Design of Machine Elements - II

7- Design of Springs

Dr. Chandan Sharma

(Associate Professor)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Engineering College Ajmer
Email: sharmac1975[at]ecajmer.ac.in
 Springs and its functions
A spring is defined as an elastic machine element, which deflects under the action of
the load and returns to its original shape when the load is removed.

➢It can take any shape and form depending upon the application.
➢Various functions of Springs are:
▪ Springs are used to absorb shocks and vibrations, e.g., vehicle suspension
springs
▪ Springs are used to store energy, e.g., springs used in clocks, toys etc.
▪ Springs are used to measure force, e.g., springs used in weighing balances
▪ Springs are used to apply force and control motion. e.g., Clutch

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 Types of Springs

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 Helical Springs
▪ This is most popular type of spring is the helical spring.
▪ The helical spring is made from a wire, usually of circular cross-section, which is
bent in the form of a helix.
▪ There are two basic types of helical springs—compression spring and extension
spring

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 Helical Springs
▪ In helical compression spring, the external force tends to shorten the spring. In other
words, the spring is compressed.
▪ In helical extension spring, the external force tends to lengthen the spring. In other words,
the spring is elongated.
▪ In both the cases, the external force acts along the axis of the spring and induces torsional
shear stress in the spring wire.
▪ It should be noted that although the spring is under compression, the wire of helical
compression spring is not subjected to compressive stress. Also, the wire of helical
extension spring is not subjected to tensile stress although the spring is under tension.
▪ In both cases, torsional shear stresses are induced in the spring wire.

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 Close and Open Coiled Helical Springs
▪ A helical spring is said to be closely coiled spring, when the spring wire is coiled so
close that the plane containing each coil is almost at right angles to the axis of the helix.
In other words, the helix angle is very small. It is usually less than 10°.
▪ A helical spring is said to be open-coiled spring, when the spring wire is coiled in such a
way, that there is large gap between adjacent coils. In other words, the helix angle is
large. It is usually more than 10°.

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 Advantages of Helical Springs
▪ They are easy to manufacture.
▪ They are cheaper than other types of springs.
▪ Their reliability is high.
▪ The deflection of the spring is linearly proportional to the force acting on the
spring.

It is due to the above advantages that helical springs are popular and
extensively used in a number of applications

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 Terminology of Helical Springs
▪ The main dimensions of a helical spring subjected to compressive force are shown in
Figure. They are as follows:

▪ There is an important parameter in spring design called

spring index. It is denoted by the letter C. The spring index
is defined as the ratio of mean coil diameter to wire diameter.

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 Spring Index in Helical Springs
▪ In the design of helical springs, the designer should use good judgement in assuming the
value of the spring index C.
▪ When the spring index is low (C < 3), the actual stresses in the wire are excessive due to
curvature effect. Such a spring is difficult to manufacture and special care in coiling is
required to avoid cracking in some wires.
▪ When the spring index is high (C > 15), it results in large variation in the coil diameter.
Such a spring is prone to buckling and also tangles easily during handling.
▪ A spring index from 4 to 12 is considered best from manufacturing considerations.
Therefore, in practical applications, the spring index usually varies from 4 to 12.
▪ However, a spring index in the range of 6 to 9 is still preferred particularly for close
tolerance springs and those subjected to cyclic loading.

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 Terminology of Helical Springs
(i) Solid Length: Solid length is defined as the axial length of the spring which is so
compressed that the adjacent coils touch each other. In this case, the spring is completely
compressed and no further compression is possible. The solid length is given by,
Solid length = Nt d
where, Nt = total number of coils and d = diameter of wire
(ii) Compressed Length: Compressed length is defined as the axial length of the spring,
which is subjected to maximum compressive force. In this case, the spring is subjected to
maximum deflection δ. It is assumed that there is a gap of 1 or 2 mm between adjacent coils
under maximum load condition. In this case, the total axial gap is given by,
Total gap = (Nt – 1) X Gap between adjacent coils

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 Terminology of Helical Springs
(iii) Free Length: Free length is defined as the axial length of an unloaded helical
compression spring. In this case, no external force acts on the spring. Free length is given
by,
Free length = solid length + total axial gap + δ

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 Terminology of Helical Springs
(iv) Pitch of the coil: It is defined as the axial distance between adjacent coils in
uncompressed state of spring. It is denoted by p. It is given by,

(v) The stiffness of the spring (k): It is defined as the force required to produce unit
deflection. Therefore,

The other names of this are: rate of spring, gradient of spring, scale of spring or simply
spring constant.
The stiffness of spring represents the slope of the load-deflection line.

