MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed.

Example 14-3-1

EXAMPLE 14-3

Design of a Helical Compression Spring for Static Loading

Problem: Design a compression spring for a static load over a known deflection.
Given: Minimum force Finit  100  lbf Maximum force Fwork  150  lbf
Working deflection Δy  0.75 in
Assumptions: Use the least expensive, unpeened, cold-drawn spring wire (ASTM A227) since the loads are
static.

6
Shear modulus G  11.5 10  psi
Solution: See Table 14-8 and Mathcad file EX1403.
1. Assume a trial wire diameter from the available sizes in Table 14-2.
Wire diameter d  0.162  in
2. Assume a spring index of 8, which is in the middle of the recommended range, and calculate the mean coil
diameter D from equation 14.5.
Spring index C  8
Mean coil diameter D  C d D  1.296 in (a)
3. Find the direct shear factor Ks and use it to calculate the shear stress in the coil at the larger force.
0.5
Direct shear factor Ks  1  Ks  1.063 (b)
C
8  Fwork  D
Stress at Fwork τwork  Ks τwork  123.7 ksi (c)
3
π d
4. Find the ultimate tensile strength of this wire material from equation 14.3 and Table 14-4 and use it to find the
torsional yield strength from Table 14-6, assuming that the set has been removed and using the low end of
the recommended range.

From Table 14-4, for A227 cold-drawn wire A  141.04 ksi b  0.1822
b
S ut  A   
Ultimate tensile d
strength  S ut  196.503 ksi (d)
 in 
Shear yield
strength S ys  0.60 S ut S ys  117.902 ksi (e)

5. Find the safety factor against yielding at this working deflection from equation 14.14.

S ys
Safety factor at Ns  Ns  0.95 (f
working deflection τwork

This is obviously not acceptable, so the design must be iterated with some parameters changed.
6. Try increasing the wire diameter slightly, keeping the same spring index. Recalculate the mean coil diameter,
stress, strength, and safety factor.
Wire diameter d  0.192  in
Spring index C  8
Mean coil diameter D  C d D  1.536 in (g)

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MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 14-3-2

8  Fwork  D
Stress at Fwork τwork  Ks τwork  88.1 ksi (h)
3
π d
b
S ut  A   
Ultimate tensile d
strength  S ut  190.5 ksi (i)
 
in

Shear yield
strength S ys  0.60 S ut S ys  114.3 ksi (j)

Safety factor at S ys
working deflection Ns  Ns  1.3 (k)
τwork

This appears to be acceptable, so we can go on to design the other spring parameters.

7. The spring rate is defined in this problem because of the two specified forces at a particular relative deflection.

Fwork  Finit lbf

Spring rate k  k  66.7 (l)
Δy in
8. To achieve this spring rate, the number of active coils must satisfy equation 14.7, solving for Na yields:
4
Number of active d G
coils Na  Na  8.086 Na  8 (m)
3
8 D  k
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
14.7:
4
Corrected d G lbf
spring rate k  k  67.383 (n)
3 in
8  D  Na

9. Assume squared and ground ends making the total number of coils, from Figure 14-9:
Total coils Nt  Na  2 Nt  10 (o)
10. The shut height can now be determined.
Shut height Ls  d  Nt Ls  1.92 in (p)
11. The initial deflection to reach the smaller of the two loads is
Finit
Initial deflection yinit  yinit  1.484 in (q)
k
12. Assume a clash allowance of 15% of the working deflection:
Clash allowance Δyclash  0.15 Δy Δyclash  0.112 in (r)
13. The free length (see Figure 14-8) can now be found from
Lf  Ls  Δyclash  Δy  yinit Lf  4.267 in (s)

14. The deflection to the shut height is

yshut  Lf  Ls yshut  2.347 in (t)
15. The force at this shut height is
Fshut  k yshut Fshut  158.1 lbf (u)
16. The shut-height stress and safety factor are

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MACHINE DESIGN - An Integrated Approach, 4th Ed. Example 14-3-3

8  Fshut D
Stress at Fshut τshut  Ks τshut  92.84 ksi (v)
3
π d

Safety factor at S ys
working deflection Ns  Ns  1.2 (w)
τshut
which is acceptable.
17. To check for buckling, two ratios need to be calculated, Lf/D and ymax /Lf.
Lf
Slenderness ratio sr  sr  2.778
D
(x)
yinit  Δy
Deflection ratio y'  y'  0.524
Lf

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

Inside coil dia Di  D  d Di  1.344 in

(y)
Outside coil dia Do  D  d Do  1.728 in
19. The smallest hole and largest pin that should be used with this spring are
Smallest hole holemin  Do  0.05 D holemin  1.805 in
(z)
Largest pin pin max  Di  0.05 D pin max  1.267 in
20. The total weight of the spring is
3
Weight density ρ  0.28 lbf  in
2 2
π  d  D Nt ρ
Weight Wt  Wt  0.391 lbf (aa)
4
21. We now have a complete design specification for this A227-wire spring:
Wire diameter d  0.192 in
Outside diameter Do  1.728 in
Total coils Nt  10 ends squared and ground
Free length Lf  4.267 in (ab)

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