dictionary of spring terms

Spring and wire form manufacturers use a lot of industry specific terms that can sound off putting to people who are not all too familiar with what goes into designing and engineering a custom spring or wire form.

At The Yost Superior Co., we make it our mission to provide our customers with the precise products that they need, and doing so requires us to go through a complex, precise design and engineering process. But that doesn’t mean that working with us should be confusing for our customers. That’s why we have created a mini glossary of some of the most common spring terms that people ask us about.

The Spring Term Glossary

Active Coils: the coils of the spring which store and release energy. The active springs in a compression spring will expand when a spring is compressed.

Deflection: the motion of a spring’s ends or arms after an external load is applied or removed. It is essentially the motion of the spring.

Free Length: the length of a compression spring at rest (when no load is applied to it).

Helix: the spiral form or shape of a spring. Applies to compression, extension and torsion springs.

Hooks: the open ends of an extension spring.

Initial Tension: the force that keeps the coils of an extension spring closed. A certain load must be applied to them to cause the coils to separate.

Load: the force applied to a spring that causes a deflection.

Loops: the shape of the wires at the ends of extension springs (where loads are attached).

Total Coils: the amount of coils that a spring has. The total number of coils (and active coils) determines how much stress the spring can take.

Wire Diameter: the size of the wire used in springs. The thicker the wire, the stronger the spring will be.

Rate: measured in lbs/in. It is the change in load per unit deflection.

Now that we both speak the same language, contact our team today to get your free spring order quote. For more questions on any spring or wire form terminology, don’t hesitate to contact our team today.