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 Terminology of Helical Springs
(vi) Active and Inactive coils:
▪ There are two terms related to the spring coils, viz., active coils and inactive coils.
▪ Active coils are the coils in the spring which contribute to spring action, support the
external force and deflect under the action of force.
▪ A portion of the end coils, which is in contact with the seat, does not contribute to spring
action and are called inactive coils. These coils do not support the load and do not deflect
under the action of an external force.
▪ The number of inactive coils is given by,
Inactive coils = Nt – N
where, N = number of active coils.

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 Helical Springs – Style of Ends

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 Helical Springs – Style of Ends

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 Load - Stress Equation
▪ Load-stress equation is used to determine induced stress in the spring wire.

▪ When the wire of the helical spring is uncoiled and straightened, it takes the shape of a bar
▪ In deriving the stress equation, this bar is considered to be equivalent to the actual helical
spring.
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 Load - Stress Equation
▪ The force P acting at the end of the bracket induces torsional shear stress in the bar. The
torsional moment Mt is given by,

▪ The torsional shear stress in the bar is given by,

▪ When the equivalent bar is bent in the form of helical coil, there are additional stresses on
account of following two factors:
(i) There is direct or transverse shear stress in the spring wire.
(ii) When the bar is bent in the form of coil, the length of the inside fibre is less than
the length of the outside fibre. This results in stress concentration at the inside
fibre of the coil.

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 Load - Stress Equation
▪ The resultant stress consists of superimposition of torsional shear stress, direct shear stress
and additional stresses due to the curvature of the coil.
▪ The stresses in the spring wire on account of these factors are shown in Figure.

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 Load - Stress Equation
▪ We will assume the following two factors to account for these effects:
KS = factor to account for direct shear stress
Kc = factor to account for stress concentration due to curvature effect
▪ The combined effect of these two factors is given by, K = KS KC
▪ K is the factor to account for the combined effect of two factors.
▪ The direct shear stress in the bar is given by,

▪ The resultant shear stress in the spring wire is given by,

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 Load - Stress Equation

▪ The shear stress correction factor (Ks) is defined as,

or
▪ Substituting the above equation in the expression,

▪ Resultant stress, which includes torsional shear stress, direct shear stress and stress
concentration is given by,
▪ K is called the ‘stress factor’ or ‘Wahl factor’.
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 Load - Stress Equation
▪ Wahl factor ‘K’ is given by:

▪ The Wahl factor provides a simple method to find out resultant stresses in the spring.
▪ The resultant shear stress is maximum at the inside radius of the coil.
▪ In normal applications, the spring is designed by using the Wahl factor.
▪ When the spring is subjected to fluctuating stresses, two factors Ks and Kc are separately
used.

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 Load - Deflection Equation
▪ The angle of twist (θ) for the equivalent bar, is given by,

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 Load - Deflection Equation
▪ The axial deflection ‘δ’ of the spring, for small values of θ, is given by,

▪ Substituting value of θ, deflection δ is given by,

▪ The above equation is called the load-deflection equation.

▪ The rate of spring (k) is given by,

or

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 Load - Deflection Equation

▪ When a helical spring is cut into two parts, the parameters G, d and D remain same and N
becomes (N/2). Thus, the stiffness (k) will be double when N becomes (N/2).
▪ It is observed from the above Equation that for a given spring, δ α P
▪ The load-deflection curve for helical spring is shown in Figure.
▪ The area below the load-deflection line gives the strain energy stored
in the spring.
▪ Assuming that the load is gradually applied, the energy stored in the spring is given by,
E = area below load-deflection line

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 Series and Parallel Connections
The objectives of series and parallel combinations are:
(i) to save the space; (ii) to change the rate of the spring at a certain deflection; and (iii) to
provide a fail-safe system.
Series Connection:
(i) The force acting on each spring is same and equal to the external force
(ii) The total deflection of the spring combination is equal to the sum of the
deflections of individual springs.

Here ‘k’ is the combined stiffness of all the springs connected in Series.

