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Hard Surfacing

In many cases there are subtle conditions that could lead to performance problems with the springs; Suhm technical sales personnel are highly experienced in designing springs, reviewing spring designs and making recommendations for optimizing the performance and cost of the spring.

Our design program is made available to customers via this website. The following types of spring can be designed using the web spring design program: compression springs (round, square and rectangular wire or bar), torsion springs (round, square and rectangular wire or bar), flat springs (bow or cantilever), retaining rings (round or rectangular), and spring (wave, belleville) washers. Once a design is completed, you can submit the design to Suhm for a quotation.

Types of Springs Include:

Plasma Cutting

– compression
– hot-wound (up to 2.875″)
– cold-wound (.005″ +)
– extension
– torsion
– spiral torsion
– double torsion
– bow
– retaining ring
– cantilever
– clock or spiral
– belleville washer
– wave washer
– leaf
– stampings
– wire forms

Processes include:

– aluminized thermal coating
– hard surfacing
– water jet cutting
– centerless grinding
– assembly/kitting

– liquid penetrant inspection

– magnetic particle inspection

Primary Industries Served:

– OIL AND GAS
– PETROCHEMICAL
– HEAVY EQUIPMENT
– NUCLEAR
– AEROSPACE
– DEFENSE

Suhm has a great deal of bar, wire, and flat material on-hand.

Many sizes of almost every material listed on the following material properties chart are held in our inventory. Contact Suhm to confirm availability.

Material Properties Chart

The following chart is a general spring design reference. Because this chart is only a simple reference, and every spring application has its own particular parameters, we suggest you contact a Suhm sales staff member for more information on spring design application and customization.

Popular types of material include Oil Tempered, Chrome Vanadium, Chrome Silicon, 5160-H, 302/304 SS, Inconel X750 Wire, MP35N, Elgiloy, and Titanium Beta-C.

Additional size and material specifications, including common stock sizes and tensile strength charts, are available by clicking on the (details) link in the “Material Properties” column.

A downloadable copy of this entire chart (PDF, 25k) is also available.

We also offer access to complete Suhm Spring Materials: Sizes and Strength Values Book (PDF, 219k).

This data is provided as a reference guide only and is not intended for design purposes. Strength values and sizes are subject to change. Please check with a Suhm Spring representative for confirmation.

Inconel Spring

Inconel springs provide good corrosion resistance in hostile environments, such as NACE MRO 175 and sour gas conditions, and they are also suitable for elevated temperature conditions. Many applications, such as oilfield equipment, refinery equipment, etc., rely on the corrosion resistant properties of these springs.

Suhm Spring Works stocks many different sizes of Inconel material for manufacturing Inconel springs. View detailed information and typical wire and bar diameters of Inconel materials by clicking on the links below:

Inconel X-750 spring tempered wire for Inconel springs

Inconel X-750 bar for Inconel springs

Inconel 600 wire for Inconel springs

Inconel 625 spring tempered wire for Inconel springs

Inconel 718 spring tempered wire for Inconel springs

Inconel 718 bar for Inconel springs

Inconel is a trademark of Special Metals Corporation

Active Coils (N_a)

Those coils which are free to deflect under load.

Angular Relationship of Ends

Relative position of hooks or loops of an extension spring (or ends of a torsion spring) to each other.

Baking

Heating of electroplated springs to relieve hydrogen embrittlement.

Block

See Solid Height.

Buckling

Bowing or lateral displacement of a compression spring. This effect is related to slenderness ratio L/D.

Close Wound

Adjacent coils are touching.

Closed and Ground Ends

Same as Closed Ends, except the first and last coils are ground to provide a flat bearing surface.

Closed Ends

Compression spring ends with coil pitch angle reduced to they are square with the spring axis and touch the adjacent coils.

Closed Length (L_s)

See Solid Height.

Coils per Inch

See Pitch.

Deflection (F)

Motion imparted to a spring by application or removal of an external load.

