September 10, 2019

Defining Solid Height and It’s Role In Compression Springs, Page 2

In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the basics and importance of what’s known as solid height within a compression spring. Solid height refers to the point at which all the coils in a given spring are touching each other and the spring can no longer compress further from a physical standpoint, and this point is often very important for both spring designers and those selecting springs for a given application.

At Custom Spring Manufacturing, we’ll be happy to explain solid height measurements to you for any of our compression springs, which are one part of our overall custom spring engineering capability. In today’s part two, we’ll continue digging into certain situations where solid height plays a big role in designing or selection of springs, plus one tip on the timing of your spring selection and how this might impact your bottom line.

Higher Than Normal Solid Height

In certain cases, a spring manufacturer may be asked for a spring that goes solid at a higher point than normal – that is, the springs touch each other quicker than usual, reaching their solid point faster and at a greater height. For these requests, it’s common to see additional dead coils added to each end of the spring, meaning they may have multiple such dead coils on each end instead of just one or zero. This will increase the solid height with each dead coil, and can be done until the solid height is raised to the desired level.

Cone-Shaped Spring and Solid Height

In other situations, the desired spring will be one that can deflect down further than usual, past the solid height for a normal compression spring. In such cases, the designer will generally create a cone-shaped spring.

Why? The cone shape allows the manufacturer to design a spring where the coils actually close down inside of each other, rather than on top of one another. Those paying close attention will realize what this means: That the solid height of this spring is only a single coil’s height, as all coils fold in at the same vertical level.

Why Spring Timing Matters

One note on spring height and general timing when it comes to designing springs for a given application: The spring is often the last piece designed, and it often has to match other component qualities or design parameters. This may require more expensive alloys or other factors – and this is why, whenever possible, we highly recommend considering your spring and solid height earlier in the process. This will often allow you to define other parts of the application around the spring, keeping its costs down.

For more on compression spring solid height, or to learn about any of our spring services, speak to the staff at Custom Spring Manufacturing today.