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 Series and Parallel Connections
Parallel Connection:
(i) The force acting on the spring combination is equal to the sum of forces acting on
individual springs
(ii) The deflection of individual springs is same and equal to the deflection of the
combination

Here ‘k’ is the combined stiffness of all the springs connected in Parallel.
▪ It is observed that deflections are additive in a series combination,
while forces are additive in a parallel combination.
▪ Using this principle, the individual springs can be designed.

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 Material of Springs

Type of spring Wire Carbon content Application

patented and cold-drawn steel used in springs subjected to static forces

0.85 to 0.95 %
wires and moderate fluctuating forces.
oil-hardened and tempered
applications involving severe fluctuating
spring steel wires 0.55 to 0.75 %
stresses
and valve spring wires
oil-hardened and tempered highly stressed springs subjected to
0.48 to 0.53%
steel wires (alloyed) shock loading

ideal to work in steam or other corrosive

stainless steel spring wires 0.45 to 0.6 %
media.

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 Strength of Common Spring Materials

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 Cost Differential of Spring Wires

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 Design of Helical Springs
There are three objectives for the design of the helical spring. They are as follows:
(i) It should possess sufficient strength to withstand the external load.
(ii) It should have the required load-deflection characteristic.
(iii) It should not buckle under the external load.
▪ It is possible to design a number of springs for a given application by changing the three
basic parameters, viz., wire diameter, mean coil diameter and the number of active turns.
However, there are practical limitations on these parameters.
▪ The main dimensions to be calculated in the spring design are wire diameter, mean coil
diameter and the number of active coils. The first two are calculated by the load-stress
equation, while the third is calculated by the load-deflection equation.
▪ It is convenient to use the load-stress equation, which contains spring index as a
parameter.
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 Factor of Safety for Springs
The factor of safety in the design of springs is usually 1.5 or less. The use of a relatively low
factor of safety can be justified on the following grounds:
(i) In most of the applications, springs operate with well defined deflections. Therefore, the
forces acting on the spring and corresponding stresses can be precisely calculated.
(ii) In case of helical compression springs, an overload will simply close up the gaps between
coils without a dangerous increase in deflection and stresses.
(iii) In case of helical extension springs, usually overload stops are provided to prevent
excessive deflection and stresses.
(iv) The spring material is carefully controlled at all stages of manufacturing.

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 Permissible Shear Stress for Springs
▪ Therefore, the factor of safety based on torsional yield strength (Ssy ) is taken as 1.5 for
the springs that are subjected to static force.

▪ The permissible shear stress is, therefore, 30% of the ultimate tensile strength of the spring
wire.
▪ Though, the Indian Standards have recommended a much higher value for the permissible
shear stress. According to this standard, τ = 0.5 Sut

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 Design Procedure of Helical Springs
▪ For the given application, estimate the maximum spring force (P) and the corresponding
required deflection (δ) of the spring.
▪ Select a suitable spring material and find out ultimate tensile strength (Sut) from the data.
▪ Calculate the permissible shear stress for the spring wire by following relationship:

▪ Assume Spring Index (C) and Wahl’s factor ‘K’.

▪ Determine wire diameter (d) by following Eq.

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 Design Procedure of Helical Springs
▪ Determine mean coil diameter (D) by the following relationship:

▪ Determine the number of active coils (N) by load-deflection equation: (Assume G = 84GPa)

▪ Decide the style of ends for the spring and determine the number of inactive coils. Adding
active and inactive coils, find out the total number of coils (Nt).
▪ Determine the solid length of the spring by the following relationship:

▪ Determine the actual deflection of the spring using load deflection equation.

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 Design Procedure of Helical Springs
▪ Assume a gap of 0.5 to 2 mm between adjacent coils, when the spring is under the action
of maximum load. The total axial gap between coils is given by,
Total gap = (Nt – 1) X Gap between adjacent coils

▪ Alternatively, total gap can also be taken as 15% of maximum deflection.

▪ Determine the free length of the spring by the following relationship:

▪ Determine the pitch of the coil by the following relationship:

▪ Determine the rate of spring by:

▪ Prepare a list of spring specifications.

