Effect of Prestressing on the Fatigue

Performance of Compression Springs

Mark Hayes, Senior Metallurgist, IST
Peter Thoma, Material Development, Innotec

Effect of Prestressing

Prestressing is beneficial to fatigue life

This project aimed to quantify this benefit
For compression springs made from
-Piano wire
-Oil tempered SiCr
-302 Stainless Steel

Explain benefit in terms of residual stress

Effect of Prestressing

Prestressing of compression springs

-Occurs when the free length is reduced during axial
loading beyond the torsional stress limit.
-Increases the elastic range of the spring
-Imparts a residual torsional stress into the surface
of the spring.

-Improves the fatigue life, but by how much?

Effect of Prestressing

The springs had a high solid (block) stress.

They were shortened when prestressed
-Minimally
-More
-Maximum cold when prestressed to block
-Most when prestressed warm
-In each prestress condition they were fatigue tested on
forced motion mechanical machines set to accurate stress
ranges
-At the highest applied stress range the springs failed
-At the lowest they survived 10 million

Effect of Prestressing
Typical S/N fatigue data

Effect of Prestressing

Piano Wire
Fatigue stress range limit
- Without prestress
- Prestrestressed to block
- Warm Prestressed

430 MPa
475 MPa
480 MPa

Effect of Prestressing

CrSiV wire
Fatigue stress range limit
- Without prestress
- Prestressed to block
- Warm prestressed

528 MPa
531 MPa*
548 MPa

* Springs shortened very little

Effect of Prestressing

302 Stainless steel wire

Fatigue stress range limit

Without prestress
Prestressed to 38 mm
Prestressed to 30 mm
Prestressed to block
Warm Prestressed

109 MPa
204 MPa
193 MPa
198 MPa
247 MPa

Glass bead peened

>400 MPa

Effect of Prestressing

Residual stress
All the springs failed from the inside surface of an
active coil
Hence the residual stress of interest is that present
at the inside coil position at the surface
To establish the direction and magnitude of the
residual stress X-ray methods were used

Effect of prestressing

The residual stress in the 45 direction of maximum applied

stress has been reduced by cold prestressing

Effect of prestressing

The change in residual stress due to cold prestressing and

hot prestressing is clear from this graph

Effect of Prestressing

Residual stress in piano wire springs at 45 direction

As-coiled
Cold prestressed
Warm prestressed

+ 220/ +230 MPa

+ 40 / + 50 MPa
0 / + 10MPa

Cold prestressing has reduced the residual tensile

stress at this crucial position by 180 MPa
Hot prestressing reduced it by 220 MPa

Effect of Prestressing

The fatigue stress range improvement for piano wire

was 45 MPa when cold prestressed
And 50 MPa when hot prestressed

Not
prestressed

Residual stress + 220 MPa

Fatigue limit

430 MPa

Cold
prestressed

Hot
prestressed

+ 40 MPa

0 MPa

475 MPa

480 MPa

Effect of Prestressing

Improvement in fatigue due to shot peening

A residual compressive stress at the spring surface
of 600 MPa typically results in an improvement in
the fatigue stress range is 150 200 MPa
The effect of prestressing on fatigue performance
could be quantified on the same basis

Effect of Prestressing

Conclusion
Prestressing improves compression spring fatigue
performance
The fatigue improvement is 25 30% of the
magnitude of the change in residual stress