Spring design

Springs design

Springs are often considered to be small and inexpensive parts, and springs are often overlooked during the design of new products. It is no exaggeration to say that springs are a key functional component in most mechanical devices. If the spring design is unreasonable, the function and life of the product will be affected differently.

The four key elements of a spring design that should be considered during spring design are:

1, Force and load

How much force or load does the spring need to bear?

Spring designers usually require 1 or 2 lengths of load or spring stiffness. Based on this information, they can begin to develop spring specifications. This reduces the likelihood of trials and errors through several prototype runs, resulting in a more convenient overall design process.

2, Working environment

It is important to understand the spring working environment in order to choose the right material and finish. Springs are suitable for everything from satellites to engines, from gas pipes to pens. The various environments that the spring may find will have different corrosive effects on the spring material. Working temperature is also important. Most environments can be met by a combination of material choices (actually making hundreds of different spring materials) or protecting the surface.

3, Space constraints

Since springs are often one of the last components to consider when designing larger products, the performance of the spring or the entire product often needs to be compromised because there is not enough room for the optimal spring design. This can result in high stress springs that can meet force requirements but have limited life, or products that do not perform at their best because a sufficiently strong spring cannot accommodate the space allowed. Failure to understand a particular space may be harmful to the entire product.

4,Tolerance range

The dynamic movement of the spring under load and the manufacturing tolerance of the spring is greater than other machined parts. For example, a compression spring expands when subjected to a load, and the larger the compression, the larger the diameter. If this expansion and maximum allowable tolerance are not taken into account, the spring may collide with surrounding components. This will greatly affect and reduce the performance and life of the spring.

These are just some of the basic considerations that need to be considered early in the design process. They all interact: the force required usually determines the size of the spring; the environment is related to the choice of material; each type of material has different mechanical properties, which also affects the size of the spring. Once the size of the spring is determined, it must be ensured that sufficient space has been given to enable the spring to function without being obstructed by the mating component.