MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF A HELICAL MACHINED SPRINGS

Abstract

This paper investigates the linear static and modal analysis of a helical machined spring using the finite element method with the aid of SolidWorks software. A comparison between a conventional helical spring with rectangular cross section area and a machined helical spring was performed. A helical spring with square cross section area was modeled with different spring index, while for the machined helical spring two cases were modeled, one with different slot hole diameter and the other with different end extension length. Results obtained were verified with different analytical formulas for shear stress, deflection and natural frequency. There was a good agreement between the theoretical and numerical results, the maximum deviation in shear stress, deflection and the fundamental natural frequency of the numerical results were (3.6%), (2.6%) and (0.19%) respectively. For the machined helical spring it was concluded that the tangent hole configuration is better than the center hole configuration and changing the extension length has no considerable effect on spring characteristics. The machined spring with any slot hole and any extension length is better than the identical helical spring with rectangular cross section.