Elastic Limit

Maximum stress, at a given stress ratio, at which material will operate in a given environment for a stated number of cycles without failure.

Fixture Tempering

Restraining parts during tempering to improve dimensional control.

Free Angle (Θ_f)

Angular relationship between arms of a helical torsion spring which is not under load.

Free Length (L_f)

Overall length of a spring which is not under load.

Gradient

See Rate.

Heat Setting

A process to prerelax a spring in order to improve stress relaxation resistance in service.

Helical Springs

Springs made of bar stock or wire coiled into a helical form. This category includes compression, extension and torsion springs.

Hysteresis

Mechanical energy loss occurring during loading and unloading of a spring within the elastic range. It is illustrated by the area between load-deflection curves.

Initial Tension

A force that tends to keep coils of a closewound extension spring closed and which must be overcome before the coils start to open.

Loops

Formed ends with minimal gaps at the ends of extension springs.

Mean Diameter (D)

The average diameter of the mass of spring material, equal to one-half the sum of the outside and inside diameters. In a helical spring, this is equivalent to the outside diameter minus one wire diameter.

Modulus in Shear or Torsion (Modulus of Rigidity (G))

Coefficient of stiffness used of compression and extension springs.

Modulus in Tension or Bending (Young’s Modulus (E))

Coefficient of stiffness used for torsion or flat springs.

Moment (M)

A product of the distance from the spring axis to the point of load application, and the force component normal to the distance line.

Natural Frequency (n)

Lowest inherent rate of free vibration of a spring vibrating between its own ends.

Patenting

The process of heating carbon steel above its critical temperature and cooling at a controlled rate to achieve a fine pearlitic microstructure.

Pitch (p)

Distance from center to center of wire in adjacent coils in an open-wound spring.

Plain Ends

End coils of a helical spring having a constant pitch and ends not squared.

Plain Ends, Ground

Same as Plain Ends, except wire ends are ground square with the axis.

Rate (R)

Spring gradient, or change in load per unit of deflection.

Residual Stress

Stress mechanically induced by such means as set removal, shot-peening, cold working, or forming. It may be beneficial or not, depending on the spring application.

Set

Permanent change of length, height or position after a spring is stressed beyond material’s elastic limit.

Set Point

Stress at which some arbitrarily chosen amount of set (usually 2%) occurs. Set percentage is the set divided by the deflection which produced it.

Set Removal

An operation which caused a permanent loss of length or height due to spring deflection.

Shot-Peening

Blasting the surfaces of spring material with steel or glass pellets to induce compressive stresses that improve fatigue life.

Slenderness Ratio

Ration of spring length to mean diameter L/D in helical springs.

Solid Height (L_s)

Length of a compression spring when deflected under sufficient load to bring all adjacent coils into contact – no additional deflection is possible.

Spiral Springs

Springs formed from flat strip or wire wound in the form of a spiral, loaded by torque about an axis normal to the plane of the spiral

Spring Index (C)

Ratio of mean diameter to wire diameter.

Squared and Ground Ends

See Closed and Ground Ends.

Squared Ends

See Closed Ends.

Squareness

Angular deviation between he axis of a compression spring in a free state and a line normal to the end planes.

Stress Range

Difference in operating stresses at minimum and maximum loads.

Stress Ratio

Minimum stress divided by maximum stress.

Stress Relief

A low temperature heat treatment given springs to relieve residual stresses produced by prior cold forming.

Torque (M)

See Moment.

Total Number of Coils (N)

The sum of the number of active and inactive coils in a spring body.

Bibliographical Reference: Spring Manufacturers Institute, Inc., Handbook of Spring Design, Illinois: Spring Manufacturers Institute, Inc., 2002.

Spring Manufacturers Institute, Inc. (http://www.smihq.org)

The Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI), founded in 1933, is an association of manufacturers of precision mechanical springs and their associate suppliers. The members of SMI work together to meet the key issues of the industry worldwide: quality, materials, technology, government regulations.

