What is the best spring material?

Each spring design and purpose will have a different material requirement to suit the application. Spring engineers all have their favourites, but for a combination of strength and surface finish, performance and fatigue life, the EN10270-2 VDSiCr valve quality silicon chrome is hard to beat.

What type of steel are coil springs made from?

The vast majority are made from a high carbon spring steel with high strength and elasticity, closely followed by stainless steels and oil-tempered steels with added chromium.

What is the strongest spring material?

The strongest standard material we use has a tensile strength of above 2200 N/mm², but others can be tempered to go even higher.

Which is the most widely used spring material?

Globally a probable common answer is high-carbon spring steel. One of Lesjöfors Heavy Springs' most commonly used materials is oil-tempered chrome silicon.

How can I order a spring?

Simply click on the get in touch icon and drop us a line or call us on 01726 861444 and speak to our customer service team. We're super swift at answering emails and relish talking springs.

What is chrome silicon wire?

Chrome Silicon wire is steel with very high strength but also great ductility. This means it is suited to dynamic applications and very high-stress loading. The name comes from the fact that it has a higher chromium and silicon content than normal carbon spring steel. These elements help with increasing the tensile strength of the material.

When looking into it, it may be confusing when you are faced with an overwhelming amount of different wire standards, grades and finishes. In reality, the current amount of different materials in use is relatively small. You may be seeing the different designations given by different standardisation organisations i.e. ASTM, EN, JIS, DIN etc. These are relative to the country of issue and cover the same wire. Still, under their remit, e.g ASTM A 401 (USA) is virtually the same material as EN10270-2 FDSICr (Europe), which is very similar to SAE AMS 6451A (International). Still, have questions? Speak to our experts , who are there to guide you with their industry knowledge and experience.

Does spring type affect the material suggested?

Yes. You have to take spring type into consideration. For example, if looking at an extension spring , we would try to avoid chrome silicon materials as the higher temperature stress relieving required for this material would be detrimental to the initial tension of the spring. Standard carbon steel would be required. If a spring is going to spend its life buried in an acid bath, i.e. inside a nuclear reactor, we will look at super alloys, and if it's in a marine environment, then stainless steel is required.

Design & Development of Springs

Design support is the very first step our engineers take to ensure our customers achieve the optimum results for their product.

You know your product, the repetitiveness of the work function of the spring and its finishing requirements. You know the demands on it and you might be looking to make some advancements for efficiencies or performance – that’s where we come in. As world experts in the manufacture of springs, we help to design and ensure the product lifetime of a spring’s functionality, through our audited, tested, recognised and reliable manufacturing and production processes. A multi-stage process that guarantees the competitiveness and quality of a product.

Spring Expertise

Our engineers consult with you and assess your requirements; advising on design, material choice, surface treatment and every aspect of your coil springs needs. Our customer service teams even review the best packaging requirements, so that we can guarantee your spring arrives fit for purpose.

Straight coil springs

The most popular compression spring with wire coiled at the same diameter throughout the length. Also known as parallel or linear springs.

Convex springs

These compression springs have larger diameters in the middle than at the ends. These can also be called barrel springs.

Concave springs

With an hour glass shape with a smaller diameter coil in the middle, this symmetry allows the coil spring to be centrally located over a specific point.

Conical springs

Conical springs are also known as a tapered spring, these compression springs are coiled in increasing or decreasing outer diameters providing an almost cone spring shape.

Variable PITCH spring

A spring with varied coil spacing, delivering varying coil heights across the coil springs length.

Banana spring

Shaped as the name suggests and also called sideload springs, the shape counteracts lateral forces.

Our design teams are experts in theoretical modelling and prototyping, at assessing stress levels and evaluating creep or fatigue performances. Whatever service your spring requires – we deliver smart thinking for critically smarter spring functionality.

Enquire about springs

Our Process

Stage 1

Free Consultation

At the beginning of every new spring development project, there is an exploration of the technical requirements of the coil spring. We’ll probe into the what, where and why of the needs of the spring, investigating every aspect of the springs application to understand your project best.

What is the application of the spring?
What is its failure mode? Is it breaking, is it collapsing?
Are you looking to improve an existing design – does it need to be lighter, stronger or more fatigue resistance?

Stage 2

Spring Specifications

Our technical team will then request drawings. However, if a drawing is not available, our design engineers will work with you to create a suitable production drawing that meets all of your requirements.

We’ll also discuss any limiting factors to the requested new spring design and evaluate what elements cannot change on the spring or its final location dimensions. We then work around these with you.

Stage 3

Material Research

Spring material and spring type work in synergy. Whether it’s a compression spring, tension spring or torsion spring, it’s essential that we understand the working environment of the application of your spring as it determines material choice.

Once the material choice is established, through consultations with our material scientists and engineers, we work with the Institute of Spring technology to ensure we and you are up to date with international material standards and technological developments.

