UNIT- IV

PART – C : SPRINGS

Spring:-
(Define spring. What is the purpose of mechanical springs?)
 A spring is defined as an elastic machine elements that deflects under
the action of the load and returns to its original shape when the load
is removed.
 A mechanical springs is an elastic member used to connect two
bodies of two parts of a machine.
Functions and Applications of springs:-
(Write the function of spring in machine)

S. Function Applications
No
1 To absorb  Vehicle suspension springs
shocks and  Railway buffer springs
vibrations  Buffer springs in elevators
 Vibration mounts for machinery
2 To store energy  Springs used in clocks, toys, Movie-
cameras, circuit breakers and starters.
3 To measure force  Springs used in weighing balance and
engine indicators
4 To control motion  Springs used in cam and follower
mechanism, spring is used to maintain
contact between two elements
5 To apply force  In engine valve mechanism, spring is used to
return the rocker arm to its normal position
when the disturbing force is removed.
 The spring used in clutch provides the
required force to engage the clutch.

Types of springs:-
(Generally, how the springs are classified ? Indicate the different types
of springs by sketches and give minimum two practical applications of
each)
Following are important types of springs according to their shape:
1. Helical springs.
2. Conical and volute springs.
3. Torsion springs
4. Laminated or leaf springs
5. Disc or Belleville springs.
6. Special purpose springs.
1. Helical springs:- (Compression (or) Extension springs):- The major
stress is torsional shear stress due to twisting. they are made of wire
coiled into helical form. The load is applied along the axis of the helix.
The deflection is linear. These springs may be compression or tension
springs.

The two forms of helical springs are compression helical spring (open
coiled helical springs)as shown in Fig.(a) and tension helical
spring(closely coiled helical spring) as shown in Fig.(b).

(a) Compression Helical spring (b) Tension Helical Spring

2. Conical and volute springs:-

The major stresses produced in conical and volute springs are also shear
stresses due to twisting. The conical spring, as shown in Fig.(a), is wound
with a uniform pitch whereas the volute springs, as shown in Fig.(b), are
wound in the form of paraboloid with constant pitch and lead angles. The
special applications where a telescoping spring.

(a) Conical Spring (b) Volute Spring

3. Torsion springs:- These springs may be of helical or spiral type as
shown in Fig. Helical torsion springs:-The major stresses are tensile and
compressive due to bending. The torque is being applied about the axis
of the helix. The deflection is circular.
4. Spiral torsion springs:- The major stresses are tensile and
compressive due to bending. They consist of flat strip wound in the
form of a spiral and loaded in torsion. The deflection is angular.
Torsion springs are used for electrical mechanisms, watches and clocks.

Helical torsion spring Spiral torsion

spring

5. 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, as shown in Fig. These are mostly used in automobiles.
The major stresses produced in leaf springs are tensile and compressive
stresses.

Laminated or leaf spring

6. Nipping of leaf Springs:- The initial gap C between the extra full-
length leaf and the graduated-length leaf before the assembly is called a
nip. Such pre-stressing, achieved by a difference in radius of curvature,
is known as nipping.
 Nipping of leaf Springs
7. Disc or Belleville springs:- These springs consist of a number of conical
discs held together against slipping by a central bolt or tube as shown in
Fig. These springs are used in applications where high spring rates and
compact spring units are required.
The major stresses produced in disc or Belleville springs are tensile and
compressive stresses.

Disc or Belleville spring

8. Special purpose springs:- These springs are air or liquid springs,

rubber springs, ring springs etc. The fluids (air or liquid) can behave as
a compression spring. These springs are used for special types of
application only.

Material for Helical Springs:-

The material of the spring should have high fatigue strength, high ductility,
high resilience and creep resistant. Type of material largely depends upon
the service of applications i.e. severe service, average service or light
service.
There are four basic varieties of steel wire which are used in springs.
1. steel wire unalloyed cold drawn:
There are four Grades: Gr.1 Static load
Gr.2 Moderate load
Gr.3 Moderate dynamic load
Gr.4 Load subjected severe stresses
2. Oil -hardened and tempered spring steel wire
(unalloyed) There are two Grades:
Gr.1 General purpose
Gr.2 Intended for valve springs subjected to
high dynamic stresses
3. Oil-hardened and tempered steel wire (alloyed)
--- Used for elevated temperature
--- Static loads 2S
--- Dynamic loads 2D
4. Stainless steel spring wire for normal corrosion resistance

The springs are mostly made from oil-tempered carbon steel wires
containing 0.60 to 0.70 percent carbon and 0.60 to 1.0 per cent manganese.
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.

