Objective: To test the performance of helical springs under tension and compare their

comparing their theoretical deformation and spring constants to the actual deformation and spring constant. Background: Mechanical springs are used in machines to exert force, to provide flexibility, and to store or absorb energy. In general, springs may be classified as either wire springs, flat springs, or specially shaped springs, and there are variations within these divisions. Wire springs include helical springs of round or square wire and are made to resist tensile, compressive or torsional loads. Under flat springs are include the cantilever and elliptical types, the wound motor- or clock-type power springs, and the flat springswashers,usually called Bellville springs.

compression

tension

torsion

In this laboratory, we are interested in modeling and testing only helical springs under tension. A typical helical spring is shown if figure 1. The spring shown has ground, plain ends on both ends. The figure 1(b) makes an imaginary cut of the helical spring and shows that the internal reaction includes a shear force, F, and a torque, T, which acts across the section. The distance, D, is the mean spring diameter, the small distance, d, is the wire diameter, andF is the applied force acting at both ends of the spring. The maximum stress for the cut across section can be derived by the superposition of the shear stresses caused by the shear force and the torque, and may be given as the equation

max

8FD 4 F d3 d2

Eq. 1

Figure 1: Compression Spring FBD The stress equation is for the maximum shear stress which occurs at the inner fiber of the spring. At the outside fiber, the shear stress is reduced because the stresses due to torsion and the shear force act in opposite directions. This equation neglects the curvature of the spring, which usually acts as a stress concentrator. If the curvature were included the shear stress distribution deviates from the approximate linear model used above. The curvature stress distribution is shown in figure 2(d).

Spring deflection is usually the most common measurement associated with spring. Hookes Law as given in most elementary physics books is presentsthe spring deflection equation as

F k x Eq 2.
wherek is the spring constant, F is the applied force, and x is the spring deflection. For the helical springs a relation similar to k can be derived which takes the form of

ktheor

d 4G 8D3 N

Eq. 3

whered, is the wire diameter, D is the means spring diameter,Nis the number of active coils in the spring, and G ,is the shear modulus of the material. It should be noted that the active coils in the spring is usually less than actual coils since the coils at the ends do not usually support a full load in a compression spring. Calculation and Discussion: 1) Plot the spring force versus spring extension for each set of spring data. These plots can all be placed on the same graph. From the plots, measure a) the spring constant from the slope of the curve. b) the preload of the spring at which the coils first separate. 2) Calculate the value of the theoretical spring constant for each spring using Eq. 3 and the values of D, d, andN measured for each spring. 3) Compare the spring constants found by each of the two methods. What might be reasons to expect error between these two values? 4) Plot the force versus extension for the spring in series. Measure the equivalent spring constant from the plot. Compare this to the spring constant found by theory for two springs in series. 5) Calculate the shear stress each spring was subjected to at it maximum extension. 6) What forces would be necessary to cause each spring to be loaded to the shear stress yield point? What spring deflection would this represent? Does this seem likely from the information you collected in the experiment? Write up a short report which answers these questions and presents your data and results.