CLOSE COILED HELICAL SPRING

OBJECT

To determine experimentally the value of the rigidity modulus of the material of the
close coiled helical spring.

INTRODUCTION AND THEORY

A close coiled helical spring is a mechanical device, which is typically used to store energy
and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces.
They are made of an elastic material formed into the shape of a helix which returns to its natural
length when unloaded. Close coiled helical springs are a special type of torsion spring, the
material of the spring acts in torsion when the spring is compressed or extended.

A compression coil spring A tension coil spring

The two usual types of coil spring are:

 Tension coil springs which are designed to resist stretching. They usually have a hook or
eye form at each end for attachment.

 Compression coil springs are designed to resist being compressed. A typical use for
compression coil springs is in car suspension systems.

HELICAL TENSION SPRINGS:

CHARACTERISTICS:

 It stretches apart to create load.

 The gap between the successive coils is small.
 The wire is coiled in a sequence that the turn is at right angles to the axis of the
spring.

1
  The spring is loaded along the axis.

APPLICATIONS:

1) Garage door assemblies

2) Vise-grip pliers
3) Carburetors
4) To apply forces and to control motions as in brakes and clutches.
5) To measure forces as in spring balance.
6) To store energy as in clock springs.
7) To reduce the effect of shock or impact loading as in carriage springs.
8) To change the vibrating characteristics of a member as inflexible
mounting of motors

THEORY

Any one coil of such a spring will be assumed to lie in a plane which is nearly perpendicular to the
axis of the spring. This requires that adjoining coils be close together. With this limitation, a
section taken perpendicular to the axis the spring rod becomes nearly vertical. Hence to maintain
equilibrium of a segment of the spring, only a shearing force V = F and Torque T = F. r are required
at any cross – section. In the analysis of springs it is customary to assume that the shearing
stresses caused by the direct shear force is uniformly distributed and is negligible. The
predominant stress on a spring cross-section is therefore shear stress due to torsion.

2
When an axial load W is applied to a close coiled helical spring, deflection is produced. The
deflection is given by
8𝑊𝐷3 𝑛
𝛿=
𝐺𝑑 4
Where D = Mean coil diameter

d = diameter of spring wire

n = number of coils in the spring
G = rigidity modulus of the spring material

𝟖𝐃𝟑 𝐧 𝐖
From the above formula G = ×
𝐝𝟒 𝛅
𝑊
𝛿
is called the spring constant

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE

Apparatus: spring deflection apparatus, close coiled helical spring, calipers, screw gauge and
weights.
Procedure:
1) Draw a neat sketch of the apparatus.
2) Measure the wire diameter, mean coil diameter and count the number of turns in the
spring.
3) Set the spring in the spring deflection apparatus
4) Apply an initial load (dead load) of 3kgf to open the coil and note the initial reading of the
scale.
5) Increase the load in the spring with suitable increments and record the deflection in each
case.
𝑊
6) Plot a graph between W and deflection and find the spring constant 𝛿
7) Using the spring constant obtained from the graph, calculate the modulus of rigidity.

3
OBSERVATION AND COMPUTATION TABLE
Diameter of wire, d =
Mean coil diameter, D =
Number of coils, n =

Deflection in cm
Load G
kgf Reading with δ1 Reading with δ2 Mean = kgf/cm2
increasing load decreasing load 𝜹𝟏 + 𝜹 𝟐
𝟐
Dead load
3kgf

QUESTIONAIRE
1) Discuss the influence of the material and geometrical parameters of the spring on the
deflection of the spring.