Consultancy
We offer a full problem-solving consultancy, looking at any aspect of your use of springs. We work daily with customers from all sectors of industry, but particularly rail, aerospace and medical applications.​
Most work we do follows the path below, but you may need just some of these services. It is vital to fully understand the problem, and the role that your spring is trying to perform. Our highly-trained and qualified engineers and metallurgists have years of experience in the spring industry solving problems like yours on a regular basis.
Failure Investigations
Most consultancies revolve around springs that have either failed completely, or are not performing to specification. We can sometimes tell a surprising amount from a simple visual examination of the fracture surface under an optical microscope, but usually it’s necessary to take a section and examine at higher magnification with a scanning electron microscope. Here we can look at the wire’s microstructure, check for surface defects or inclusions, and hopefully see what caused the fracture initiation. A measurement of chemical composition and mechanical tests confirm whether the raw material appears to meet its specification.
Design and Validation Improvement
The biggest single cause of spring failure can be traced back to the spring design. It is therefore important to take a critical look at the spring you are specifying to determine whether failure could be predicted from the outset. Material, geometry, dimensions, environment and required life are just some of the aspects we would consider.
If necessary, we can go one step further and come up with a complete spring re-design. As the trade association for the UK spring manufacturing industry, we are in a unique position to help you source production if necessary, and we’re always happy to work with your manufacturer to make sure the process is right.
Testing
Whether the initial design was suitable or was improved, it’s often worthwhile performing testing to build confidence in the spring. We have a unique test laboratory focused entirely on springs, where we can undertake load and torque tests, fatigue cycle life measurement and relaxation performance.
Training and Software Support
Once your immediate problem is solved, it’s often useful to have some sort of formal training to help understand in more detail what went wrong, or how to improve the process going forward. We offer training either as an open course in our office in Sheffield, or can travel to wherever you are – this way can be particularly useful if you want to train a significant number of people, or want a more tailored course.
Our Spring Calculator Profession software is a key part of the design process, and we can give whatever help you need. The software is written in-house, and used by our design engineers on a daily basis.
Case Studies
Case Study: Safety Critical Spring Failure in the Aerospace Sector
In the aerospace sector, like a lot of other industries, springs are everywhere. They’re in the seats and luggage bins of commercial planes, the control panels of jet fighters and in the antenna of satellites. Although there are hundreds of different spring shapes and...
High Performance Spring Failure: A Case Study of a Valve Spring
Within all industries, certain components are known for their precise manufacture and exceptional performance. Within the spring industry, valve springs are considered some of the top performers. These springs are typically manufactured from material with the tightest...
Case Study: Failure Analysis for the Rail Industry
Our failure analysis and testing services have been helping companies for over 70 years to understand why a spring failed and what steps can be taken to improve its life. Springs are often critical components and are found in a huge number of products across many...
Let’s Talk About Failure Analysis
A failure analysis not only answers how and why a spring failed but gives recommendations on how to eliminate future failures. Why is this so important? Well, so you don’t end up like this poor lad from Lincolnshire. To minimise the risk of such failures, IST use, and...
What’s The Cost if a Spring Fails?
The failure of a component can have serious consequences and cause safety concerns along with unnecessary costs associated with downtime. Product recalls are also a real possibility just like Subaru's recall back in November 2018. Understanding why a component fails...