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 Check for Buckling
▪ A helical compression spring that is too long compared to the mean coil diameter, acts as a
flexible column and may buckle at a comparatively low axial force.
▪ The spring should be preferably designed as buckle-proof.
▪ Compression springs, which cannot be designed buckle-proof, must be guided in a sleeve
or over an arbor.

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 Design of Springs for Fluctuating loads
▪ In many applications, the force acting on the spring is not constant but varies in
magnitude with time.
▪ The valve spring of an automotive engine is subjected to millions of stress cycles during
its lifetime.
▪ On the other hand, the springs in linkages and mechanisms are subjected to comparatively
less number of stress cycles.

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 Design of Springs for Fluctuating loads
▪ Let us consider a spring subjected to an external fluctuating force, which changes its
magnitude from Pmax to Pmin in the load cycle.
▪ The mean force Pm and the force amplitude Pa are given by,

▪ Mean shear stress is calculated by,

▪ Amplitude stress is calculated by,

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 Design of Springs for Fluctuating loads
▪ There is a basic difference between the rotating beam specimen and fatigue testing of
spring wires.
▪ A spring is never subjected to a completely reversed load, changing its magnitude from
tension to compression and passing through zero with respect to time.
▪ A helical compression spring is subjected to purely compressive forces. On the other hand,
a helical extension spring is subjected to purely tensile forces.
▪ The endurance limit in shear for spring material is given by,
(Patented and cold-drawn steel wires)
(oil-hardened and tempered steel wires)

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 Design of Springs for Fluctuating loads
▪ From modified Goodman approach, the design equation for springs is as follows:

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 Few Numerical Problems
1. In an automotive plate clutch, six helical compression springs arranged in parallel provide
the axial thrust of 1500 N. The springs are compressed by 10 mm to provide this thrust
force. The springs are identical and the spring index is 6. The springs are made of cold-
drawn steel wires with ultimate tensile strength of 1200 MPa. The permissible shear stress
for the spring wire can be taken as 50% of the ultimate tensile strength (G = 81 370 N/mm2).
The springs have square and ground ends. There should be a gap of 1 mm between adjacent
coils when the springs are subjected to the maximum force. Design the springs and
calculate:
(i) wire diameter; (ii) mean coil diameter; (iii) number of active coils; (iv) total number of
coils; (v) solid length; (vi) free length; (vii) required spring rate; and (viii) actual spring rate.

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 Few Numerical Problems

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 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

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 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

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 Few Numerical Problems
2. A direct reading spring balance consists of a helical tension spring, which is attached to a
rigid support at one end and carries weights at the other free end. The pointer attached to the
free end moves on a scale and indicates the weight. The length of the scale is 75 mm. The
maximum capacity of the balance is to measure the weight of 500 N. The spring index is 6.
The spring is made of oil-hardened and tempered steel wire with ultimate tensile strength of
1400 N/mm2. The permissible shear stress for spring wire can be taken as 50% of the
ultimate tensile strength (G = 81370 N/mm2). Design the spring and calculate:
(i) wire diameter; (ii) mean coil diameter; (iii) number of active coils; (iv) required spring
rate; and (v) actual spring rate.

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 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems
3. A railway wagon moving at a velocity of 2 m/s is brought to rest by a bumper consisting
of two helical compression springs arranged in parallel. The springs are compressed by 150
mm in bringing the wagon to rest. The mass of the wagon is 1000 kg. The spring index can
be taken as 6. The springs are made of oil-hardened and tempered steel wire with ultimate
tensile strength of 1500 MPa and modulus of rigidity of 81370 MPa. The permissible shear
stress for the spring wire can be taken as 50% of the ultimate tensile strength. Design the
springs and calculate:
(i) maximum force on each spring; (ii) wire diameter; (iii) mean coil diameter; and (iv)
number of active coils.

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems
4. A helical compression spring is required to deflect through approximately 25 mm when
the external force acting on it varies from 500 to 1000 N. The spring index is 8. The spring
has square and ground ends. There should be a gap of 2 mm between adjacent coils when
the spring is subjected to the maximum force of 1000 N. The spring is made of cold-drawn
steel wire with ultimate tensile strength of 1000 MPa and permissible shear stress in the
spring wire should be 50% of the ultimate tensile strength (G = 81370 MPa). Design the
spring and calculate:
(i) wire diameter; (ii) mean coil diameter; (iii) number of active coils; (iv) total number of
coils; (v) solid length; (vi) free length; (vii) required spring rate; and (viii) actual spring rate.

