DMM-I UNIT-V 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.No Function Applications

1 To absorb shocks and  Vehicle suspension springs
vibrations  Railway buffer springs
 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.

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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.
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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.
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

4. 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

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.

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 Nipping of leaf Springs
5. 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

6. 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
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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.

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 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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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 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

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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.

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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,

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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

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Springs in Parallel

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Prepared By SrinivasuluReddy.Dorasila M.Tech.,(Ph.D); Associate professor;
Mechanical Engineering. Department; K.H.I.T; GUNTUR.

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