NUST School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

ME-311 Machine Design

Lecture 12

Instructor: Dr. Samiur Rahman Shah

Mechanical Springs
Stresses & Deflection of Helical Springs
Extension & Compression springs
Design of Helical Springs
Critical Frequency of Spring Loading & Fatigue
and Helical Torsion Springs.

Page 2
• Stresses and Deflection of Helical Springs
Figure shows a round-wire helical compression spring with
axial load F
D is mean coil diameter and d is wire diameter
Spring is cut in (b), and we get direct shear force F and torsion
T = FD/2

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Maximum shear stress is obtained by the superposition of torsional and direct shear stress

Tr F
 max  
J A
At the inside fiber of the spring
By substitution τmax = τ, T = FD/2, r = d/2, J = πd4/32 and A = πd2/4, we get

8 FD 4 F
  2
d 3
d
Spring index is defined as C = D/d
Equation modified to give
8 FD
  Ks
d 3
With Ks as a shear-stress correction factor defined by the equation

2C  1
Ks 
2C
C varies from 6 to 12 for most springs Page 4
• Curvature effect
Equation for shear stress is based on the wire being straight
Curvature of spring causes increase in stress at the inside of
the spring, but decreases only slightly at the outside
This curvature along with the shear effect may be taken into
account with the help of the following two K factors
4C  1 0.615
KW  
4C  4 C
4C  2
KB 
4C  3
The first is called the Wahl factor
The second is known as the Bergsträsser factor
Since both vary by less than 1 percent form each other, the
second equation is preferred Page 5
The curvature correction factor is obtained by canceling effect
of direct shear
K 2C  4C  2 
Kc  B 
K S  2C  1 4C  3

KS, KB or KW and KC are now stress correction factors applied to

Tr/J at the critical locations to estimate a particular stress
There is no stress concentration factor
The following equation is used to predict largest shear stress
8 FD
  Ks
d 3

Page 6
• Deflection of Helical Springs
Deflection-force relations are quite easily obtained using
Castigliano’s theorem
Strain or potential energy is given by
F F2 F 2l
U  y 
2 2k 2 AE
For compression
2
and tension
F l
U
2 AE
For torsion
T 2l
U
2GJ
In case of direct shear, the work done is
F
U 
2
Page 7
Since shear strain is
  F
  
l G AG
Direct2strain energy is then
F l
U
2 AG
Total strain energy for a helical spring is composed of a
torsional component and a shear component
T 2l F 2l
U 
2GJ 2GA
Subsituting T = FD/2, l = πDN, J= πd4/32 and A = πd2/4
4 F 2 D 3 N 2 F 2 DN
U 4

d G d 2G
Where N = Na = number of active coils

Page 8
Using Castigliano’s theorem we can find total deflection as
U 8 FD 3 N 4 FDN
y   2
F 4
d G d G

Since C = D/d, we can rearrange earlier equation to give us

8 FD 3 N  1 
y 4  1  2 
d G  2C 

The spring rate, also called the scale of the spring is k = F/y
d 4G
k
8D 3 N

Page 9
Thank you

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