Engineering Stack Exchange
Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [springs]

117 questions
13
votes
1 answer

What are the lightest springs?

I am wondering if there is a spring strong enough and light enough to inflate an airtight membrane so that it floats at Standard Temp & Pressure. As an example, a 10cm cylinder would displace just under 1 gram of air, but a cylindrical spring would…
feetwet
  • 1,785
  • 1
  • 15
  • 40
9
votes
9 answers

Why aren't counterweights used more for garage doors?

One of my garage door torsion springs broke again. It makes me wonder why some sort of counterweight system isn't used instead. Torsion springs seem to have a 90 day warranty generally and are "rated" for up to 15,000 cycles. It seems like there…
Jason Goemaat
  • 201
  • 2
  • 5
9
votes
4 answers

How does load force impact load inertia?

I am trying to simulate a winch as a speed-regulated motor that works through a gearbox to lift a mass. The output of the gearbox is a drum, which rotates to accumulate cable. I feel comfortable converting the mass to a moment of inertia and I also…
Chuck
  • 3,565
  • 12
  • 28
8
votes
8 answers

Can I weaken a coil spring consisting of spring steel?

I have a steel coil spring that is used by compression. It is too strong, and I would like to reduce its strength by some fraction, ideally keeping its length. Reducing it to roughly half would be nice. Uncontrolled heating and cooling in air would…
Volker Siegel
  • 200
  • 2
  • 8
7
votes
2 answers

How to calculate tensile strength of braided steel wire?

I am working on project involving designing a recoil spring coil of diameter 10.2 mm and wire diameter 1.25 mm. I tried using a solid core wire but it failed due inadequate tensile strength. Dimensions can only be altered by 5 mm, which is not…
Rohan
  • 73
  • 1
  • 5
6
votes
5 answers

Could a mainspring be used to generate train acceleration during starting-up from the kinetic energy stored during its slowing down?

When waiting for the underground, I've always been wondering why we could not absorb the kinetic energy of the train to slow it down at the station and then to release this energy to help it accelerating during the starting up. This would also…
Noil
  • 182
  • 2
  • 7
5
votes
6 answers

Mechanical mechanism that regulates gear's rotational velocity

Please do note that I am a civil engineer not a mechanical engineer. I have a gear that rotates at a speed that varies with time. Usually, it rotates at speeds higher than the desired speed. Is there a mechanical mechanism that can regulate the…
Abdulsalam_Musaad
  • 63
  • 5
5
votes
2 answers

Metal spring thermal expansion

I am attempting to figure out why a laser layout tool I have is drifting over time. It was designed with a small adjustment mechanism that relies on a spring to apply pressure to a fulcrum that rotates the entire laser. A screw is used to apply and…
Cggart
  • 73
  • 1
  • 1
  • 6
5
votes
2 answers

How is the long-term creep of a spring determined?

Spring Design In spring design, there a a variety of parameters to consider. Some of the parameters are solely physical (wire diameter, coil diameter, length, etc.) and some are determined from the physical dimensions in combination with the…
hazzey
  • 10,682
  • 9
  • 42
  • 93
4
votes
1 answer

How does non-electrical ATEX apply to springs?

This question relates to the ATEX directive, which is the European regulation governing the design of products to be used in explosive atmospheres. In particular, I am asking about the part relating to non-electrical (i.e. mechanical) devices. Does…
Time4Tea
  • 151
  • 4
4
votes
2 answers

What is the purpose of dead coils in the middle of a compression spring?

What purpose do dead coils in the middle of a spring serve? For example, this spring from a ballpoint pen has two dead coils at each end and two in the center of the spring. Why add dead coils in the middle? What advantage does this create, or what…
CBRF23
  • 363
  • 1
  • 11
4
votes
3 answers

What is the [PVC] tube or foam in metal springs for?

There are plenty of springs out there which have either a little PVC tube or a foam inside, when I first saw the tube I thought it was probably to prevent the metal spring from bending, but that wouldn't explain the foam that comes with others. Is…
Hans
  • 141
  • 4
4
votes
1 answer

Is an Adjustable Stiffness Flexure Spring possible?

I have recently discovered flexure springs (see image below), and I am interested in using one in an amateur project I am building. However, I would prefer if I am able to adjust the "stiffness" of the flexure spring, to allow the spring to bear…
Homunculus Reticulli
  • 367
  • 3
  • 10
4
votes
0 answers

Equation for the spring constant of an orthotropic, rectangular wire spring

I hope I can get some help with this problem as I've been struggling with it for a long time. I have a helical tension spring with radius $R$ and a square wire cross section and made of orthotropic material. I'm trying to derive an equation for the…
enea19
  • 137
  • 6
4
votes
2 answers

Dominant parameters in the dynamical response of a linear oscillator

I am working with a very simple 3-DOF damped LTI spring-mass system. As an exercise I am altering two parameters simultaneously (stiffness and damping coefficients connecting mass 1 to mass 2) to see which combination minimizes: Settling…
willpower2727
  • 725
  • 4
  • 12
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8