultant diagram of torsional
shear and direct shear and curvature shear stress is shown in Fig.

A curvature correction factor attributed to 'A.M'. Wahl results in the following

8* D * P 4 * C  1 0.615 D
 max K w . Kw   C =3 and 12
3 4*C  4 C d
 *d
 Axial Deflection of the Spring
Consider the load-extension graph of an elastic material. If a load W
causes an extension δ, then the work done in stretching the
material, termed the strain energy U, is represented by the shaded
area under the load-extension graph

Load
(Area under the curve)

The deflection

𝜹
Extension

Energy stored in spring

 Axial Deflection of the Spring
But from general torsion formula, θ can be expressed as;

Substituting for T we get;

But from Energy stored in spring

Hence, by equating the two eqns, the spring axial deflection can be expressed as;

(6.2)

Load
𝜹
Extension
Energy stored in spring
Strain Energy stored in Helical
Spring
From above, the strain energy is given by;

Noting that , multiply RHS of by ;

(6.3)
This corresponds with the strain energy in pure torsion of a solid shaft as represented in equation 6.3

The greatest load which the spring can carry without exceeding the elastic limit is termed the proof load. Hence no load
lighter than the proof load will cause any permanent elongation of the spring. When a spring is subjected to the proof
load, the induced shear stress in the spring is termed the proof stress. The energy stored in a spring when it is subjected to
the proof load, is termed the proof resilience. Let be the shear stress at the elastic limit of the spring material, then:

Proof resilience =
 Stiffness of a spring
The stiffness S of a spring is the load required to cause unit deflection of the spring

But

Therefore

Example 6.1
A close coiled spring is to have a stiffness of 1kN/m in tension, a maximum load of 50N and a maximum
shearing stress of 120MPa. The solid length of the wire (that is, when the coils are touching) is to be
45mm. Find the diameter of the wire, the mean diameter of the coils and the number of the coils
required. Take G = 50GPa.
Solution:
Spring stiffness is defined as the load per unit deflection, that is, k = W δ . From the deflection equation 6.2, we have;

(6.4)

The maximum shear stress is given by equation 6.1 as,

(6.5)

The solid length according to the definition is;

(6.6)
Equations 6.4, 6.5 and 6.6 can be solved simultaneously for d, N and D.
From equation 6.6 we have; which when substituted in equations 6.4 and 6.5 leads to;

(6.7)

(6.8)

Substituting equation 6.8 in equation 6.7 we can solve for N.

Hence the number of coils are N = 13. Therefore, the mean coil diameter D and the wire
diameter are;
End Conditions for compression
springs

Plain Plain Ground

Na= Active Coils

Square Square Ground

Fig: Types of ends for compression springs (a)
both ends plain (b) both ends squared (c) both
ends squared and ground (d) both ends plain
and ground
Closed Ends: They are the ends of compression springs where pitch
of the end coils is reduced so that the end coils touch.
Problem on design of a Helical compression Spring

Design a helical compression spring to carry a load of 500N with a deflection of 25 mm. The
spring index may be taken as 8. Required:
(i) wire diameter of spring, d,
(ii) mean diameter of the spring coil, D,
(iii)Number of active coils
(iv)Total number of coils
(v) Solid length Ls
(vi)Free length Lf
(vii)Pitch, p

Assume the following values for spring material. N/mm2 and G=84 kN/mm2.
(i)

Stiffness of the spring is given by

N/mm

Spring index is given by

Shear stress factor is given by

Resultant shear stress is given by

Or

Since

(ii) Put d=6 mm in eqn.

(iii) Deflection is given by

Or

Number of active coils = 8

(iv) Assuming squared and ground ends

Total number of coils

(v) Solid length of spring (Ls):

Total number of turns and free length for different types of connections

Ls =Solid length of spring

(vi) Free length of spring

(vii) Pitch of the coil

6.3 Tutorial 4
Q1 A composite spring has two close-coiled helical springs in series. Each
spring has a mean coil diameter of 8 times the diameter of its wire. One
spring has 20 coils and a wire diameter of 2.5mm.
(a) Find the diameter of the wire of the other spring if it has 15 coils and
the stiffness of the composite spring is 1.25kN/m. (Ans : 1.97mm)
(b) Find the greatest axial load that can be applied to the spring and the
corresponding extension for a maximum shearing stress of 300MPa. (Ans:
57.2N; 0.0458m)

Q2 The spring load against which a valve is opened is provided by an inner

helical spring arranged within and concentric with an outer helical spring.
Both springs are of steel, close-coiled, and the free length of the inner spring
is 6mm longer than that of the outer spring. The outer spring has 12 coils of
mean diameter 25mm, diameter of the wire 3mm and an initial compression
of 5mm when the valve is closed.
(a) Find the stiffness of the inner spring if the greatest force required to
open the valve 10mm is 150N.(Ans: 4018.6N/m)