1. Can a wave spring be made with the same or higher spring rate, compared to a helical coil spring?
Yes, we can increase spring rate with various modifications such as the number of waves, material thickness, and number of turns. Crest-to-Crest springs can function similarly to helical springs in a variety of applications. Smalleys engineers can help you identify the correct wave spring for your specific design requirements.
Smalley products are manufactured by coiling, not stamping. Our edgewinding process allows us the flexibility to add a gap or an overlap during manufacturing. A benefit of having a gap or an overlap is that Smalley parts will operate and/or cling when contacting a bore, while stamped products would bind while contacting a bore. Binding causes the spring to become rigid, and the spring properties, as a result, become unpredictable. This allows Smalley parts to work in tighter radial cavities. Furthermore, the edgewinding process results in our springs having a circular-grain metallurgy. The benefit of this is it gives our products strength and stability far superior to that of conventional wave washers, providing a more accurate, repeatable load.
Smalley is capable of matching the spring rate of these springs in most cases. Our engineering support is available for specific design questions.
Wave springs can provide similar forces and loads as a traditional coil spring. They achieve this at down to about half the height of a coil spring. Due to the space and weight savings, a wave spring cannot be directly substituted for a coil spring in your existing application without reducing the size of the spring cavity. Wave springs must be designed into your application in order to realize all of the benefits.
Wave springs can save you money when taking the whole assembly into consideration. Crest-to-Crest Wave Springs allow for smaller assemblies with a reduced spring height, which results in a smaller spring cavity. This translates into considerable cost-savings for the surrounding assembly, resulting in a net savings that far outweighs the cost variance between the wave spring and coil spring.