The objectives of SMI are:

–To promote and protect interests of springmakers in the United States and Canada.

–To serve as a clearinghouse and source of information on the many facets of business relating to the industry.

–To establish a cordial relationship among members, and between members and suppliers to the industry.

–To provide significant services to the membership.

–To inspire professional business standards among membership.

The many services of SMI include: publications, software, industry data, seminars and safety and regulatory compliance audits.

Comment: The Handbook of Spring Design is an excellent source of technical information for designing springs.  SMI also publishes A. M. Wahl’s Mechanical Springs, a most complete volume on spring theory and design. These and other spring related publications and training are available through the SMI website.

MatWeb – Material Property Data (http://www.matweb.com)

The MatWeb website is a very convenient source of materials information.

ASTM International (http://www.astm.org)

ASTM, originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is one of the world’s largest standards development organizations. ASTM material standards may be purchased on the website.

ASM International (http://www.asm-intl.org)

ASM is a publisher of metals and materials information. ASM material information is available on the website.

SuhmDMS – Suhm Document Management System (Suhm DMS Login)

SuhmDMS is a secure system used to store and make readily available documents created and utilized in Suhm’s operations. You must have a user id and password to log in.

Primary Houston Facility and Corporate Offices

Suhm Spring Works
2710 McKinney
Houston, TX 77003
713-224-9293 or 800-338-6903
fax: 713-224-9418

Houston Automatics Facility

Suhm Spring Works
2402 Broad St.
Houston, TX 77087
713-643-1855
fax: 713-643-1105

Dallas Facility

Suhm Spring Works
Dallas Facility
4833 Cash Rd.
Dallas, TX 75247
214-330-9111 or 800-877-9112
fax: 214-330-9113

Mexico Facility

Suhm de Mexico
Matamoros, Mexico

European Sales and Marketing Office

Suhm Spring Europe
Windmolen 22
7609 NN Almelo
The Netherlands
+31 (0) 548 659027
fax: +31 (0) 548 659010

Primary Houston Facility

President

Mark Scarborough ( mscarborough@suhm.net )

Vice President

Richard Vargas ( rvargas@suhm.net )

Technical Sales

Brad Nixon ( bnixon@suhm.net )

Glenn Labiosa ( glabiosa@suhm.net )

Gene Senteno ( gsenteno@suhm.net )

Inside Sales

Marvin Potter ( mpotter@suhm.net )

Howard Garrett ( hgarrett@suhm.net )

Stephen McGough ( smcgough@suhm.net )

Purchasing

Santos Montemayor ( smontemayor@suhm.net )

Judy Tomb ( jtomb@suhm.net )

Contract Administration

Dina Day ( dday@suhm.net )

Patty Iraheta ( piraheta@suhm.net )

Kasey Bloodsworth ( kaseyb@suhm.net )

Lisa Lomas ( llomas@suhm.net )

Project Manager

Eric Lewis ( elewis@suhm.net )

Accounting Clerk

Brenda Williams ( bwilliams@suhm.net )

Q.A. Manager

Jesse Barrera ( jbarrera@suhm.net )

Controller

Tye Womack ( twomack@suhm.net )

Plant Manager

Luis Espinoza ( lespinoza@suhm.net )

Shipping Manager

Bob Flores ( bflores@suhm.net )

Product Coordinator

Juan Visoso ( jvisoso@suhm.net )

I.T. Manager

Jason Nguyen ( jasonn@suhm.net )

Automatics Facility

Plant Manager

Luis Espinoza ( lespinoza@suhm.net )

Office Manager

Becky Espinoza ( bespinoza@suhm.net )

Dallas Facility

Plant Manager

Tim Higginbotham ( thigginbotham@suhm.net )

Technical Sales

Brian Neal ( bneal@suhm.net )

Sales Assistant

Belinda Deleon ( belindad@suhm.net )

European Sales and Design Support Office

Technical Sales

Aron Alberts ( aron.alberts@suhmsprings.eu )