Terms used in Compression Springs (Helical springs)

1. Solid length: Length of completely compressed spring
LS = n'.d
Where n' = Total number of coils, and
d = Diameter of the wire.
2. Free length: Overall length of compression coil spring with no
application of load.
Free length of the spring,
Lf = Solid length + Maximum compression + Clearance between adjacent
coils (or clash allowance)

The following relation may also be used to find the free length of the
spring, i.e. In this expression, the clearance between the two adjacent
coils is taken as 1 mm.
 Compression Spring Nomenclature
3. Spring index: The spring index is defined as the ratio of the mean
diameter to wire diameter Spring index, C = D / d
where D = Mean diameter of the
coil, and d = Diameter of the
wire.
4. Stiffness (or) Spring rate (or) Spring constant (k): The spring rate is
defined as the load required per unit deflection of the spring.

5. Pitch. The pitch of the coil is defined as the axial distance between
adjacent coils in uncompressed state.

End Connections for Compression Helical Springs:- a). Plain

ends, b). Ground ends c). Squared ends, d). Squared and
ground ends.
Stresses and deflection of helical compression springs subjected to
Axial Loading:- (Explain the design of helical compression springs
with a neat sketch (or) Discuss the stresses in Helical springs of
circular wire)

The wire is subjected to torsion(T), and direct load (W). Shear stress are
setup within the material of the wire as follows.
1. Shear stress due to axial force (direct shear stress)
2. Shear stress due to twisting moment.

Shear stress due to axial force (or) direct shear stress,

Shear stress due to twisting moment

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

In order to consider the effects of both direct shear as well as curvature of

the wire, a Wahl’s stress factor (K) introduced by A.M. Wahl may be used.
Note: The Wahl’s stress factor (K) may be considered as composed of two
sub- factors, KS and KC, such that
K = KS × KC
where KS = Stress factor due to shear, and
KC = Stress concentration factor due to curvature.

Deflection of Helical Springs of Circular Wire:- (Write the energy

storage capacity of springs)
In the previous article, we have discussed the maximum shear stress
developed in the wire. We know that
Assuming that the load is applied gradually, the energy stored in a spring
is,

Note: When a load (say P) falls on a spring through a height h, then the
energy absorbed in a spring is given by

Buckling of Compression Springs:-

It has been found experimentally that when the free length of the spring
(LF) is more than four times the mean or pitch diameter (D), then the
spring behaves like a column and may fail by buckling at a
comparatively low load as shown in Fig.
 Fig: Buckling of compression spring
The critical axial load (Wcr) that causes buckling may be calculated by
using the following relation, i.e.

Surging (Spring surge) and Critical frequency:-

If a compression spring is held at one end and the other end is deflected by
a suddenly applied load, the coil of the spring will not instantaneously
have the same deflection. End coil in contact with the load deflects first
and transmits a large part of its deflection to the next coil. Thus the
deflection wave travels from one end to the other where it gets reflected and
travels back. This travelling back and forth of the deflection wave, i.e.
vibration with natural frequency dies out because of damping. If the
frequency of the applied force equals the natural frequency of the spring,
resonance known as surging occurs with large deflections of the coils
and the spring may fail due to high stresses.
The natural frequency of spring should be at least 12 times the
frequency of applied force to avoid resonance with all harmonic
frequencies.

f ≥ 12 fi
fi = Frequency of the applied force,
when f = fi then, it is called critical
frequency
Surging is a problem in valve springs in I.C Engines

The natural frequency for springs clamped between two plates is given by
How does surge in springs eliminated:-
The surge in springs may be eliminated by using the following methods :
1. By using friction dampers on the centre coils so that the wave
propagation dies out.
2. By using springs of high natural frequency.
3. By using springs having pitch of the coils near the ends different
than at the centre to have different natural frequencies.

Problem (1):- A compression coil spring made of an alloy steel is having the
following specifications : Mean diameter of coil = 50 mm ; Wire diameter =
5 mm
; Number of active coils = 20. If this spring is subjected to an axial load of
500 N ; calculate the maximum shear stress (neglect the curvature effect) to
which the spring material is subjected.

Problem (2):-A helical spring is made from a wire of 6 mm diameter and

has outside diameter of 75 mm. If the permissible shear stress is 350
MPa and modulus of rigidity 84 KN/mm2, find the axial load which the
spring can carry and the deflection per active turn.
1. Neglecting the effect of curvature
We know that the shear stress factor,

2. Considering the effect of curvature

We know that Wahl’s stress factor,
Problem (3):-A closely coiled helical spring is made of 10 mm diameter
steel wire, the coil consisting of 10 complete turns with a mean diameter
of 120 mm. The spring carries an axial pull of 200 N. Determine the
shear stress induced in the spring neglecting the effect of stress
concentration. Determine also the deflection in the spring, its stiffness and
strain energy stored by it if the modulus of rigidity of the material is 80
KN/mm2.

Shear stress induced in the spring neglecting the effect of

stress concentration
We know that shear stress induced in the spring neglecting the effect of stress
concentration is,

Deflection in the spring

We know that deflection in the spring,

Stiffness of the spring

We know that stiffness of the spring

Strain energy stored in the spring

We know that strain energy stored in the spring,

Problem (4):-Derive the expressions for Springs in Series and Springs

in Parallel:-

Springs in Series
Springs in Parallel