height (axial spring length), oval wire is
generally favoured. Furthermore, so-
called multi-arc wire can be applied to
optimise stress distribution. If none of
these wire shapes are suitable for the
task at hand, rolled square wire can be
employed. The biggest disadvantage
with this type of wire is that it cannot be
subjected to a double surface defect
test. This must be taken into considera-
tion when determining the design limits.
Another drawback with square wire
cross-sections is that they demand ex-
pensive special tools during both the
production and the winding process.
Calculating springs with the
‘
Spring Designer’
The diversity of the described com-
pression spring shapes means they can
no longer be calculated using simple
analytical formulas. SCHERDEL Siment
GmbH has therefore developed a com-
prehensive software solution for calcu-
lating any type of helical compression
spring. The ʻSpring Designerʼ enables
application engineers to create opti-
mised spring designs for sophisticated
applications extremely quickly. The pro-
gram delivers methods for modelling
spring designs and rapidly calculates
the load-deflection characteristic as well
as the necessary stress levels for resis-
tance assessment. Moreover, it pro-
vides interfaces to CAD and FE pro-
grams to ensure that assembly space
tests and further numerical calculations
with unusual boundary conditions can
be realised swiftly.
Special production processes
Besides geometry optimisation for
compression spring designs,
SCHERDEL has also been busy devel-
oping special processes. The aim of
these special processes is to create
positive residual stresses in the spring
wire in order to counteract the load
stresses during compression. This
means that greater load stresses can
be achieved for the required service
life. At SCHERDEL we refer to these
special procedures as stress-optimised
production (SOF).
(
Continued on page 4 and 5)
3
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING – MANAGEMENT –
TECHNOLOGY & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
–
NEWS AND INFORMATION
Contact
SCHERDEL SIMENT GmbH
Simulation and Develop-
ment
Scherdelstr. 2
95615
Marktredwitz
Germany
Tel.: +49 9231-512
Fax: +49 9231-611
E-mail:
Visitors address:
Walmbachstr. 20/22
95679
Poppenreuth
Germany
Contact
SCHERDEL INNOTEC
Forschungs- und Entwick-
lungs-GmbH
Scherdelstr. 2
95615
Marktredwitz
Germany
Tel.: +49 9231 603-475
Fax: +49 9231 603-518
Visitors address:
Walmbachstr. 20/22
95679
Poppenreuth
Germany
Input and output interface for cal-
culating springs using the ‘Spring
Designer’. The software replaces
frequently necessary FE simula-
tions at compression springs with a
straight transmission of force, thus
speeding up the development
process. The range of functions
will be described in detail in the
next edition of SCHERDELnews.
aded spring elements
n for customers