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 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems
5. A safety valve, 40 mm in diameter, is to blow off at a pressure of 1.2 MPa. It is held on its
seat by means of a helical compression spring, with initial compression of 20 mm. The
maximum lift of the valve is 12 mm. The spring index is 6. The spring is made of cold
drawn steel wire with ultimate tensile strength of 1400 MPa. The permissible shear stress
can be taken as 50% of this strength. (G = 81370 MPa). Calculate:
(i) wire diameter; (ii) mean coil diameter; and (iii) number of active coils.

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 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems
6. A helical compression spring of a mechanism is subjected to an initial pre-load of 50 N
and the maximum force during the load cycle is 300 N. The wire diameter is 5 mm, while
the spring index is 5. The spring is made of oil hardened and tempered steel wire of Grade
SW (σ u = 1440 MPa). Determine the factor of safety against fluctuating stresses.

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 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems
7. A concentric spring consists of two helical compression springs, one inside the other. The
free length of the outer spring is 25 mm greater than the inner spring. The wire diameter and
mean coil diameter of the inner spring are 8 and 64 mm respectively. Also, the wire diameter
and mean coil diameter of the outer spring are 10 and 80 mm respectively. The number of
active coils in inner and outer springs are 10 and 15 respectively. Assume same material for
two springs and the modulus of rigidity of spring material is 81370 MPa. Calculate:
(i) the stiffness of spring when the deflection is from 0 to 25 mm
(ii) the stiffness of spring when the deflection is more than 25 mm.

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 Few Numerical Problems

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Few Numerical Problems

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 Few Numerical Problems

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 Surge in Springs
Natural frequency of Spring:
▪ Natural frequency, also known as eigenfrequency, is the frequency at which a system tends
to oscillate in the absence of any driving or damping force.
▪ The natural frequency of helical compression springs held between two parallel plates is
given by,

Here k is stiffness of spring and m is mass of spring

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 Surge in Springs
▪ When the natural frequency of vibrations of the spring coincides with the frequency of
external periodic force, which acts on it, resonance occurs.
▪ In this state, the spring is subjected to a wave of successive compressions of coils that
travels from one end to the other and back.
▪ This type of vibratory motion is called ‘Surge’ of spring. Surge is found in valve springs,
which are subjected to periodic force.

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 Surge in Springs
Surge is a serious problem in typical vibrations like valve springs and guns. It is not a
problem in other applications where the external load is steady. Surge in springs is avoided
by the following methods:
▪ The spring is designed in such a way that the natural frequency of the spring is 15 to 20
times the frequency of excitation of the external force. This prevents the resonance
condition to occur.
▪ The spring is provided with friction dampers on central coils. This prevents propagation of
surge wave.
▪ A spring made of stranded wire reduces the surge.

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 Helical Torsion Springs
▪ A helical torsion spring is used to transmit the torque to a particular component of a
machine or mechanism.
▪ It is widely used in door hinges, brush holders, automobile starters and door locks.
▪ The construction of the helical torsion spring is similar to that of compression or extension
springs, except that the ends are formed in such a way that the spring is loaded by a torque
about the axis of the coils.

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 Helical Torsion Springs

▪ The helical torsion spring resists the bending

moment (P x r), which tends to wind up the spring.
▪ The term ‘torsion spring’ is somewhat misleading,
because the wire of the spring is subjected to
bending stresses.
▪ Each individual section of the torsion spring is, in
effect, a portion of a curved beam.
▪ Using the curved beam theory, the bending stresses
are given by,

where K is the stress concentration factor due

to curvature.

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 Helical Torsion Springs

For a wire of circular cross-section,

Substituting the above values in Eq., we get

AM Wahl analytically derived the expressions for the stress concentration factor K. They are
given by,

where Ki and Ko are stress concentration factors at the inner and outer fibres of the coil
respectively.

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 Helical Torsion Springs
▪ The strain energy stored in the spring is given by,

▪ Angular deflection of the spring is given by

▪ The stiffness of the helical torsion spring is defined as the bending moment required to
produce unit angular displacement. Therefore,

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 Helical Torsion Springs
▪ The design of the helical torsion spring is based on the torque-stress and the torque-
deflection equations.
▪ The spring index is generally kept from 5 to 15. When it is less than 5, the strain on the
coiling arbor of the torsion winder causes excessive tool breakage.
▪ When it is more than 15, the control over the spring pitch is lost.

