Industrial springs – Why compromise? Why make do with second best?

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Nick Goss offers an interesting insight into why he is sure that their approach is the right one:

“The digital age has brought some incredible advantages with so much information becoming available at the touch of a button. This however can mean that the search for the right component for the job can lead to the wrong choice being made, or to making compromises between what has been found online or in the catalogue compared
with what the customer really wanted.”

“Happily we are seeing a reversal of this approach with engineers and specifiers approaching us with the idea or specification of what they want which we are then more than happy to work with until we arrive at the right solution for that job.”

Material selection determines life expectancy

The type of application that the spring is to be used in will of course determine life expectancy, performance requirement and, depending on what the life expectancy might be, the
type of material used. As a general rule of thumb says Nick Goss, “the more expensive the material we use, the longer the life of the component”. A typical application for a compression spring in an engine valve might involve 8,000 cycles per minute and the best material to guarantee this sort of performance is chrome silicon.

Special materials for arduous conditions

Extreme operational environments put quite different demands on the component. In the offshore industry for example, Inconel is usually the material of choice because
of the specific properties of Inconel alloys which render them oxidation and corrosion resistant, well suited for service in such environments which may be subject to pressure and heat. When heated, Inconel forms a thick, stable, oxide layer protecting the surface from further attack.

Flexible modern manufacturing for low and high volume batches

With experience in manufacturing springs and pressed parts to suit almost any requirement, Goss are able to respond to another change in demand; patterns which have emerged as a consequence of much
high volume manufacturing disappearing from the UK. This year the company installed two new machine tools from Wafios that bring several improvements. The machines are fully programmable and the new coiling machines will make it easier to produce conical and bi-conical shapes and adjust for load compensation.

The improved accuracy and repeatability lends itself perfectly to the lower volume batch run end of the business and will thus contribute to lower lead-times through quicker set up times and turnaround times and lead to an even greater degree of flexibility in the service offered by the company.