Stage 4

New Design

Our spring technicians then develop a theoretical new coil spring design using the Lesjöfors Group exclusive bespoke design software programme – Optispring. Optispring is the most advanced spring software, developed inhouse through our decades of spring manufacturing experience and relied upon for exceptional accuracy and quality by experts all over the world.

We then have a feedback session with you to determine the success of the design. Collaborative partnership working is key to the performance, quality and accuracy success of your coil spring and as such there are no restrictions on the number of technical consultations. We’re only happy, when you’re happy.

Stage 5

Prototypes & Samples

If requested, we will deliver real time manufactured metal spring samples to prove the design. Fully tested across the multiple manufacturing processes required to deliver your spring product, the prototype is made available for you to test in your real time environment, to secure the expectations on the product and guarantee performance levels for the springs application.

Stage 6

Quality

After the coil spring sample approval, if required, our quality teams work with your quality teams to satisfy any criteria of a pre-production approval process (PPAP) or first article inspection report (FAIR). Together they review every step including:

Reviewing the drawings, ensuring they’re appropriate for the spring and correct for production
Reviewing testing procedures on the spring
Ensuring the powder coating is the right finish and density
Confirming the print markings are correct
Running the Almen Arc test to review the shot peening – this ensures the intensity of the shot is correct for the level of material required

Stage 7

Your Spring Certification

Our BSI certifications recognise that as spring manufacturers we have the right production processes in place to ensure our customers receive the right product with the right specifications in the time frame expected.

Full transparency and accountability are key to our business values. Traceable certificates from our materials enable us to give full visibility from the wire rod source to the finished product.

Auditable and transparent, our QMS & BMS management systems deliver a multi-step synergised system and process that firmly guarantees your spring quality, accuracy and product satisfaction.

We know springs, we know spring design

Start your Bespoke Spring Design now

Ethically Sourcing Materials

Striving to deliver environmentally sustainable solutions, securing ethical metals and continuously developing and committing to ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 standards keeps our teams laser-focused on our environment and quality management systems.

We explore sustainability across our environmental, economic and social practices. Earlier this year, Lesjöfors Fjädrar in Sweden switched to biogas, a fossil-free energy source. The green transition reduced the company’s carbon dioxide emissions by 70-90%.

Explore our groups' policies, including our quality and environment policy, sustainability policy, conflict minerals and ethically sourced metals policy, code of conduct and sustainability reports.

Find out more about us

Blog Articles

How to Measure an Extension Spring: Simple Steps for Accurate Measurements

Extension springs (also known as tension springs) are used across a variety of industries, from construction and agriculture to robotics and motorsports. Here at Lesjöfors, we manufacture millions of extension springs every year, and with hot and cold coiling capabilities, we can produce custom springs for almost any application. If you require custom-made springs for […]

What is the Best Grade for Heavy-Duty Stainless Steel Springs?

Did you know that there are over 150 types of stainless steel? With so many options, it can be confusing to know which grade is best to choose for your spring solutions. In this post, you will learn about stainless steel, its use in heavy-duty springs, and the various types and grades for your custom […]

What Are Banana Springs & How Are They Used in Industry Applications?

In the world of heavy-duty springs, banana springs are often overshadowed by the traditional types of compression springs. However, these quietly underrated springs have unique properties that can handle loads both laterally and sideways, unlike traditional springs.

Oil & Gas Industry

Engineering a series of hard wearing heavy duty compression springs designed to reduce the pressure on drilling equipment at sea.

Full Case Study

Construction Industry

Overcoming the vibrations on the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe required our heavy duty spring engineering and manufacturing expertise.

Full Case Study

Automotive Industry

Designing & manufacturing heavy-duty suspension springs to manage the increased payload demanded by the pick up truck industry.

Full Case Study

View all case studies

Design & Development of Springs

Design support is the very first step our engineers take to ensure our customers achieve the optimum results for their product.

Spring Expertise

Straight coil springs

Convex springs

Concave springs

Conical springs

Variable PITCH spring

Banana spring

Our design teams are experts in theoretical modelling and prototyping, at assessing stress levels and evaluating creep or fatigue performances. Whatever service your spring requires – we deliver smart thinking for critically smarter spring functionality.

Our Process

Stage 1

Free Consultation

Stage 2

Spring Specifications

Stage 3

Material Research

Stage 4

New Design

Stage 5

Prototypes & Samples

Stage 6

Quality

Stage 7

Your Spring Certification

We know springs, we know spring design

Ethically Sourcing Materials

Blog Articles

How to Measure an Extension Spring: Simple Steps for Accurate Measurements

What is the Best Grade for Heavy-Duty Stainless Steel Springs?

What Are Banana Springs & How Are They Used in Industry Applications?

Case Studies

Oil & Gas Industry

Construction Industry

Automotive Industry

Technologies

Design & Development

Prototypes & Samples

Innovation

Value Added Services

Materials

Springs

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