EXAMPLE 13-4A

Design of a Helical Compression Spring for Cyclic Loading:

An Alternate Approach
Problem

Design a compression spring for a dynamic load over a known

deflection.

Units

ksi

Given

Minimum force

F min

60 .lbf

Maximum force

F max

150 .lbf

Working deflection

1.00 .in

Forcing frequency

ff

1000 .cpm

Life (one shift)

Assumptions

3
10 .psi

cpm

min

10 .yr

Music wire (ASTM A228) will be used since the loads are dynamic.
Peening will be used to obtain a higher endurance strength.
Shear modulus

Solution

6
11.5 .10 .psi

See Mathcad file EX13-04A.

1 Find the the number of cycles that the spring will see over its design life.
Cycle life

f f.

N life

2080 .hr .
L
yr

N life = 1.25 .10

(a)

This large a number requires that an endurance limit for infinite life be used.
2 Find the the mean and alternating forces from equation 13.15a:
F max F min
Alternating force
Fa
F a = 45.0 lbf
2
Mean force

Fm

F max

F min
2

(b)

F m = 105.0 lbf

3 We will derive a design equation for this problem that will yield a value for the wire
diameter that is a function of only one parameter, the spring index C . To start, we
write the equation for the factor of safety against fatigue failure, equation 13.16 b
N fs

S es . S us
S es . m

i
S us . a

(c)

where S es is given by equation 13.16c as

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S es 0.5 .

S ew .S us

(d)

0.5 .S ew

S us

and, from equations 13.5, 13.8b, and 13.9b,

i K s.

8 .F min .C

.d

m K s.

8 .F m .C

.d

a K w.

8 .F a .C

.d

(e)

From equations 13.3 and 13.4, the ultimate shear strength is

S us 0.67 .A .d

(f)

where A and b are taken from Table 13-4.

Substituting equations d, e and f into c and solving for the diameter d yields
1

8 .C .N fs

N fs

. K .F
s m
0.67 . .A

N fs

0.67 . A .d

0.5 S ew

.K .F
s min ...

(g)

1 .K w .F a

Once we choose a material for the wire, the only unknown in this equation is the
spring index C .
4 Assume a spring index of 7, then
Spring index

Direct shear factor

Ks

Wahl factor

(h)

7
1

0.5
C

4 .C
4 .C

Kw

0.615

K s = 1.071

(i)

K w = 1.213

(j)

5 From Tables 13-4 for A228 wire and from equation 13.12 we have
A

184.65 .ksi

0.1625

S ew

67.5 .ksi

(k)

6 Using these values and equation g we can solve for the required wire diameter by
iteration. In order to compare this solution with Example 13-4, let N fs 1.3
Guess

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Given

8 .C .N fs

N fs

. K .F
s m
2
0.67 . .A .in

N fs

.K .F
s min ...

.in

A.
+

0.67 .

in

0.5

S ew

(l)
1 .K w .F a

d = 0.209 in

Find ( d )

This is not a preferred diameter as given in Table 13-2, so we will use the closeest
diameter. Let d 0.207 .in . Notice that the term in the large square brackets has
units of in2. In order to raise this term to a fractional exponent, we must make it
dimensionless by dividing by in 2 and then multiplying the result by in.
7 Calculate the mean coil diameter D from equation 13.5
Mean coil diameter D

C .d

D = 1.449 in

(m)

8 Calculate the shear stress i at the initial deflection (lowest defined force), and the
mean stress m.
8 .F min .D
Stress at Fmin
i K s.
i = 26.7 ksi
3
.d
Stress at Fm

K s.

(n)

8 .F m .D

.d

m = 46.8 ksi

9 Calculate the alternating shear stress a in the coil.

Alternating stress

K w.

8 .F a .D

.d

a = 22.7 ksi

(o)

10 The spring rate is defined from the two specified forces at their relative deflection.
Spring rate

F max

F min

k = 90.0

lbf

(p)

in

11 To get the defined spring rate, the number of active coils must satisfy equation
13.7, solving for Na yields:
Number of active
coils

EX13-04A.MCD

Na

4
d .G
3
8 .D .k

N a = 9.639

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Na

9.75

(q)

3/6

Note that we round it to the nearest 1/4 coil as the manufacturing tolerance
cannot achieve better than that accuracy. Having rounded the number of active
coils, we must now calculate the spring rate using equation 13.7:
4
d .G

Corrected
spring rate

Total coils

Nt

k = 89.0

3.

lbf

in
8 .D N a
12 Assume squared and ground ends making the total number of coils, from Figure
13-9:
Na

(r)

N t = 11.75

(s)

L s = 2.432 in

(t)

13 The shut height can now be determined.

Shut height

Ls

d .N t

14 The initial deflection to reach the smaller of the two loads is

F min
Initial deflection
y init
y init = 0.674 in
k

(u)

15 Assume a clash allowance of 15% of the working deflection:

y clash

Clash allowance

0.15 .y

y clash = 0.150 in

(v)

16 The free length (see Figure 13-8) can now be found from
Lf

Ls

y clash

L f = 4.257 in

y init

(w

17 The deflection to the shut height is

y shut

Lf

Ls

y shut = 1.824 in

(x)

F shut = 162.3 lbf

(y)

18 The force at this shut height is

F shut

k .y shut

19 The shut-height stress and safety factor are

8 .F shut .D
Stress at Fshut
shut K s .
3
.d
Shear yield
strength

S ys

Safety factor at
shut height

Ns

0.60 .A .

in
S ys

shut

shut = 72.4 ksi

(z)

S ys = 143.1 ksi

N s = 2.0

(aa)

which is acceptable.

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p
20 To check for buckling, two ratios need to be calculated, Lf/D and ymax/Lf.
Slenderness ratio

sr

Lf

sr = 2.938

D
Deflection ratio

y'

(ab)

y init

y' = 0.393

Lf
Take these two values to Figure 13-14 and find that their coordinates are safely
within the zones that are stable against buckling for either end-condition case.
21 The inside and outside coil diameters are
Inside coil dia

Di

D i = 1.242 in

Outside coil dia

Do

D o = 1.656 in

(ac)

22 The weight of the spring's active coils is found from equation 13.11b and is
Weight density
Weight

0.285 .lbf .in

2 2
.d .D .N a .

Wa

W a = 0.426 lbf

(ad)

23 The natural frequency of this spring is found from equation 13.11a and is:
Natural frequency

fn

1 . k .g
2

Wa

f n = 142.04 Hz

(ae)

f n = 8522 cpm

The ratio between the natural frequency and the forcing frequency is
fn
Frequency ratio
which is sufficiently high.
= 8.5
ff
24 We now have a complete design specification for this A228-wire spring:
Wire diameter

d = 0.207 in

Outside diameter

D o = 1.656 in

Total coils

N t = 11.75 ends squared and ground

Free length

L f = 4.257 in

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(af)

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