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 Spiral Springs
▪ A spiral spring consists of a thin strip of rectangular cross-section, which is wound in the
form of spiral.
▪ It is also called ‘power’ spring or ‘flat’ spiral spring. The inner end of this strip is fixed in
the arbor at the centre. The outer end is clamped to a drum called ‘retaining’ drum.

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 Spiral Springs
▪ The spring is wound by rotating the arbor and during the winding process, energy is stored
in the spring.
▪ This energy is released as mechanical torque through the drum when it gradually rotates
and unwinds the spring. The strip is made of high quality steel.
▪ It is very thin which results in high flexibility and enables the arbor to have large angular
deflection.
▪ In many applications, the angular deflection of the arbor
is several dozens of revolutions.
▪ This results in accumulation of considerable amount of
energy.

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 Spiral Springs
▪ Very often, the drum is integral with a gear and energy is released by rotation of this gear
to another gear that drives a mechanism.
▪ Spiral springs are widely used in watches, cameras, instruments and automatic weapons.
▪ All types of toys are powered by this type of spring. They are also used as starters for
small engines.

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 Design of Spiral Springs
▪ The strip of spiral spring is subjected to pure bending moment. The following notations
are used in the analysis of spiral spring:
P = force induced at the outer end A due to winding of the arbor (N)
r = distance of centre of gravity of spiral from outer end (mm)
t = thickness of strip (mm)
b = width of strip perpendicular to plane of paper (mm)
l = length of strip from outer end to inner end (mm)
The outer end A of the spring is pulled by the force P. The bending moment M due to the
force P acting at a distance r is given by,
M=Pxr
Point B is at a farthest distance from the line of action of the force P. Therefore, bending
moment is maximum at the point B. The maximum bending moment (Mb) is given by,

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 Design of Spiral Springs
The maximum bending stress induced at the point B is given by,

▪ When both ends are clamped, the angle of rotation of the arbor (θ) with respect to the
drum or the point A is given by,

▪ The deflection (δ) of one end of the spring with respect to the other is given by,
▪ The strain energy (U) stored in the spring is given by,

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 Numerical Problems : Helical Torsion Springs
1. A helical torsion spring of mean diameter 60 mm is made of a round wire of 6 mm
diameter. The spring index is 10 and modulus of elasticity for the spring material is 200
GPa. The number of effective turns may be taken as 5.5. If a torque of 6 N-m is applied on
the spring, find the bending stress induced and the angular deflection of the spring in
degrees.

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 Numerical Problems : Helical Torsion Springs

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 Numerical Problems : Helical Torsion Springs

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 Numerical Problems : Helical Torsion Springs
2. The free end of a torsional spring deflects through 90° when subjected to a torque of 4 N-
m. The spring index is 6. Determine the coil wire diameter and number of turns with the
following data :
Modulus of rigidity = 80 GPa ; Modulus of elasticity = 200 GPa; Allowable stress = 500
MPa.

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 Numerical Problems : Helical Torsion Springs

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 Numerical Problems : Helical Torsion Springs

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 Numerical Problems : Spiral Springs
3. A flat spiral spring is required to provide a maximum torque of 1000 N-mm. It is made of
steel strip (E = 207 GPa) and the maximum bending stress in the strip should not exceed 750
N/mm2. The ratio of width to thickness of the strip is 10. The arbor turns through 2.5
revolutions with respect to the retaining drum to provide the required torque. Calculate the
thickness, width and length of strip.

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Numerical Problems : Spiral Springs

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Numerical Problems : Spiral Springs

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Numerical Problems : Spiral Springs
4. A spiral spring is made of a flat strip 6 mm wide and 0.25 mm thick. The length of the
strip is 2.5 metres. Assuming the maximum stress of 800 MPa to occur at the point of
greatest bending moment, calculate the bending moment, the number of turns to wind up the
spring and the strain energy stored in the spring. Take E = 200 GPa.

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Numerical Problems : Spiral Springs

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Numerical Problems : Spiral Springs

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department

 Thanks for your
kind attention

Dr. Chandan Sharma Mechanical Engineering Department