To achieve both high elasticity and toughness of stainless steel compression springs, the selection and improvement of materials is the key starting point. There are many types of stainless steel materials, and specific austenitic stainless steel or martensitic stainless steel must be selected when making springs. Austenitic stainless steel provides a certain elastic basis for springs with good ductility and corrosion resistance; martensitic stainless steel has high strength and hardness, giving springs toughness. On this basis, the material is improved by adding alloy elements, such as adding appropriate amounts of nickel, chromium, molybdenum, etc. Nickel can improve the toughness and ductility of the material, chromium enhances corrosion resistance, and molybdenum further improves strength and heat resistance. These elements interact with each other, essentially optimizing the material properties and laying a material foundation for the spring to have both high elasticity and toughness.
Reasonable heat treatment process is the core means to tap the potential of materials and achieve performance balance. Before the spring is formed, the stainless steel material is subjected to solid solution treatment, heated to a high temperature and then rapidly cooled, so that the alloy elements are fully dissolved in the matrix, the structure is uniform, and the plasticity and toughness of the material are improved. After the spring is formed, it is aged. By heating at low temperature for a long time, the alloy elements in the supersaturated solid solution are precipitated to form a fine and dispersed strengthening phase, thereby significantly improving the strength and elastic limit of the spring without reducing plasticity and toughness. In addition, quenching and tempering processes are also used. Quenching can make the spring obtain martensitic structure and greatly improve the strength; tempering eliminates quenching stress and adjusts the balance between hardness and toughness, so that the spring has high elasticity and sufficient toughness to resist external impact.
Advanced processing technology has an important impact on spring performance. In the spring winding process, high-precision winding equipment is used to accurately control the number of coils, pitch and diameter of the spring to ensure the geometric accuracy of the spring. Accurate winding can make the stress distribution of the spring uniform when it is under force, avoiding the reduction of elasticity and toughness due to local stress concentration. For some springs with special requirements, cold drawing, cold rolling and other processing methods are also used. Through cold deformation strengthening, the grain of the material is refined and the dislocation density is increased, thereby improving the strength and elasticity of the spring. However, the deformation amount should be strictly controlled during the cold processing to prevent the material toughness from decreasing due to excessive deformation, and to ensure that the processing technology does not damage the toughness of the spring while improving the elasticity.
The structural design of the spring also plays a role in achieving a balance between performance. Optimize the geometric parameters of the spring, such as the number of coils, wire diameter and median diameter, and find the best combination of each parameter through scientific calculation and simulation. Properly increasing the number of coils of the spring can improve its elasticity, so that the spring can produce a larger deformation when subjected to force; reasonable design of the wire diameter and median diameter can adjust the stiffness and stress distribution of the spring, ensuring that the spring still maintains good toughness when subjected to a large load and will not break easily. In addition, special structural forms, such as variable diameter springs and unequal pitch springs, can be used to change the force characteristics of the spring, so that the elasticity and toughness of the spring in different compression stages are more reasonable, meeting the requirements for spring performance under complex working conditions.
Surface treatment technology provides additional protection for the improvement of spring performance. Polish the surface of stainless steel compression springs to remove burrs and scales, reduce surface roughness, reduce stress concentration points, and improve the fatigue life and toughness of the springs. Use surface coating technology, such as electroplating, chemical plating or spraying, to form a protective film on the surface of the spring. Nickel plating and chrome plating can not only enhance the corrosion resistance of the spring, but also improve the surface hardness, reduce friction, and help maintain the elasticity of the spring; applying a special lubricating coating can reduce the friction resistance of the spring during operation, reduce energy loss, and make the elasticity of the spring more stable. At the same time, these surface treatment methods will not have a negative impact on the base performance of the spring, but will further optimize the comprehensive performance of the spring.
Quality inspection and control run through the entire spring production process to ensure that the goal of high elasticity and toughness is achieved. During the production process, various testing methods, such as hardness testing, tensile testing, fatigue testing, etc., are used to monitor the performance of the spring in real time. Hardness testing can reflect the strength and toughness of the spring material; tensile testing can detect the elastic limit and maximum load-bearing capacity of the spring; fatigue testing simulates the force of the spring in actual work and evaluates its fatigue life. Through strict quality inspection, problems in the production process are discovered in time, and unqualified products are adjusted or scrapped to ensure that every spring shipped out of the factory has good elasticity and toughness.
Continuous technological research and development and innovation are the driving force for the performance improvement of stainless steel compression springs. Researchers are constantly exploring new material formulas, heat treatment processes and processing methods, and are committed to further improving the high elasticity and toughness of springs. Researching new stainless steel materials, developing more efficient heat treatment processes, and improving processing equipment and technology, these innovative measures will bring new breakthroughs to the improvement of the performance of stainless steel compression springs, enabling them to play an important role in more fields and meet the growing needs of industry and life.
