Numerical Studies on the Stiffness of Arc Elliptical Cross-section Helical Spring Subjected to Circumference Force

Abstract

 Due to its excellent properties, elliptical cross-section helical spring has been widely used in automobile industry, such as valve spring, arc spring used in Dual Mass Flywheel and so on. Existing stiffness formulae of helical spring remain to be tested, and stiffness property of elliptical cross-section arc spring has been little studied. Hence, study on the stiffness of elliptical cross-section helical spring is significant in the development of elliptical cross-section helical spring. This paper proposes a method to study the stiffness property of elliptical cross-section helical spring that the experiment design method is adopted with finite element analysis. Firstly, the finite element analysis method was used to verify the cylindrical (circular cross-section and elliptical cross-section) springs. Then, the regression formula was designed and derived compared with the reference springs’ stiffness formulae by experimental design. Last, regression formula was verified with existing experiment data. The novelty in this paper is that simulation technology of arc spring was investigated and a stiffness regression equation of arc elliptical cross-section spring was obtained using orthogonal regression design, with significance in wide use of the arc elliptical cross-section helical spring promotion.